Things fall to Otters
The Wild Things have a solid one-two punch at the top of their pitching rotation with Trevor Foss and Chase Cunningham. The dynamic duo combined for 15 wins last year and already have six this season.
However, beyond Foss and Cunningham, both wins and quality outings have been hard to get from Washington’s starting pitchers. The Wild Things have used six other starters this season and they have only one win among them, that by Trevor Belicek, who was released last week. Foss and Cunningham are the only Washington pitchers to produce a quality start, which is at least six innings pitched and three or fewer earned runs allowed.
Cameron Stanton, who was signed earlier in the day, was the latest Washington pitcher to get a starting assignment. He threw three solid innings against the Evansville Otters before giving up three consecutive hits to open the fourth and was replaced. Before the inning would end, Evansville scored six runs and was well on its way to a 9-4 victory that snapped the Wild Things’ three-game winning streak.
The Otters produced 13 hits and led 7-2 in the fourth inning. Second baseman Josh Allen was 4-for-5 with four RBI and came within a single of being only the second player to hit for the cycle in a Frontier League game at Wild Things Park. Allen doubled in the first inning, hit a two-run triple off reliever Jacob Schwartz in the fourth and smacked a line-drive, two-run homer off Schwartz in the sixth.
In the top of the ninth, Allen laced a ball over left fielder Bralin Jackson in the gap and made a stutter-step at first base but continued to second base for a stand-up double and his fourth extra-base hit of the day.
“I knew I needed a single for the cycle. I gave it a thought of stopping at first base but that wouldn’t be a good look,” said Allen, who is in his fourth season with Evansville. “I guess I can be content being a single shy of hitting for the cycle.”
After Evansville scored an unearned run off Stanton in the second, Washington took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning on Mike Hill’s fifth home run of the season, which came off the Otters’ Diego Ibarra (1-1).
Stanton (0-1) had not pitched since May 22 for the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League. For Sugar Land, Stanton had only five short relief outings. His outing against Evansville was put on a pitch count, which was reached after giving up two singles and Jeff Gardner’s run-scoring double in the fourth.
We wanted to get him to 60 or 65 pitches and he thought he could get through one more inning, but you know how that goes sometimes,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn said. “I think his stuff will play in this league. He made a couple of mistakes early with two strikes, but that’s all.
“We’re trying to build him up as a starter. That fourth inning just got away from us.”
The 22-year-old Stanton has a good pitching pedigree. He is the son of former major league relief pitcher Mike Stanton, who played 19 years (1989-2007) in the big leagues and on three World Series championship teams. The elder Stanton played for the Atlanta Braves when they defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1991 and ’92 National League playoffs.
Washington pulled to within 7-4 with a pair of runs in the fourth inning. On a two-run single by catcher John Fidanza. Washington had eight hits off four Evansville pitchers. Fidanza and first baseman Kane Sweeney each had two hits.
Getting into a high-scoring game with Evansville is not what the Wild Things wanted. The Otters lead the league with 44 home runs in 32 games and entered Saturday second in runs.
“This is the best hitting team we’ve had,” Allen said. “In the past, we’ve relied on pitching and a timely home run. Now we have the offense on this team.”