Strong Pitching, Early Offense Lead to Series-Clinching Win
QUEBEC CITY, Quebec, Canada (June 10) – Thanks to a strong effort on the mound and some early offense, Washington won the middle game of its series in Quebec against the Capitales, 4-1. With the win, a series win has been secured by the Wild Things and the club will have a chance at a sweep in Sunday’s finale.
Robert Gonzalez started the game for Washington and made his Wild Things’ debut. He spun four innings of one-run ball. He fanned three, walked one and allowed five hits before giving way to Justin Showalter in relief. Showalter worked four scoreless frames, struck out three and allowed two hits. Lukas Young pitched the ninth and earned his third save of 2023.
Washington started the scoring almost immediately in the first. Nick Gotta singled to start the game, stole second, was moved to third on a fly ball and scored on an RBI knock from Melvin Novoa. Also in that inning, Andrew Czech extended his hit streak to 10 games and his on-base streak to 24 games with a single to right hit 108.3 miles per hour off the bat.
The Wild Things scored again in the second on an RBI triple by Nick Gotta that plated Tristan Peterson. After Quebec scored in the third on a sacrifice fly by Ruben Castro against Gonzalez, Washington plated two more. In the fourth, Gotta reached on an error which allowed a run to score as well and Scotty Dubrule lifted a sac fly to plate another, making it 4-1.
Including the Dubrule sac fly, the final 17 batters Quebec pitchers faced in the game were retired, which called for Washington’s pitchers to secure the win, which turned out to be Washington’s first when scoring fewer than six runs this season.
The finale of the series is set for Sunday evening at 5 p.m. at Stade Canac. Arrison Perez will start for Washington as the Wild Things attempt to sweep the Capitales against Quebec’s Steven Fuentes.
