Washington Sweeps Joliet Behind Cunningham's Pitching Performance
WASHINGTON, PA – The Washington Wild Things [26-18] finished off the Joliet Slammers [20-23] on Sunday afternoon, for their second sweep of the season, after beating the Slammers 4-2 behind right-handed pitcher Chase Cunningham’s (6-0) once-again solid performance.
The last sweep for the Wild Things was at the expense of the Southern Illinois Miners from May 24-25 in Washington.
Cunningham went seven innings and allowed just one run on four hits, while striking out five, to win his sixth decision of the season. Cunningham will most likely get one more start before the All-Star Break, but after the outing in the win, Cunningham is fourth in the Frontier League in earned run average (2.49) and tied for second in wins (6).
Offensively, the Wild Things were able to rack up eight hits against the Slammers. Center fielder Rashad Brown, after an 1-18 stretch in his last five games, went 2-4 on Sunday to bring his average to .284 on the season.
The Slammers scored early in the contest, with third basemen Danny Zardon singling home left fielder Josh Merrigan to make the game 1-0 after one inning of play. Joliet retained their lead until the fifth inning, when second basemen Justin Bohn was able to tie the game at one run apiece after a sacrifice fly to center field.
Mistakes then began to pile up for the Slammers in the sixth inning. First basemen Kane Sweeney hit a pop up into left field with two outs that fell into no man’s land despite a solid effort from the shortstop. Left fielder Bralin Jackson would score on the double to give the Wild Things a 2-1 lead. After the failed chance to end the inning, right fielder Hector Roa (7) made the Slammers pay, launching a two-run home run to left field to give Washington a 4-1 lead after seven innings.
In the eighth inning, the Slammers managed to score one run after a sacrifice groundout by Zardon scored to make the game 4-2. Right-handed pitcher Zach Strecker (5-1) earned his 11th save of the season after shutting the door in the ninth inning.
The Wild Things are off tomorrow, but travel to play the Normal CornBelters from July 4-6.
