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Florence rallies from 7-2 deficit
This is why 2009 doesn't seem to be the Wild Things' year.
When they made the Frontier League's playoffs for six consecutive seasons (2002-07), and even when they chased a wild-card spot last year, the Wild Things won almost every time they were supposed to and a few times when they weren't.
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Last night's improbable 12-9 loss to the Florence Freedom at Consol Energy Park was the worst.
Washington, behind starting pitcher Andy Schindling, was cruising in the top of the seventh inning with a 7-2 lead.
Florence, however, scored an unthinkable 10 runs - eight against Washington's relief pitchers - over the final three innings for the come-from-behind win.
"That was uncharacteristic of our bullpen, for sure," Wild Things manager Mark Mason said.
Well, the numbers say otherwise. It was Washington's third blown save in a week and seventh of the season.
But the blame doesn't fall totally on the relief pitchers. They received plenty of help from the fielders, who committed four errors, including three over the pivotal final three innings.
"We helped (Florence) along by making some errors that extended innings," Mason said. "We hit well. Hitting wasn't the issue."
Every Washington starter had at least one hit, and all but two drove in at least one run. That just made this loss tougher to take for the Wild Things (15-23).
And much sweeter for Florence.
"As crazy as it sounds, this was a good game - for us," Florence manager Toby Rumfield said. "We did a good job of never giving up."
Schindling took a two-hitter and 7-2 lead into the top of the seventh. He hit John Welch with a pitch to start the inning, and two batters later Erold Andrus hit a line-drive homer to right centerfield, trimming the Wild Things' lead to 7-4.
"Being down as much as we were, we just wanted to get some runners on base," Rumfield said. "We were hoping for one big hit, and Andrus' home run gave us some momentum."
That was all for Schindling, who in the third inning gave up a two-run homer to Billy Mottram. It was the league-leading 16th home run for Mottram and his sixth of the year against Washington.
Reliever Joe D'Alessandro came in and gave up another run before the seventh inning would end.
Washington got two of the runs back in their half of the inning to make it 9-5. The Freedom then scored six runs in the eighth off D'Alessandro and Justin Edwards (2-2). Florence had five hits in the inning, including a two-run double by Jordan Baker that gave the Freedom a 10-9 lead. Brad Hough's two-out triple drove in Baker.
"Being down as much as we were, we just wanted to get some runners on base," Rumfield said. "We were hoping for one big hit. Andrus' home run gave us some momentum."
Demetrius Banks (3-2), the fourth of six Florence pitchers, was the winner, though he walked five batters in 1 1/3 innings. Florence issued 11 walks.
It was Florence's hitters who made the difference and have all year against Washington. In the last three games against the Wild Things, the Freedom have scored a whopping 43 runs.
"We've been swinging the bats well all year," Rumfield said. "Hitting is contagious, just like pitching is. Winning is contagious too, just like losing is. We've just been able to find a way to win some games."
Extra bases
X-rays revealed there is not a break in the left thumb of Washington catcher Kris Rochelle. It will, however, be another five days before Rochelle can have the protective splint removed from the thumb. For the second night in a row, Washington played a catcher who had not caught an inning all year. Pitcher Josh Eachues caught the top of the ninth... Andrus is the brother of Elvis Andrus, the Texas Rangers' shortstop.
