The Washington Wild Things fell victim to a hot arm as Evansville starter Efrain Nieves threw six shutout innings while allowing only one hit in an Otters 5-2 victory at Consol Energy Park on Wednesday night.
That lone hit came in the third inning on a Sam Mende leadoff double and error sending the Washington third basemen to third. He would not score, however, as Nieves (1-0) induced two ground outs to third and a fly out to center to end the threat.
Nieves then retired nine of the final ten batters he faced and allowed three baserunners over his six innings of work.
“A 3-0 lead seemed like a 10-0 lead to them because of the way [Nieves] was pitching,” said manager Bob Bozzutto. “The kid was throwing 86 mph on us with some sidearm action and just stopped us. There weren’t too many quality at bats for us.”
The same couldn’t be said for Wild Things starter Matt Sergey (0-2) as the Otters (3-2) scored a quick two runs on three hits in the first inning. Sergey then settled down some as he only allowed one more run over his five innings of work, a John Schultz leadoff home run in the third, while striking out eight and walking one.
“He threw a rough 106 pitches,” said Bozzutto. “He had a 2-2, 3-2 count a lot and it was to the point where there were a couple pitches that he tried to bury and it didn’t work. Consistancy is key. His first start wasn’t good and tonight was better, but you can’t leave pitches over the plate when you’re ahead in the count.”
The Wild Things (1-4) tried to mount a comeback against the Otters bullpen as Lee Orr hit a leadoff home run over the Consol Energy scoreboard in left-center to make it 5-1.
Matt Ford had the other Washington RBI in the ninth with a two out double, but Mende struck out to end the game.
Washington recorded four hits and one walk against the Evansville bullpen, but it was too little, too late in a 5-2 defeat.
Starters Lines
(WAS) Sergey (L, 0-2): 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K’s, 1 WP, 1 HR. 106 Pitches (68 Strikes).
(EV) Nieves (W, 1-0): 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K’s. 84 Pitches (57 Strikes).
The Wild Things will try to avoid a three-game sweep tomorrow night at 7:05.
(Photo Credit: Washington Wild Things)
