Washington Blanks Gateway, Central Magic Number Down to One
WASHINGTON, Pa. (Sept. 1– Behind a stellar start from Zach Kirby over seven shutout frames for his eighth win, three big homers from Anthony Brocato, Andrew Czech and Wagner Lagrange and a Down East walk-off win over Evansville, the Central Division magic number came down to one Tuesday night with a 7-0 shutout victory for Washington, its 11th shutout of the season.
The Wild Things got the scoring going with back-to-back homers by Czech and Brocato, their 26th and 35th homers of the year, respectively. Czech now leads the Frontier League with 101 RBI this season while Brocato’s 35th puts him a homer shy of tying the Frontier League single-season record of 36 homers, set by MVP namesake Morgan Burkhart in 1998 with 36. A wild pitch scored a Washington run in the sixth and a grand slam in the seventh by Lagrange was his third homer in his last three games, which brought it to 7-0.
Kirby was brilliant in his 12th start of the season, going seven innings and allowing four hits and four free passes. He struck out six before giving way to Colt Anderson and Michael O’Hanlon, who finished the blanking of Gateway for Washington with scoreless innings each. O’Hanlon fanned the final two batters of the affair.
Down East’s walk-off over Evansville and Washington’s win brings the Wild Things’ Central Division magic number to one. A win at any point the rest of the week or a loss by Evansville in the same timeline clinches Washington’s fifth division title in six years and back-to-back Central titles.
Washington’s chance to do that Wednesday will be at 6:05 p.m. against Gateway. It’s a Senior Slugger Program Wednesday presented by AARP Pennsylvania and all fans can enjoy $1 hot dogs thanks to Berks Foods as Washington vies for the division crown. Gates open at 5:00 p.m.
Playoff tickets for the Wild Card round are on sale now by clicking here and are $5 apiece. Washington, if it wins the Central, will host Friday, September 11 and Saturday, September 12 (if necessary) in the best of three. If they get in as a wild card team, the Wild Things will host Wednesday, September 9.
The team’s $50 pack of six undated regular season ticket vouchers and card for one ticket to every home playoff game is available still for purchase here.
The 24th season of Wild Things baseball in the MLB-partnered Frontier League is underway with more great baseball and entertainment to come. For updates, other information and more, visit washingtonwildthings.com or follow the team on social media at facebook.com/WashingtonWildThings or @WashWildThings on other platforms.
Go Wild at washingtonwildthings.com.
