Wild Things start key series with win
They are not even sure themselves whether winning only postpones the inevitable or starts the grand charge back. But winning is what the Wild Things have to do today and tomorrow and all the tomorrows after that.
They put one in the win column Friday night, anyhow.
Center fielder Robert Chayka and left fielder Wagner Lagrange each homered and drove in three runs, Kobe Foster pitched seven strong innings and Washington defeated Evansville 10-4 in the opening game of an important weekend series.
Washington pulled to within 5½ games of Evansville for the final wild-card playoff spot in the West Division with 14 games remaining.
The math does not look good for the Wild Things, but more home runs and quality starts like they received against the Otters can change the situation.
Chayka finished the game 3-for-4 and was a triple shy of hitting or the cycle. He was the on-deck batter when Washington made its final out in the bottom of the eighth, denying him a chance to try for the cycle.
Washington scored three runs in the first inning, two coming on Chayka’s sixth home run of the season, coming off Evansville starter Zach Smith (6-7). Chayka, a rookie out of Kansas Wesleyan, had an RBI double in the fifth inning.
Evansville pulled to within 2-1 in the second when first baseman Dakota Phillips hit a solo home run, his 10 of the season and third in as many games.
After Phillips’ big blast to right field, it was all Washington.
The Wild Things scored two runs in the third inning, two more in the fifth and three in the sixth when Lagrange hit a three-run line-drive homer, his 17th of the season and first since July 18. Lagrange’s hit made it 10-1.
Foster (5-5) pitched seven dominant innings. The lefty gave up one run – the Phillips solo homer – and five hits. Most importantly, Foster did not issue a walk. He struck out five.
Evansville did not have more than one baserunner in an inning against Foster.
In the bottom of the third, Andrew Czech drew a bases-loaded walk to force in a run and Wes Darvill scored when Chayka bounced into a double play, making it a 5-1 Wild Things lead.
In the fifth, Chayka’s double to the wall in left centerfield scored Czech from first base. Two batters later, catcher J.C. Santini had an RBI single off the glove of secodn baseman Austin Bast that scored Chayka and pushed the lead to 7-1.
Washington’s relief pitchers had thrown a combined 19 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to Sunday until Evansville scored three runs (two earned) in the eighth against reliever Arrison Perez. Phillips and Jeffrey Baez had RBI singles in the inning.
Extra bases
Zach Kirby (0-2, 3.18) will pitch for Washington in tonight’s 7:05 game. Kirby pitched Sunday when Evansville edged the Wild Things 1-0 at Bosse Field. … Friday has been the best day of the week for the Wild Things. They are 10-5 in Friday games. … Attendance was 2,915. … Evansville outhit Washington 11-10. The Otters have 33 hits in their last two gamers. … The Wild Things have won seven of their last 10 games.