Jun 30, 2022 4 min read

The Wild Things’ 7-6 victory over the Florence Y’alls that completed a three-game series sweep Thursday night was one of Washington’s best wins of the season, not because of how it was accomplished but because of the names that were involved.

Ramon Osuna hit a two-run homer, Cole Brannen and Chris Eusay each scored a pair of runs, Sandro Cabrera pitched a season-high 7 1/3 innings and Christian James got the final three outs for his first save.

Osuna and Eusay have been key reserves and James was used in a tight spot to close the game so that Lukas Young, who had pitched each of the previous two nights, could have the day off.

“If you don’t have depth, then you’re not going to be a good club,” Washington manager Tom Vaeth said. “It was a priority in the offseason to improve our depth.”

Osuna has been administered in small doses. The first baseman has routinely been getting one start per series and he’s been delivering. The left-handed hitting Osuna hit a laser-beam two-run homer to the opposite field in the sixth inning that gave Washington a 6-2 lead. It was Osuna’s seventh home run of the season and his fourth in his last five starts.

Eusay, who made his first start at shortstop as Nick Ward got a rare night off, made a couple of fine defensive plays to support Cabrera (4-2), who struck out seven and walked only one in 7 1/3 innings.

“I said (Wednesday) that I feel really good when I pencil in Cabrera to pitch,” Vaeth said. “He did a really good job. That is a good lineup he was facing, the second-best offense in the league.”

Florence, for the second consecutive night, had a big eighth inning to cut a Washington lead to one run. Axel Johnson smacked a three-run homer off Jake Pilarski that pulled Florence to within 7-6, but James pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Washington scored in the first inning for the third consecutive night. Brannen led off with an opposite-field double into the left-field corner, moved up on a groundout by Eusay and scored on Scotty Dubrule’s sacrifice fly.

The lead grew to 3-0 in the third and a Florence error factor into the scoring. With the bases loaded and one out, Dubrule hit a grounder to Y’alls third baseman Bryant Flete, who threw to home plate to retire Alex Alvarez on a forceout. Catcher Cooper Edwards’ throw to first base in an attempt to complete a double play sailed down the right-field line, allowing Brannen and Eusay to score.

Florence closed to 3-2 in the fourth when Anthony Brocato hit his team-leading 11th home run, a two-run shot to left field.

Doubles by Andrew Czech and Hector Roa in the bottom of the fourth off Florence starter Jake McMahill (1-1) gave the Wild Things a 4-2 lead. It stayed that way until Osuna’s two-run homer in the sixth.

Washington scored what turned out to be the winning run in the seventh inning. Eusay led off with a single, stole second base and moved to third when the throw from the Florence catcher sailed into center field. he scored on Wagner Lagrange’s groundout, which made the score 7-2.

Extra bases

Washington begins a three-game series tonight at Lake Erie. The next home game is Monday night against Windy City. … Washington was originally charged with two errors — one in the fifth (dropped line drive) and one in the seventh (mishandled ground ball) — but both were changed to hits for Florence several innings later.