Things go Wild late against Paints

The bad news was that, on the other side of Tuesday's game, Tom Cochran was pitching like the guy the Wild Things expect him to be too.

With each starter going six innings, Cochran barely out-dueled Hartfelder, allowing one fewer run before turning things over to the bullpen. And though the Paints had their chances late, a rough ninth inning piled on the runs for Washington as Chillicothe dropped a 7-3 decision Tuesday night.

"Kurt did a great job," said Paints manager Mark Mason, who spent years as a pitching coach in Washington. "But their pitching - they threw a lot of strikes today. Tommy Cochran did a great job. That was the Tommy I saw for two years. He gave up ... what? Three hits at the most? He kept himself down and did a great job."

Three hits and two runs, in fact, in six innings, for his first win of the summer. And after a rough start to Hartfelder's season, the Paints righty (who fell to 0-2) allowed three runs on seven hits, worked out of some jams and only gave up three runs before turning it over to the bullpen after six innings.

"Honestly, that's the Hartfelder I'm used to seeing," Mason said. "He did a great job of keeping us in the game, and that's all I ask from my starters. I don't ask for shutouts, and he gave us every chance we could hope for."

But it was another rough day for the Paints' bullpen.

Tyler Meigs and closer Daryl Arreola pitched well in the seventh and eighth - the only run of that span coming in unearned style off Arreola in the eighth - before Washington got three runs off Brian Marshall on two hits, two walks and a hit batsman in the ninth to put the game out of reach. Zach Johnson relieved Marshall with one out in the final inning. He walked the first batter he faced before getting Ben Ramsey to ground into a double play to end Washington's three-run final frame.

"I'm still trying to find out about some of my guys," Mason said. "I thought the pitchers we used came in the right situations, but you're still looking at where the pieces fit. Daryl (Arreola) pitched the eighth inning of a 4-2 game, and if we're up 4-2, he's out there for the ninth too. But I didn't see any reason to burn him for another inning because we might need him again tomorrow.

"Maybe some roles will change - that's possible. But we're only seven games in."

Hartfelder cruised through the first four innings before giving up the first run of the game on an RBI double to Kyle Werman with two outs in the fifth. But the Paints bounced right back, scoring two of their own on Gavin Ng's one-out, two-on double in the bottom of the inning to take the lead.

But after Hartfelder rolled easily through the sixth, Washington struck back when Mario Garza's first homer of the summer tied the game and Ben Ramsey followed that with a single to center. That was enough to chase Hartfelder, but reliever Tyler Meigs gave up an RBI double over Ng's head in center to Kyle Padgett to put the Wild Things up for good.

But they weren't done.

Washington scored four times on only four hits in the final two innings, quickly turning a once-close game into a five-run game thanks to some wildness by the Paints bullpen. Chillicothe tacked on its final run when Travis Storrer doubled home John Torres Jr. in the ninth.

"We're doing enough to win games offensively and defensively," Mason said. "Pitching-wise is where we're still (lacking). It's a little frustrating because we're starting to come around, but I'm just now being able to spend more time with the individual guys. They're here for a reason, and we're going to get it figured out."

The next chance for that will come at 7:05 tonight when the Paints - behind starter Bryan Johnson (0-0, 9.82) - will play the second game of the brief series against Washington. Pat Stanley (1-0, 1.50) will get the ball for the Wild Things.