Pitching, luck lead Things to win over Joliet

Pretty it was not. Much needed it was.
If the Wild Things are to correct the course of their season, they will need to get some quality starting pitching and better relief pitching. A little luck would go a long way, too.
They got all three Wednesday night against the Joliet Slammers.
After being held hitless by Joliet’s Cory Kimber for 6 2/3 innings, Washington got a break when a Slammers outfielder lost a fly ball in the lights. The Wild Things turned the miscue into a game-tying run and then scratched out the game-winner with the help of two walks an inning later for a 2-1 victory.
Washington starter Michael Austin matched Kimber pitch for pitch as he allowed only one unearned run over seven innings and struck out nine. Reliever Kellen Croce (1-0) made his Wild Things debut an impressive one by pitching a perfect eighth inning, striking out all three batters he faced, and closer Zach Strecker got the game’s final three outs for his 13th save.
“We need more pitching efforts like that if we’re going to get this thing turned around,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn said.
For much of the game, getting a hit seemed like a monumental task for the Wild Things. Kimber (5-3) worked out of some early wildness and took a no-hitter and a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. He retired the first two batters of the seventh before Reydel Medina lofted a towering fly ball to center field. The Slammers’ London Lindley lost sight of the baseball and put his arms out to his side in a signal for help, but none arrived. The ball landed behind him and went for a double, spoiling Kimber’s no-hit bid.
“I’ve never seen (a no-hitter broken up) like that before,” said Washington shortstop Brett Marr, who would play a key role in the pivotal eighth inning.
Third baseman Ryan Cox, a Beaver County native who was making his first start in Washington, followed with a ground-ball single through the infield that scored Medina and made it a 1-1 game.
After Croce, a lefty who pitched for New Haven University this spring, struck out the side in the top of the eighth, Marr opened the bottom of the frame with an infield single. One out later, he advanced to second base on a line-drive single to right field by Carter McEachern. Kimber then walked Roman Collins to load the bases and Joliet manager Jeff Isom brought in reliever Nate Antone, who pitched at West Virginia University and Kiski High School.
Antone walked catcher Kyle Pollock on a 3-2 pitch to force home Marr for the go-ahead run.
Kimber, who spent five years in the San Diego Padres’ farm system, gave up four hits and five walks. He struck out six and should have taken a no-hitter into the eighth. Kimber was selected by Joliet in the third round of the Frontier League tryout and draft this spring, meaning some teams passed on him two times before the Slammers picked him.
“Kimber has good stuff,” Langbehn said. “We weren’t able to square him up and he didn’t give us much wiggle room.”
“We felt like we were just missing pitches,” said Marr, who was 1-for-3. “Everyone was coming back to the dugout saying they were seeing the ball fine but just missing putting the barrel on it. Once we got one hit, things broke open.”
Joliet took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. London Lindley led off with a single and stole second base. Trenton Hill then laced a line drive back to Austin, who made the catch, but his throw to second base to double off Lindley sailed into center field when nobody covered the base. Lindley advanced to third base on the error and scored on an infield two-out single by Justin Garcia, who hit two home runs in the series opener Tuesday.
That was the lone run Austin allowed. He gave up three hits and three walks.
“One phrase you can use about this game is sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good,” Langbehn said. “It’s a mysterious game. We’re all weird enough that we’re going to come back (Thursday) and try to figure it out.”
Extra bases
Third baseman Mike Hill missed his second consecutive game because of concussion-like symptoms. Hill fell backward to the turf Sunday at River City while making a catch on a fly ball down the left-field line. Hill’s head hit the turf when he fell and he exited the game moments later.