Aug 13, 2015 5 min read

The Wild Things played a game they easily could have won Thursday night.

To be more accurate, it was a game they should have won.

However, this game ended like too many others this season, filed under Ones That Got Away.

The Frontier Greys took advantage of two Washington errors to score three unearned runs in the top of the eighth inning and rallied to deal the Wild Things a costly 3-2 defeat at Consol Energy Park.

The Greys won despite being no-hit by Washington starter Luke Wilkins for the first six innings. In the pivotal eighth, the Greys loaded the bases with no outs on two errors – one fielding and one throwing — and a hit batsman, then used three singles to take a 3-2 lead.

It was the league-leading 19th one-run loss for Washington. Only one other team in the league has more than 11 one-run losses. Their struggles in close games is a significant reason why the Wild Things began the night nine games out of the final playoff spot and there are only 21 left to play.

The victory was the Greys’ fourth one-run win six games against the Wild Things, including the series opener Tuesday night in 12 innings.

Washington manager Bob Bozzuto was still steamed about the latest loss 20 minutes after the final out.

“It’s getting old,” he said firmly. “It’s frustrating. For this team to be 11 games under .500 … we blew too many games early in the year. We blew games with hitting, pitching and fielding at different times.

“Sure, we’ve had some bad luck, but we don’t make our opportunities. We talk about seizing the moment but we don’t do it. That should have been one in the win column. The first game in the series should have been in the win column. We’re running out of time.”

Bozzuto and the Wild Things had plenty of time to let this loss simmer as they made a trip of more than 500 miles through the night to Normal, Ill., for tonight’s series opener against the West Division-leading CornBelters.

Washington forged a 2-0 lead only three batters into the bottom of the first inning. Andrew Heck and Matt Ford hit singles off Greys starter Colin Feldtman (4-1) and Sam Mende smacked a two-run double into the gap in right centerfield.

That, however, was it for Washington’s offense for the remainder of the game.

Mende moved to third base with one out after Scott Kalamar grounded out, but the Wild Things couldn’t push across a third run in the opening inning. They also put their leadoff hitter on base in the fourth, eighth and ninth innings but failed to advance the runner past second base each time.

“We can’t score after we get two in the first and have a runner on third with one out. We’ve got to get more than two runs,” Bozzuto said. “It’s really simple. It’s happened over and over again. This is Game 75 and it’s the same thing again. It’s not good enough.”

Wilkins looked like he might add some drama to the late innings when he retired the first 15 Greys hitters. He walked Zach Tanner to lead off the sixth but got out of that inning without giving up a hit.

Catcher Julio Rodriguez ended the no-hit bid with a single to start the seventh and the Greys loaded the bases with two outs. Tanner then hit a slow roller past Wilkins that second baseman Matt Ford charged in to scoop. Ford made a fantastic play by flipping the ball with his glove to first baseman Jimmy Yezzo to retire Tanner on a close play and end the threat.

The Greys’ Matt Williams led off the eighth by hitting a ball that Ford booted on a short hop for an error. Wilkins, who allowed only one hit, was replaced by reliever Steve Messner, who fielded a ball hit by Francisco Rosario but threw low to second base for another Washington error. Shane Brown was hit by the next pitch to load the bases, which set up run-scoring singles by Rodriguez, Scott Carcaise and Dillon Haupt.

Feldtman pitched seventh innings, and relievers Steve Wehr and Nick McBride finished. McBridge got his fifth save.

The win kept the Greys (36-39) as the first team outside of the final playoff spot, which is quite an accomplishment for a club that has not played a home game.

“We’re not ready to go home,” Greys manager Vinny Ganz said. “We want to stay as long as we can. We have a lot of games left against teams ahead of us, so if we can do our job for the next 20 games, then we’ll have a good shot at the playoffs.”