Up in smoke

The Wild Things' 2-1 loss to Gateway in the second game of a doubleheader Wednesday night was probably their most frustrating setback of the season.

Washington was within one strike of sweeping a twinbill and extending its winning streak to three games when Gateway shortstop Logan Davis swung late and poked a Zac Grotz pitch the opposite way, just inside the third-base bag and up the line for a two-run single.

The loss left manager Gregg Langbehn open for criticism for going to the bullpen to start the seventh when starter Chase Cunningham was working a two-hit shutout and had thrown only 75 pitches. That criticism comes with the territory when the bullpen doesn't do its job. And what Langbehn was doing was playing to his team's strength.

Let me explain: My seat at Consol Energy Park is located within earshot of the visiting radio broadcaster. Almost all of those broadcasters, at some point during the series, will mention that the Wild Things are last in the league in team batting average "but somehow is around/above .500, which is amazing."

The biggest reason -- other than being 7-2 in Trevor Foss' nine starts -- why Washington is 21-19 with a batting average of only .226 is the reliability of the bullpen. The two runs given up by Grotz Wednesday doubled his season total. That's in 17 outings.

While bullpens around the Frontier League have been blowing up like cheap fireworks sold in mall and grocery store parking lots, Washington's has been amazingly good. Here is a look at the number of blown saves to date for each Frontier League team:

8 -- Joliet
8 -- Lake Erie
7 -- Southern Illinois
6 -- Evansville
6 -- Florence
6 -- Gateway
6 -- Normal
6 -- Traverse City
5 -- Schaumburg
4 -- Windy City
2 -- River City
2 -- Washington