Wild Things suffer another bitter loss
This was a new kind of quiet, a deafening silence, hanging over the Wild Things’ clubhouse, and their season, like never before.
The Wild Things were dealt another bitter loss in a season that is rapidly unwinding. Sunday night’s setback was one of the toughest to swallow – a 6-5 loss to the Evansville Otters in stunning fashion.
Evansville second baseman Ethan Skender hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning off Washington closer Lukas Young to erase a one-run deficit and give the Otters an unlikely come-from-behind win that was an unexpected gut punch to the Wild Things’ playoff hopes.
The loss dropped Washington to 7½ games behind Evansville for the final West Division wild-card spot with only 12 remaining (Evansville plays 13). To make matters even worse, Joliet moved ahead of Washington, which dropped to fifth place in the standings.
In other words, this was a series Washington had to at least win, if not sweep. Instead, the Wild Things lost two of three because of Skender’s bat.
On Saturday, he hit a tiebreaking homer in Evansville’s 2-1 win.
On Sunday, Washington rallied from a 4-0 deficit to score five times in the sixth inning and took a 5-4 lead into the top of the ninth.
Evansville’s Jomar Reyes led off the inning with a broken-bat roller to the middle of the diamond. Wild Things shortstop Carson Clowers mishandled and then dropped the ball for an error. Evansville manager Andy McCauley then gave the bunt sign to Skender two times. The first time he fouled a pitch from Young (4-2) to the backstop and the second time Skender missed the sign and took a called strike.
He didn’t miss the next offering from Young, hitting it over the wall in left field for a two-run homer.
“The kid won both games for us,” McCauley said of Skender, who was benched for three games during the Otters’ six-game road trip because of a lack of production.
“The bench can be a great motivator,” McCauley said. “He was a high draft pick of the (San Diego) Padres, and if you see him every day you’ll see he has a special tool. I think he has the quickest hands in the league. He has electric hands.”
Washington manager Tom Vaeth will no doubt be rethinking that fateful top of the ninth inning along with a missed opportunity in the bottom of the eighth.
Leading 5-4 in the eighth, Washington got a leadoff double from Andrew Czech and he advanced to third when Robert Chayka put down a sacrifice bunt and Skender missed stepping on first base after taking a throw from Reyes, the Otters’ third baseman. The Wild Things had three shots to score Czech but a groundout, shallow flyout and bouncer back to the mound ended the threat.
“Runner on third base with no outs, you have to score an insurance run,” Vaeth said. “But in the ninth we had a simple ground ball to shortstop. All we had to do was field the ball.”
That set up Skender’s heroics.
“The guy can do only one thing and we let him yank balls on us the whole series,” Vaeth said. “We didn’t make him hit the ball to right field.”
Evansville starter Tom Holdgrafer held Washington to one hit through five innings but it fell apart for him in the sixth. Clowers led off with a single and Anthony Brocato followed with a double to the wall in left field. Wes Darvill’s single scored Clowers and a one-out walk to Czech loaded the bases.
Two batters later, catcher Melvin Novoa, who was mired in an 0-for-20 slump, hit a three-run double off the base of the wall in centerfield to give Washington the lead.
Washington starter Dariel Fregio pitched 5 1 3/ innings and tuned the game over the bullpen. Stephen Knapp, Christian James and Justin Goossen-Brown combined for 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief entering the ninth.
“Those guys did their job again today,” Vaeth said, “but the home run in the ninth would have only tied the score if we had just fielded the baseball. You can’t give good teams extra outs.”
Extra bases
Holdgrafer pitched four no-hit innings before Washington’s Scotty Dubrule bounced a single up the middle on the first pitch of the bottom of the fifth. … Washington begins a six-game road trip Tuesday at Schaumburg. … Evansville’s Jake Polancic pitched the bottom of the ninth for his 15th save.