Wingnuts winning streaks built on consistent offense, improving pitching

Taking stock of Wingnuts winning streaks has become an exercise in long addition.

In building a 38-20 record, the Wingnuts have winning streaks of five, six and nine games. Their five-game streak ended Wednesday night after better starting pitching than the previous two but equally prolific offense.

In all but one of the 20 games in those streaks, the Wingnuts have scored at least five runs. They’ve scored at least six runs in all but two games and seven or more 15 times.

When those are added together, the Wingnuts come away with dynamic run totals. They’ve averaged between 8.0 and 8.8 runs in all three winning streaks, reaching double digits twice in each of them.

Such production necessitates team-wide contributions, and the Wingnuts have it with four .300 hitters and 10 batters with 20 or more RBIs.

“It’s been that way,” Wingnuts manager Pete Rose Jr. said. “It hasn’t been one guy. Everybody’s been swinging the bat well.”

The pitching has improved from one streak to the next. During the six-game streak, from June 6-11, Wingnuts starting pitchers had a 4.89 ERA. In the nine-game winning streak, it dropped to 3.00 in games from June 30-July 9.

The recently completed five-game streak produced the best pitching yet, with a 2.25 ERA boosted by Alex Boshers’ complete game last Saturday.

The Wingnuts have a stable starting staff following injuries, ineffectiveness and departures. Their depth runs at least six deep, with Garrett Gould and Eddie Medina able to pitch in the rotation or from the bullpen.

This story was originally published July 21, 2016 at 8:28 PM with the headline "Wingnuts winning streaks built on consistent offense, improving pitching."