Blacken, a former Chillicothe Paints infielder-outfielder, hit two home runs and drove in five RBIs for the Florence Freedom Monday night, but it was barely even enough offense to put a dent in the Paints as they pounded out 17 hits in a 15-6 blowout victory.

Brian Marshall struggled on the mound for Chillicothe, giving up all six runs in just 2 1/3 innings pitched.

Marshall gave up a two-run homer to Blacken in the first inning and a three-run shot to him in the third inning.

When Marshall exited the game in favor of reliever Brian McCullough, Florence led 6-4.

The Paints quickly took control of the game, though, scoring three runs in the top of the fourth with RBI singles by Gavin Ng, Travis Garcia and Dan Cummins.

With a 7-6 advantage, Chillicothe continued to build on its lead.

McCullough worked a perfect 2 2/3 innings without allowing a baserunner and Jason Quarles tossed a scoreless sixth inning to keep Florence quiet.

When Cummins led off the top of the seventh with a home run to left field, the Paints' offensive onslaught began.

Cummins' blast - his seventh of the year - was off of reliever Cody Castle.

Castle then walked Paul Rutgers and surrendered a single to Lance Koenig before turning the ball over to Jason Bennion.

Bennion faced two batters - Storrer and Ng - and hit each with a pitch, pushing one run home and leading to his quick exit.

Zach Gray entered the game with the bases loaded and one out and got J.T. Thomas to ground into an RBI fielder's choice to up the Paints lead to 10-6.

The next batter, Garcia, singled home Storrer, bringing Adrian Cantu to the plate.

The hot-hitting Chillicothe third baseman then cleared the bases with one swing, blasting a three-run homer (his 10th) to put the Paints ahead 14-6.

Ryan Flanigan pitched the final three innings for Chillicothe, allowing two hits and no runs to earn his second save of the year.

McCullough picked up the win, evening his record at 2-2.

Luke Brown took the loss for the Freedom, allowing seven earned runs on nine hits through 3 2/3 innings.

Every Paints starter had at least one hit. Garcia and Cummins had three apiece going 3-for-5 and 3-for-6 respectively. Both drove in three runs as well.

The win lands Chillicothe in sole possession of second place in the Frontier League's East Division.

At 34-36 the Paints are now 6 1/2 games behind division-leading Washington.

The Wild Things split a doubleheader with Slippery Rock Monday.

The Sliders come to Chillicothe today for the start of a two game series at VA Memorial Stadium.