Brocato homers twice as Wild Things move closer to division title
FLORENCE, Ky. – Anthony Brocato hit two home runs, Billy Sullivan drew a tiebreaking bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning and the Wild Things moved closer to a division title with a 10-7 victory over Florence at Thomas More Stadium on Saturday night.
The win, combined with Lake Erie’s 8-3 victory over Evansville, increased Washington’s lead in the Central Division to four games over the Otters. The Wild Things’ magic number for clinching the division title dropped to 4 with seven games remaining in the regular season.
Washington trailed 7-6 in the seventh inning when Brocato hit his second home run of the night, a solo shot that tied the score.
In the eighth, the Wild Things loaded the bases against Florence reliever Chris Baraza (4-7) on a single by Connor Peek, Caleb Ketchup’s bunt single and a walk to Edwards. Sullivan followed with another walk that forced in the go-ahead run. A wild pitch brought home Washington’s ninth run and Wagner Lagrange added an RBI single.
Lagrange hit a two-run homer in the third inning. Brocato’s first home run of the game was a two-run shot in the fifth. Brocato leads the league with 34 home runs, which is the Washington single-season record.
Andrew Czech also had a big game, going 1-for-1 with three walks. He drove in a run with a sacrifice fly for his 100th RBI of the season and became the first player in Wild Things history to reach the 100-RBI mark.
Mack Anglin (4-0) pitched 1⅓ innings of relief for the win. Landon Ginn pitched the ninth inning, striking out two, for his 13th save.
Colt Anderson, Anglin and Ginn combined for four scoreless innings of relief.