Peoples-Walls leads Things in birthday bash
Until recently, Washington Wild Things third baseman Kenny Peoples-Walls hadn’t hit very well.
A fourth-round selection in the 2011 MLB Draft, Peoples-Walls’ OPS has hovered around .600 this season.
His best game came Tuesday night, going 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI. The mark lasted until Peoples-Walls topped that performance Wednesday afternoon.
Peoples-Walls, who turned 24 years old yesterday, went 4-for-5 with a home run and team-record seven RBI to lead the Wild Things to a 14-5 win over Schaumburg. Of the 285 games Peoples-Walls has played in his seven-year professional baseball career, none was more prolific than this one.
Over the past two games, Peoples-Walls is a combined 7-for-9 with 10 RBI.
Kane Sweeney went 3-for-5 with a home run, his 14th of the year, and Kyle Pollock and Hector Roa each scored three times for Washington, which pounded out 14 hits.
The win was Washington’s second-straight victory over Schaumburg, which leads the East Division by 12 games. The Wild Things are back in action tonight against Schaumburg at 7:30 p.m.
Washington (42-37) started its scoring early, putting up four runs in the first inning.
Brailin Jackson started the scoring with a ground out that scored James Harris. Sweeney then singled, and Roa grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Rashad Brown. Following a double from Pollock, Peoples-Walls hit a two-out singled to score Roa and Pollock to give the Things a 4-0 lead.
In the second inning, Sean Godfrey hit a two-run home run off Wild Things pitcher Chase Cunningham (9-2) to cut the lead in half. The Boomers scored again in the third, this time on an Andrew Brodbeck sacrifice fly.
Both teams then scored two runs in the fifth inning. Sweeney hit a solo home run and Peoples-Walls singled to score Roa. Kyle Ruchim responded with a two-run home run for Schaumburg (55-25).
Cunningham had one of his worst outings of the season, allowing five runs and seven hits in five innings, but the righty still earned his ninth win. He didn’t strike out or walk a batter.
Jake Eaton and Jacob Condra-Bogan combined to throw four scoreless, no-hit innings of relief.
Washington scored six runs in the seventh and two runs in the eighth.
In the seventh, Peoples-Walls, Kyle Reese and Brown hit singles to score two runs. Then Peoples-Walls ended the his monstrous day with a two-run blast in the eighth inning.