Wild Things win consecutive games for the first time this season
Lost amid the Wild Things’ six-game road trip that ended Sunday was this interesting nugget:
Twice during the trip, Washington established the Frontier League’s season-high for hits in a game.
A 20-hit game at Evansville and a 21-hit game at Gateway helped Washington play .500 ball on the road trip and jump start its offense.
What Washington really needs now is better starting pitching, which it got Tuesday night from John Havird to go with 13 more hits.
Havird pitched one-run ball over seven innings and got plenty of offensive support from J.J. Fernandez, Hector Roa and Cody Erickson. The trio combined for 11 hits and seven RBI in the Wild Things’ 11-2 victory over the Southern Illinois.
It is the first time all season that Washington won consecutive games.
Havird (2-1) allowed only four hits and one walk for his third quality start of the season. A crafty lefty, Havird got 12 of 21 outs on ground balls.
“He controlled the tempo,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn said. “His secondary pitches were really good.”
Erickson, the Wild Things’ catcher, agreed.
“John shows up every night ready to pitch,” Erickson said. “He challenges hitters and fills up the strike zone. He’s not afraid of any hitter.
“The key was the movement on his fastball. He was locating it and keeping hitters off balance. Their timing wasn’t there.”
Havrid also helped himself in a couple of sticky spots. With Washington leading 3-0 in the fifth, Southern Illinois had runners on first and second with one out when Havird caught Alex Santana breaking early for third base and threw him out for the second out.
An inning later, with Washington still up 3-0, Havird induced a double-play grounder one batter before Gianfranco Wawoe hit a solo home run.
“The double play and the inside move were two big plays,” Langbehn said.
Fernandez, the Wild Things’ first baseman, led Washington at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a home run and two doubles. Erickson, who on Monday was named the Frontier League’s Player of the Week, was 4-for-4.
Southern Illinois pitcher Cody Sullivan (0-1), who was making his first professional start, kept the Miners in the game despite giving up eight hits and four walks in 5 1/3 innings. He was replaced in the sixth by Heath Renz, whose first pitch was hit by Roa for a three-run homer to left field and gave the Wild Things a 6-1 lead.
“It’s feast or famine for us,” Langbehn said. “When we score, we really score. In the games we’ve lost, we’ve struggled to score. We had a lot of extra-base hits tonight, which is something we weren’t getting early in the season. The lineup has settled in and the guys are producing.”
Washington scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth on only three hits.
“The offense has been clicking on all cylinders,” Erickson said.
Extra bases
With the Arizona Diamondbacks purchasing the contract of Washington catcher Lucas Herbert earlier this week, Washington has only catcher (Erickson) on the active roster. The Wild Things did sign two players before the game, but neither is a catcher. Washington added infielder Mikael Mogues and pitcher Zack Harvey. The latter recently completed his college season at the University of Rio Grande. … The 11 runs are the most Southern Illinois has allowed in a game this season.