Wild Things Shut Out Crushers, Jump Back Into First in West
AVON, Ohio. (June 30) – Behind the efforts of five pitchers in Avon, the Wild Things shutout the Crushers and held Lake Erie to just one hit, winning 1-0 in the finale to re-take first place in the West. It was Washington’s only win of the series but is also Washington’s first shutout of the season as they blanked the Crushers behind Aaron Forrest, Ryan Munoz, Christian James, Alex Carrillo and Gyeongju Kim.
Forrest got the game going for Washington as he made his third pro start, but it didn’t last long. He retired the side in order with a pair of strikeouts in the first but left before the second started with an injury. He gave way to Munoz, who entered and kept the roll going. Munoz spun a scoreless second which included a Herculean effort type catch by Caleb McNeely. Burle Dixon singled to start the third for Lake Erie, which turned out to be the Crushers’ lone hit.
In the fourth, McNeely doubled to left center and came home the next pitch as Ethan Wilder singled him home for his 12th professional RBI. That made it 1-0… which turned out the final. Munoz finished his outing with a 1-2-3 fourth inning and yielded to Christian James. James threw the next three frames without allowing a hit. He struck out three like Munoz did but allowed a walk. Alex Carrillo spun a perfect eighth with a punchout and Gyeongju Kim a scoreless, perfect ninth for his 10th save. Munoz earned the win, going to 2-0.
In total, Washington got three hits from McNeely with Wilde accounting for two of the other three. Washington’s sixth hit came from Andrew Czech.
Washington scored only three runs in the series: one in each game but escapes with a win and in first place. After falling back to second last night, today’s win gives the Things a half-game lead in the West over Lake Erie heading into a nine-game homestand that begins Tuesday against the Florence Y’alls.
First pitch Tuesday is slated for 7:05 p.m. at Wild Things Park. A full list of promotions and game times for the upcoming homestand is available at washingtonwildthings.com.
