Sacked: Wild Things thrown for a loss
It was special jersey night Friday at EQT Park. The Wild Things wore Pittsburgh Steelers-themed jerseys. The Lake Erie Crushers, who are based in Avon, Ohio, donned Cleveland Browns jerseys.
Steelers vs. Browns.
This one, however, didn’t end like a Steelers-Browns game played in Western Pennsylvania usually does.
In game with very little hitting, Ethan Smith and three relievers combined on a three-hit shutout, Zach Campbell drove in two runs and the Browns, er, uh, the Crushers, beat the Wild Things by a field goal and a safety, 5-0.
Lake Erie’s win trimmed the Wild Things’ lead in the Central Division to 1½ games over the Crushers.
Smith (4-4) pitched five innings to beat the Wild Things for the second time this year in Washington. Lake Erie relievers Kenny Pierson, Brandyn Sittinger and Michael Brewer combined for three hitless innings and struck out six of the final eight Washington hitters.
The Wild Things did not have a hit after Wagner Lagrange laced a line-drive double into the left-field corner in the fourth inning.
Lake Erie took a 2-0 lead in the third when it got a key hit from Campbell, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup.
Davie Morgan led off the inning by getting hit with a pitch from Washington starter Jordan DiValerio. Morgan stole second base and Campbell drove him in with a one-out double to the left-centerfield gap. It was Lake Erie’s first hit of the game.
After Dario Gomez walked, former major leaguer Alfredo Gonzalez hit what appeared to be an inning-ending double play to Washington shortstop Tyler Young, who threw to second baseman Ethan Wilder for an out. However, Wilder’s relay throw to first base was wide and bounced off the retaining wall. Campbell raced around to score, but Gonzalez was caught between first and second and tagged out to end the inning with the Crushers leading 2-0.
Campbell drove in Lake Erie’s third run. His looping single over the glove of the leaping Young scored Burle Dixon in the seventh.
That was more than enough support for Smith and Lake Erie bullpen. Smith gave up three hits and two walks. He struck out six. Sittinger, also a former major leaguer, pitched the seventh and eighth innings, striking out four. In Sittinger’s last 19 2/3 innings, the righthander has given up only one hit and struck out 27.
The loss spoiled a quality start by DiValerio (6-3), who pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing only four hits and three runs (two earned). He walked three and struck out eight.
Lake Erie made it 5-0 when Sam Franco hit a two-run opposite-field homer off rookie reliever Ethan Smith in the ninth. Franco entered the game a half-inning earlier as a replacement for Crushers third baseman Jaidan Quinn, who injured his right leg while chasing a foul fly. Quinn ran over the pitchers mounds in the Crushers’ bullpen and crashed into the retaining fence.
Extra bases
Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher and Wild Things director of baseball operation Kent Tekulve threw out one of the honorary first pitches. … Washington third baseman Tommy Caufield singled in the first inning, giving him eight consecutive plate appearances of reaching base. … Attendance was 3,286, the first sellout of the season. … It was the fifth time Washington has been shut out. Only New Jersey (6) has more shutout losses. … Washington had its three-game winning streak snapped. Lake Erie ended a three-game losing streak.