In search of their first series win in the second half of the season, the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, tossed a shut-out in a, 2-0, victory over the Washington Wild Things on Sunday evening at UC Health Stadium.
The win is the fourth in six games for the Freedom, who captured three of four from Washington over the weekend.
Luis Pintor would prove vital for Florence (45-29), working a two-out walk from John Havird (5-5) in the second before stealing second and third base, his twenty-first and twenty-second base theft of the season.
Ryan Rinsky delivered the timely hit, shooting a single to left to plate Pintor and propel the home team ahead of the Wild Things (20-43), 1-0.
Johnathon Tripp (4-3) was masterful in second start since making the transition to the Freedom five-man rotation. The righty would surrender just one hit over six dominant innings, fanning four and walking two en route to his fourth victory.
Pintor came up clutch again in the fourth, dropping his fifth homer of the season into the Freedom bullpen in right, providing a little insurance as the score became, 2-0, the eventual final.
The southpaw, Havird, would span six strong innings allowing a pair of earned runs, matching four strikeouts with the same number of walks on his way to a quality-start defeat.
Righty relievers, Carter Johnson and James Meeker each worked scoreless seventh and eighth frames behind the starter.
Making his Freedom debut after Tripp, was Jared Cheek who signed with Florence on Friday. Cheek hurled a clean inning and a third, whiffing two before Karl Craigie emerged with two outs to find in the eighth.
Craigie worked fast, lowering his earned run average to 0.30 while earning his sixth save. The southpaw struck out four of the five outs he recorded, slamming the door on the, 2-0, Freedom win.
The Freedom will enjoy a Monday off-day before taking the diamond next on Tuesday.
Florence will travel to Schaumburg for a mid-week three-game set with the Boomers. The Freedom will toss a TBD starter at LHP Gunnar Kines (6-4, 2.72) of Schaumburg with first pitch slated for 6:30 p.m. CDT.
The Florence Freedom are members of the Independent Frontier League and play all home games at UC Health Stadium located at 7950 Freedom Way in Florence, KY. The Freedom can be found online at florencefreedom.com, or by phone at (859) 594-4487.
Florence Freedom
