If not for bad luck, these guys would have no luck at all.

For the second night in a row, the Paints bullpen blew an eighth-inning lead against Washington, and for the second night in a row the Wild Things got a run in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Paints 5-4.

But unlike Thursday night - when Washington's Kyle Padgett hit a game-winning home run to end that game - Friday's conclusion was stuffed with controversy.

For the first time this summer, a member of the Paints was ejected from a game when Travis Storrer was tossed in the middle of the third inning for arguing balls and strikes. While that argument was ended by the ejection, the Paints were unhappy with the strike zone all night.

And, in the bottom of the ninth, that strike zone made the difference.

With two outs and a runner on first, right-hander Eric Teall's 2-2 pitch to Mario Garza was called a ball. Upset by the call, Teall walked Garza, which brought manager Mark Mason out of the dugout for a meeting on the mound.

Which ended with a argument with the umpire.

Though no more ejections were handed out, the Wild Things had all the momentum in the world behind them - and they cashed in on it when Matt Sutton shot an RBI base hit to center field, scoring Jarrod Rine from second for the winning run.

The loss was the Paints' second in the two-game series in Western Pennsylvania, and it pushed Chillicothe 111¼2 games behind the Wild Things in the East Division and five games off the pace for the FL's lone wild card playoff spot.

Washington got the scoring going in the third inning Friday when Garza drew a bases-loaded walk from Paints starter Daryl Arreola. But the Paints erased that run with three of their own in the top of the fourth on RBIs by Jon Poterson, Adrian Cantu and J.T. Thomas.

Washington bounced back with one in the bottom of the inning when Pat O'Brien reached on an error by Travis Garcia and later scored on a single by Eric Earnhart.

The Paints' final run came in the top of the fifth when Garcia doubled home Gavin Ng. But the Wild Things came back with one in the sixth off Arreola, then tied the game in the eighth with O'Brien hit his fourth homer of the year, this one off Ryan Flanigan.

With the Washington series behind them, the Paints will begin a two-game series in Slippery Rock at 7:05 p.m. today. Brian Marshall (2-2, 4.01) will pitch for the Paints against the Sliders' Zac Cline (4-3, 1.98).