McNeely homers twice in Wild Things’ win
The Wild Things are never going to be confused with a team full of power-hitting Babe Ruth wannabes, and they are unlikely to challenge the franchise record for home runs in a season that was set by the 2009 team.
They do, however, dig the long ball. And as they have shown in the five games since the Frontier League’s all-star break, the Wild Things have enough power to turn a game in their favor in a hurry.
Caleb McNeely hit two home runs, Brandon McIlwain homered for the fourth time in four games, and Washington got a strong performance from five pitchers in a 5-1 victory over the Lake Erie Crushers at soggy Wild Things Park on Wednesday night.
The win pushed Washington’s lead in the Frontier League’s West Division back to 2½ games over Lake Erie.
McNeely, who leads the Frontier League in home runs, went 2-for-4 with four RBI. He hit a solo homer in the third inning off Lake Erie starter Matt Mulhearn (3-5) that tied the score at 1-1, then smacked his 16th home run in the fifth inning, a three-run shot that gave Washington a 5-1 lead.
The fifth inning began with a solo homer by McIlwain.
McIlwain hit a grand slam Saturday at Evansville and two solo homers Sunday.
“You’re starting to see a guy who is getting his footing in the league, getting settled and starting to show what he can do,” Washington manager Tom Vaeth said of McIlwain, who Washington signed earlier this month after being released from the New York Mets farm system.
“He’s starting to see how the league is going to pitch him.”
Washington’s lineup had been a work in process in the first half of the season as multiple hitters landed on the injured list. The Wild Things are finally the healthiest they have been all season and it’s starting to show at the plate.
“This is the lineup, although McIlwain is an addition, that I had envisioned,” Vaeth said. “Having (Wagner) Lagrange, (Andrew) Czech, (Tyreque) Reed and Jalen Miller now healthy, we have more than enough power. And that’s not including the guy who leads the league in home runs.”
Washington pitcher Zach Kirby (6-4) made his first start since July 5. Kirby missed his last scheduled start before the all-star break because of a sore back. He also skipped the all-star game after being voted to the West team. The right-hander went five innings, allowing four hits and one unearned run. He walked one and struck out three.
“I had been in touch with Zach throughout the all-star break and when we were in Evansville last weekend. He said he was feeling good so we didn’t put a pitch count on him,” Vaeth said. “I am very happy with his performance.”
The lone Crushers run came in the second inning when John Tucillo and Alberti Chavez hit two-out singles and Burle Nixon followed with a hard grounder up the middle that Washington shortstop Carson Clowers attempted to make a sliding stop of but the ball kicked off his glove and went into shallow centerfield, allowing Lake Erie to take a 1-0 lead.
McNeely’s solo homer to left field in the third tied the score. In the fifth, McIlwain put Washington on top with a homer, also to left field. Catcher Ricardo Sanchez, who was on base three times, was hit by a pitch and Carson Clowers grounded a single through the left side of the infield.
McNeely then stepped to the plate and homered again to left field to make it a 5-1 score. McNeely had the opportunity to become the first player in Wild Things history with three home runs in one game but he fouled out in his final at-bat in the sixth inning.
Relievers Nick MacDonald, Ryan Munoz, Alex Carillo and Gyeonju Kim followed Kirby on the mound, each tossing one scoreless inning.
Extra bases
The start of the game was delayed 15 minutes because of rain. … Lake Erie completed a trade Tuesday with Florence and acquired Chavez, who was the Y’alls shortstop, in exchange for a player to be named. Chavez made his Lake Erie debut Wednesday and started at second base. Chavez was batting .256 with Florence.