Late Lead Lost, Washington Drops Rubber Game
POMONA, NY (June 29) – Washington scored 10 times in the finale of the series at Clover Stadium but a three-run eighth and two-run ninth proved to be meaningless in an 11-10, 10-inning loss of the rubber game to the New York Boulders Thursday night. It finalized a 2-7 road trip for Washington.
The Wild Things did what they had done in the first two games of the series and jumped on the Boulders’ starter early. Tristan Peterson singled home a pair and Robert Chayka was plunked with the bases full in the first as Washington opened a 3-0 lead. In the second, Wagner Lagrange hit his 11th homer of the campaign to make it 4-0.
New York got the next two with a sac fly and a solo homer by Matt McDermott to bring the Boulders closer. JC Santini then hit his second homer of the year in the sixth inning to extend Washington’s lead to 5-2, but it didn’t last as New York would score three times in the home half of the frame on an RBI double by David Vinsky and two sacrifice flies.
The game stayed tied at 5-5 until the top of the eighth when Washington pulled ahead again with a three-run inning that included a Robert Chayka RBI knock, a double steal on which Chayka took home and an RBI double by Lagrange. The Boulders got one back in the bottom half on an RBI single by Giovanni Garbella.
Tommy Caufield hit his first pro homer to pad Washington’s late lead to four at 10-6 in the ninth: a two-run shot to right center. But McDermott got to Washington’s Lukas Young with a game-tying grand slam in the bottom half. The Wild Things then failed to score in the 10th with the international tiebreaker rule in effect and then Gabriel Garcia walked the Wild Things off with a single in the bottom half to win it.
Will Solomon suffered the loss as the winner was an unearned run.
The finale of the series brought the longest road trip, a nine-game trip, of the 2023 schedule to a close as Washington will now return for a nine-game homestand which starts tomorrow night, Friday, June 30 at 7:05 p.m. against the Schaumburg Boomers. It’s a Fireworks Friday at Wild Things Park presented by Clipper Magazine and Local Flavor. It’s the first of three fireworks shows during the homestand.
