Wild Things move into tie for first place
JOLIET, Ill. – Chase Cunningham allowed one hit over six innings on his 25th birthday and Washington scored four runs in the fifth inning en route to a 5-2 victory over the Joliet Slammers Tuesday night.
The win moves Washington into a tie for first place with Joliet in the Frontier League’s East Division. Both teams have 41-32 records.
Cunningham (6-4) survived five walks and left with the Wild Things leading 5-1.
Washington took a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Hector Roa’s triple scored Roman Collins. Collins had a run-scoring hit in the fifth, which included Joliet error that led to two Wild Things runs.
Washington’s Jesus Balaguer, who was signed earlier in the day, threw 2 1/3 innings of relief but left with two on and one out in the ninth. Zack Strecker got the final two outs for his 17th save.
Prior to the game, Washington placed right-handed pitcher Trevor Bradley on the 14-day disabled list and signed Balaguer, a former pitcher in the Houston Astros farm system and a native of La Habana, Cuba. Balaguer is a former teammate of Washington first baseman Reydel Medina, also a native of Cuba.
Balaguer played parts of two seasons in the Astros system and had a 3-4 record and 5.13 ERA at Class A Buies Creek this year before being released last month.