Aug 20, 2017 5 min read

The red lights on the big scoreboard in left centerfield at Wild Things Park showed that the home team had 11 hits and the visiting Lake Erie Crushers were held to only seven.

That usually means another win for Washington. Entering Sunday, the Wild Things were 29-2 when they outhit their opponent.

This time, however, the Wild Things played a game in which the quality and timing of the hits were more important than the quantity.

Lake Erie clustered all but one of its hits in the first four innings, took advantage of some sloppy play by Washington, forged an early six-run lead and defeated the Wild Things, 6-1.

Three Lake Erie pitchers came within one out of combining for a rare 11-hit shutout as Washington scored its lone run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Wild Things left 14 runners on base.

In other words, the Wild Things could get ’em on and get ’em over, but they couldn’t get ’em in.

“We certainly had opportunity after opportunity. We didn’t swing well with runners on base,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn said.

Wild Things hitters were 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position. None of the three hits produced a run. Ten of Washington’s 11 hits were singles. Lake Erie, meanwhile, made the most of its hits as two of them left the ballpark. Designated hitter Brandon Murray led off the second inning with a home run that made the score 3-0 and first baseman Conner Simonetti hit a two-run shot in the third that made it 5-0.

Both home runs came off Washington’s Trevor Foss (10-5), who had a rare bad start. Foss gave up five runs (four earned) in three innings and exited after throwing only 39 pitches. It was the shortest outing for Foss in 32 career starts over two seasons with Washington.

“He just didn’t have it,” Langbehn said. “There was not much life on his fastball, and when you leave it belt high. … The good thing is he threw only 39 pitches because he has to pitch Friday.”

Lake Erie had a good approach against Foss. After striking out 26 times over the first two games in the series, the Crushers decided not to get deep in counts. Of the 15 batters Foss faced, 12 swung at the first pitch.

“The strategy was to hit fastballs and not swing at changeups and curveballs,” Lake Erie manager Cam Roth explained.

A walk by Sean Hurley and a bloop double by Jordan Dean gave Lake Erie two runners in scoring position only three batters into the game.

Then, the game really got messy for Washington. A wild pitch allowed Hurley to score, and when catcher Kyle Pollock retrieved the ball and threw to Foss, who was covering home plate, the ball got away and Dean came around to score.

It didn’t get any better for the home team in the bottom of the first inning, though James Harris led off with a hard-hit double – Washington’s lone extra-base hit – and moved to third base on the first of Rashad Brown’s three singles. Bralin Jackson then grounded back to the mound and Lake Erie pitcher Nick Deeg (2-2) triggered a second-to-first double play, but Harris didn’t advance on the play. A flyout two batters later ended the threat and set the tone of a frustrating afternoon for Washington.

Lake Erie used singles by Murray and Tyler Urps off reliever Cameron Stanton in the fourth to up its lead to 6-0. Washington used five relief pitchers and held the Crushers to one hit after the fourth inning.

The Wild Things, however, couldn’t take advantage. They loaded the bases in both the fifth and eighth innings but didn’t score. They loaded them again in the ninth with one out and scored their lone run when Hector Roa hit a fielder’s choice.

Deeg, who entered with a 5.65 ERA, threw seven shutout innings, scattering six hits and three walks.

The Wild Things began the game tied for the Frontier League’s final wild-card playoff spot but the loss dropped them one game off the pace with 13 remaining. They open a three-game series Tuesday at home against East Division-leader Schaumburg.

“By this time next week we’ll have a good idea of where we are and what has to happen,” Langbehn said. “We have a big week ahead of us.”

Lake Erie kept its slim playoff hopes alive. The Crushers are five games behind the Wild Things.

“We’re still in it,” Roth said. “We have to play every day like we did today.”

Washington first baseman Kane Sweeney, who leads the league in walks, drew his 75th of the season tying the Wild Things’ single-season record. Chris Sidick walked 75 times in 2007. … Washington won the season series with Lake Erie 7-5. Lake Erie batters struck out 117 times in those 12 games. … The first three batters in the Wild Things’ lineup were 8-for-14. … Washington third baseman Kenny Peoples-Walls is 11-for-24 with 14 RBI in the last six games.