Two home runs, Kirby’s pitching key to Wild Things win
Magic number reduced to 2
AVON, Ohio – Zach Kirby struck out a career-high 11 batters over six innings, Tyreque Reed and Caleb McNeely each homered and the Wild Things defeated the Lake Erie Crushers 4-2 Friday night in a series opener.
The win, combined with Evansville’s 6-4 come-from-behind victory over Gateway, enabled Washington to trim its magic number for clinching the Frontier League’s West Division title to 2 with eight games remaining.
Reed drove in two runs with a home run in the first inning off Lake Erie starter Darrien Ragins (7-3).
Kirby (9-4) was able to protect the lead until the fifth, when Lake Erie scored both of its runs to tie the score. Kirby allowed four hits and walked one.
Washington answered in the sixth when a double by Andrew Czech drove in Reed and made it 3-2.
McNeely homered in top of the ninth to make it 4-2. It was McNeely’s 20th home run of the season and he became the first player in Wild Things history with 20 homers and 20 stolen bases in a season.
Gyeongju Kim pitched the ninth inning for his 24th save.