Wild Things’ lumber remains in slumber
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Washington shortstop Carson Clowers applies the tag that catches New Jersey's Alfredo Marte attempting to steal second base in the second inning.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Washington’s Scotty Dubrule falls just short of grinding out a single during the ninth inning of the Wild Things’ 4-0 loss to New Jersey.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Carson Clowers' attempt to stretch a single intotwo bases comes up short New Jersey second baseman Kevin Rolon get the baseball just ahead Clowers' arrival.
Mark Marietta
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Washington left fielder Wagner Lagrange lines up a single to lead off the second inning.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Arrison Perez works in relief during the final innings of the Wild Things' 4-0 loss to the New Jersey Jackals at Wild Things Park.
The Wild Things are like the guy with the fixer-upper house. He cleans the gutters and the roof springs a leak. He replaces the garbage disposal and the kitchen plumbing goes bad.
If it’s not one thing that holds back the Wild Things, then it’s something else.
Every time a patch has been applied, something else has come unglued.
In the first half of the season, the pitching was substandard. On most nights, Washington had to score six runs to have a chance to win.
Over the past two nights, against the New Jersey Jackals, pitching wasn’t the problem for the Wild Things. It was the hitting, or to be more specific, the lack of it, and some shaky defense that has led to Washington’s demise.
One night after being blanked for eight innings by New Jersey starter Dylan Castaneda, the Jackals’ Jorge Tavarez threw New Jersey’s first complete-game shutout of the season, a 4-0 masterpiece Wednesday that took only two hours and four minutes to finish.
Tavarez (2-0) won nine games for the Jackals last season, but because of visa issues this year didn’t get to New Jersey until this month. He needed only 88 pitches to finish a three-hitter in just his second outing of the year.
After Castaneda induced 17 outs on ground balls Tuesday, Tavarez registered 14 more to go with eight strikeouts. He did not walk a batter and needed only 88 pitches to complete the job.
“He threw strike-1 and commanded the zone with three pitches,” Washington manager Tom Vaeth said.
The Jackals’ pitching the last two nights doesn’t resemble a group that had a 5.38 team ERA entering the series.
“Our pitching struggled a little bit early in the year,” New Jersey manager P.J. Phillips said, “but in the last month it has been carrying us. The last two nights we get eight innings and a complete game from our starters. Our pitching staff is most definitely being overlooked.”
After hitting three solo home runs on Tuesday, New Jersey hit another, by leadoff batter Martin Figueroa in the third inning, and scored two unearned runs off Washington starter Zach Kirby (0-1). A rookie out of Loyola Marymount, Kirby allowed four runs (two earned) over five innings.
Relievers Stephen Knapp and Arrison Perez combined for four shutout innings.
“We’ll take the positives from this one,” Vaeth said in his team’s quiet clubhouse. “The pitching was good. To hold (New Jersey) to four runs in two consecutive games, you’re doing something good.”
The offense, however, has been missing. The Wild Things have wscored in only one fo the 18 innings in the series. Washington had only three hits against Tavarez and two of them – by Wagner Lagrange and Carson Clowers – didn’t leave the infield. The other hit was a single up the middle by catcher Melvin Novoa. The Wild Things didn’t have a runner advance to third base.
It seems that the Wild Things can’t combine good pitching with solid hitting for an extended length of time, which must happen if they are to climb into the West Division playoff race.
“It seems that way,” Vaeth confirmed. “It’s one of those years. We’ll come back (Thursday) and try to win a game and get this thing turned around.
“We just have to grind it out. We know what we’re up against.”
New Jersey scored the only run it would need in the first inning. James Nelson drew a walk and scored when Keon Barnum followed with a base hit to center field that Robert Chayka couldn’t prevent from hopping over his head.
In the third, Fugueroa homered, Nelson walked and scored all the way from first base on a hit-and-run single up the middle by Josh Rehwaldt.
The final Jackals run came when Kevin Rolon advanced from second base to third on a wild pitch and scored as Novoa’s throw went into left field.