May 26, 2018 3 min read

Catcher Kyle Pollock kept doing what he has been this season, pitcher Danny Garmendia showed great improvement over what he had been doing and that proved to be a winning combination Saturday night for the Wild Things.

Garmendia, who struggled in his first two starts, pitched into the sixth inning and Pollock hit his team-leading fourth home run, a two-run shot in the fourth inning, as Washington defeated the Florence Freedom 3-1 at Wild Things Park.

It was the third consecutive win for the Wild Things (8-6), and the second against the team that eliminated them from the Frontier League playoffs last year. Washington will try for the series sweep in the finale at 5:35 p.m. today.

Garmendia (1-1) allowed only three hits and one run in 5 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out four. It was a marked improvement for the Florida native who had pitched only 32/3 innings and issued seven walks over his first two starts.

Trevor Bradley followed Garmendia with 22/3 innings of scoreless relief. Zach Strecker pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his fifth save.

The Freedom put two runners on base in the ninth, on a single by Craig Lepre and a hit bastman, but Strecker got Austin Wobrock to line out to left field for the final out.

Florence took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning and received an assist from Garmendia. Andrew Mercurio led off with a single up the middle and advanced to third on a balk and then a wild pitch. Germendia struck out Keivan Berges for the inning’s first out but Craig Lepre lofted a sacrifice fly to center field.

Washington took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth against Florence starter Christian DeLeon (0-1). Roman Collins drew a leadoff walk and Pollock followed with a two-run homer over the left-field wall.

DeLeon gave up five hits over 6 1/3 innings. He was knocked out of the game in the seventh

The game’s only other run came in the seventh when Washington’s Mike Hill was hit by a pitch and advanced to second base on an error when Justin Bohn hit an infield grounder. James Harris then laced a double into the left-field corner, scoring Hill and chasing De Leon.

With runners on second and third with one out the Wild Things has good chance to tack on to the 3-1 lead but Florence reliever Pat McGrath came on and struck out Carter Mceachern and Roman Collins to end the inning.

Washington did its damage with only five hits, including two by Harris.

Extra bases

The second half of the game was played in a light rain but play was never stopped. … Each team wore red jerseys with black sleeves, which gave the game a intrasquad look. … Florence relief pitchers faced seven Washington hitters, striking out five. … Bralin Jackson, who was the Wild Things’ left fielder last season, hit his first home run for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Class AA affiliate in Altoona Saturday night against Harrisburg. … The Wild Things received some good news about pitcher Jake Eaton, who has been on the disabled list with an elbow issue. Eaton will not need surgery. He recently had an injection in the elbow and could start throwing in a month. Washington is hoping to get Eaton back sometime after the all-star break. Eaton joined Washington late last season and had a 1-0 record and 2.24 ERA in 12 relief appearances.