Two dropped

The Wild Things released two players from the roster Tuesday. Gone are right-handed pitcher Andy Schindling and catcher Kyle Obal.

Schindling was a solid starting pitcher last season before wearing down late in the year. He had a 4-3 record and 4.80 ERA. Obal was signed late last season and had only 11 at-bats. With Obal released, there are only two catchers (Alan Robbins and Billy O'Conner) on the roster. The Wild Things will likely be looking to sign at least one catcher either Saturday at their open tryout or next week at the Frontier League tryout and draft.

Suspensions from the Florence fiasco

Suspensions handed down from the Frontier League for the benches-clearing incident Wednesday night between the Wild Things and Florence Freedom:

Florence manager Toby Rumfield - 5 games
Washington hitting coach Jon Cahill - 2 games
Washington pitcher Andy Schindling - 1 game

According to WJPA Radio's Randy Gore, Schindling's suspension was not for anything directed at Florence players or coaches, it was for saying something to umpire Jim Scahly.

There was no mention of the league's five-ejection rule that requires a manager to serve an automatic three-game (or is it five-game?) suspension after his team's fifth ejection. Washington has six ejections on the season.

Florence free-for-all

If you're not listening to the Wild Things' game at Florence tonight – and with Florence leading 9-0 in the fourth inning, nobody can blame you for not listening - there was a benches-clearing situation in the sixth inning.

After Ernie Banks hit a long home run to left centerfield to make it 9-2, Florence manager Toby Rumfield took exception to Banks' reaction to the homer and got into a confrontation with Wild Things first-base coach Jon Cahill. According to Florence radio (I'll let you tell me what Radio Randy's version was), Rumfield took two swings at Cahill as the benches emptied.

Rumfield was ejected, as was Cahill and Washington pitcher Andy Schindling.

There have been hard feelings between these teams dating back to the second game of a doubleheader in mid-June when Florence was stealing bases with a 10-run lead during its last at-bat.

Early in tonight's game, Florence's Elvis Andrus was hit by a pitch from Craig Snipp, then stared down the Washington pitcher as he walked to first base. Later, Andrus scored and collided with catcher Alan Robbins and the two had words.

The ejections of Cahill and Schindling gives the Wild Things six ejections for the year. According to Frontier League rules, when a team has five ejections the manager will be suspended for three games. At least I think it's three games. It might be five games. I don't know if the manager gets suspended for any additional games when the ejections total reaches six.

Six-man rotation?

The Wild Things have used six starting pitchers - Andy Schindling, Jason Neitz, Zach Groh, Brian McCullough, Aaron (A.J.) Jenkins and Craig Snipp - since the all-star break. In those starts, the six have combined for a 2.40 ERA, which is a large reason why the Wild Things are 6-1 since the break.

But can a team go with a six-man pitching rotation? Washington doesn't have a pitcher who can be considered an ace, so why not try a six-man rotation?

Manager Mark Mason says that's not a possibility, at least next month.

"If we did that, it would be almost like a seven-man rotation in August, when we're off for four consecutive Mondays," Mason said. "Not enough rest is bad, and sometimes too much enough rest is bad too."

Mason did say that he'll likely continue with the six starting pitchers for one more trip through the rotation.

"We might have to do that because of the rainout and doubleheader we had at Southern Illinois," Mason said. "If we go with a five-man rotation, we'd have to bring someone back on short rest and I don't want to do that."

So who gets dropped from the rotation late next week? The most likely candidate is Jenkins because he would give Washington a left-hander in the bullpen. Another possibility is McCullough, who pitches exclusively from the stretch position and has extensive experience as a reliever.

Here's guessing that Jenkins goes to the bullpen, but if he makes another strong start it will make the decision doubly difficult.

On the Mark

During the Wild Things' game Tuesday against Southern Illinois, Wild Things manager Mark Mason made some interesting decisions that paid off with a 4-1 victory.

One of those decisions was to replace starting pitcher Andy Schindling with one out in the 8th inning, though Schindling had allowed only one run (unearned), four hits and one walk. The pitching change wasn't popular with the crowd at Consol Energy Park, but Mason explained that Schindling was bascially in his private no-man's land. he was a reliever for 4-plus years in the Baltimore Orioles' system and didn't pitch more than nine innings as a high school player. Pitching in the eighth inning was new to Schindling, and Mason wanted a pitcher with more experience in the game at that point with a tie score.

"I was debating whether to send him out or not there for the eighth inning," Mason said. "He had done a good job against their 9-1-2 hitters all night, so I let him go back out there and face the No. 9 guy (Travon Jackson). Once they turned the order over, I said that was it."

Mason didn't replace Schindling with one of his regular relief pitchers. He went with Keith Meyer, a Pittsburgh native who had signed with the Wild Things earlier in the day. It's risky, when the game is tied 1- in the 8th, to bring in a guy who you haven't seen pitch in a game.

"The guys we had in the bullpen were overworked last week," Mason explained. "Even with the day off Monday, it still wasn't enough rest. We had some guys throw more than two innings at Kalamazoo and some pitch two days in a row. I wanted to see someone new at that point. of the guys we brought in, Meyer's the most experienced."

Meyer retired five of the six batters he faced to get the win.

Mason also mentioned that he has pushed for outfielder Phil Laurent to be one of the manager's additions to the East Division all-star roster and that infielder Chris Raniere will be activated from the DL sometime this week. Raniere is eligible to be activated today but Mason said he hasn't ruled out giving Raniere another day or two to recover from a hip flexor injury.

UPDATE: There was a note on here earlier in the day about a telephone call I received. I was told that Consol Energy Park is being sold to a group in Pittsburgh. That is NOT true. That much has been confirmed to the O-R by BSI's attorney. The ballpark is not for sale. However, my guess is the tipster to the O-R was confused on what is being purchased. I wouldn't be surprised if the mentioned Pittsburgh company – which has ties to Major League Baseball - is interested in buying into the Wild Things' ownership group. Stay tuned. And no, it's not Mylan.