Washington Drops Series Finale in Extras to Rascals
O’FALLON, Mo. (July 22) — Despite having the lead on three separate occasions, the Wild Things dropped Sunday's rubber match against the River City Rascals at CarShield Field, 8-7 in 11 innings. The Rascals (32-28) tied the game on a single by Clint Freeman—who went 3-6 with a home run and three RBI—and won it when Freeman scored on Zach Lavy's single.
River City drew first blood in the bottom of the second when catcher Mike Jurgella hit his fifth home run of the season—a solo shot—to put the Rascals ahead.
In the next half inning, Washington's first baseman Conner Simonetti answered Jurgella's solo blast with his third homer as a Wild Thing to tie the game at one.
The score remained tied until the top of the fifth when, with Simonetti on second, Wild Things' center fielder James Harris hit his 11th homer of 2018 to give Washington its first lead of the game, 3-1. River City cut its deficit in half in the bottom half of the inning when left fielder Kevin Suarez drove home shortstop Trevor Achenbach with a single. Suarez went 4-5 on the night with a run scored and two RBI.
Washington got some insurance in the seventh inning. Third baseman Mike Hill led off the frame with his 12th home. In the bottom half of the seventh, BJ Sabol came on in relief of Wild Things' starter Trevor Bradley, who wound up having to settle for a no-decision despite throwing six solid innings, allowing just two runs on seven hits while walking one and striking out four. Bradley's record remains 3-2.
After retiring the first batter he faced, Sabol ran into trouble. Freeman hit a one-out single, and Suarez followed with a triple to make it 4-3. He would subsequently score the tying run on a groundout by Paul Kronenfeld.
It wouldn't take long for Washington to regain the lead. In the eighth, right fielder Hector Roa tripled, scoring catcher Kyle Pollock and putting the Wild Things back ahead. They would add insurance one batter later on a single by first baseman Reydel Medina.
With the Rascals down to their last three outs in the ninth, Achenbach singled to lead off the frame. One batter later, River City tied the game on a two-run homer by Freeman, his ninth of the campaign.
After a scoreless 10th inning, Washington went ahead in the 11th when international tiebreaker rule runner Ryan Cox scored on a sacrifice fly by James Harris. The lead wouldn't last, however, as the Rascals scored twice off Wild Things' reliever Aaron Burns to win the game in the last of the 11th.
Burns took the loss for Washington, allowing two runs—one earned— in just one third of an inning. For River City, Cody Mincey pitch 3.2 frames out of the bullpen for the win, allowing one unearned run on two hits while walking one and striking out eight. Dan Ludwig started the game for the Rascals, giving up four runs on seven hits over six innings while striking out six and not issuing a walk.
The Wild Things will be back at home for a short three-game series against the Joliet Slammers that begins Tuesday night at 7:05.
