Aug 8, 2013 5 min read

Prior to the scheduled start time of the Wild Things’ delayed game Wednesday against the Joliet Slammers, black clouds hovered over Consol Energy Park and rain began falling.

There was, however, no thunder and lightning. They didn’t arrive until after the game started and were provided by two former Wild Things who are now playing for Joliet, right fielder Nick Akins and center fielder Darian Sandford.

Akins provided the thunder as he hit his league-leading 17th home run and drove in three runs. Sandford was the lightning, stealing three bases and capping Joliet’s four-run 10th inning by stealing home as the Slammers rallied for a 9-5 victory in the series opener.

The loss snapped the Wild Things’ three-game winning streak. Washington (33-36) remains 5 1/2 games out of the final wild card playoff spot.

Joliet erased a 5-3 deficit by scoring two runs in the seventh inning on a two-out double by Akins. That was all the scoring until the top of the 10th when Joliet took advantage of wildness by Washington reliever Jhonny Montoya (3-1) to score four runs.

Washington designated hitter Stewart Ijames had a big game, going 4-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI, both career highs.

Brett Zawacki (5-6), the fourth of five Joliet pitchers, was the winner.

In the 10th, Joliet’s Michael Wing led off with a double and Jared Yakubik walked. After Grant DeBruin struck out after failing to get down a bunt, Kolin Connor was hit on the hand by a 2-2 pitch from Montoya. The ruling of a hit batsman was challenged by Washington, and eventually home-plate umpire Ron Whiting checked the hand of Connor for a ball mark before allowing him to stay at first base.

Then, with Sandford at the plate, Montoya unleashed two consecutive wild pitches, allowing Wing and Yakubik to score and make it 7-5. After Sandford walked, Niko Vasquez’s single scored Conner and advanced Sandford to third

Sandford then broke for home on a pitch from reliever Anthony Collazo and beat the ball to the plate for a clean steal of home and a 9-5 lead for the Slammers.

The steal was the league-leading 48th of the season for Sandford, who was traded from Washington to Joliet last Saturday in exchange for a player to be named later.

“Darian has something we didn’t have and that’s speed,” Joliet manager Mike Breyman said before the game. “We brought in guys with speed and they didn’t produce the way we thought they would. Sandford makes our team better. He’s been fantastic. … He has world-class speed.”

Washington starter pitching Dayne Quist, a left-hander acquired in a trade Tuesday with Southern Illinois, allowed three runs (one earned) over 5 1/3 innings in his Wild Things debut.

Joliet scored first, taking advantage of an error to score two unearned runs, after having two outs and no runners on base, in the top of the first inning. Wing pushed both runs across the plate with a single.

Ijames capped a four-run first inning by Washington by turning on a 90 mph fastball from rookie Ian Daley and sending it over the right-field wall for a three-run homer. Quincy Latimore drove in the first run of the inning with a single.

Joliet trimmed Washington’s lead to 4-3 in the third inning when Akins hit a solo home run to left field.

Akins played eight games for Washington early in the season before being released. He did not hit a home run in 34 at-bats with the Wild Things but has been one of the hottest hitters in the league while with the Slammers.

“He’s been the biggest reason why we’ve been playing as well as we have. He’s first in the league in home runs and fifth in RBI, and he has 100 fewer at-bats than the guys ahead of him,” Breyman said of Akins. “He’s been the full package for us. He’s been fantastic.”

Akins continued his torrid hitting in the seventh when he laced a two-run double to the gap in left center field that tied the score at 5-5. The hit scored Sandford and Vasquez.

Sandford started the inning by drawing a walk off Washington reliever Andy Smithmyer and stealing second and third. After Vasquez also drew a walk, lefty Matt Phillips was brought in to pitch, and he got Marquis Riley to pop out.

Washington manager Bart Zeller then went for a right vs. righty matchup and brought in Amalio Diaz to face Akins, who hit his game-tying double.

In the sixth, Ijames hit a long solo home run that landed about four stalls deep into the parking lot behind right field. It was the 12th homer of the season for Ijames and gave Washington a 5-3 lead. It came off lefty reliever Lucas Goodgion, who replaced Daley one batter earlier.

Extra bases

There was a rain delay of 1 hour and 13 minutes before the start of the game. … Vasquez had a 13-pitch at-bat in the fifth inning before striking out against Quist.