Dogs beat Wichita 5-2

Trevor Simms pitched seven strong innings and Joe Benson drove in three runs to lift the Chicago Dogs to victory over the Wichita Wingnuts 5-2 Wednesday night at Impact Field in Rosemont.

Simms faced just one batter over the minimum in his third start of the season for Chicago, and worked a perfect opening five frames to earn his first victory in a Dogs uniform. The right-hander pitched seven innings, allowing one run on two hits, and striking out nine Wingnuts batters.

The Dogs backed Simms immediately with a run on two hits in the bottom of the first. Kenny Wilson led the frame off with a double, followed by an Edwin Arroyo single and a Treysen Vavra double play that scored Wilson from third.

Chicago later received an RBI single from Vavra and a two-run double from Benson in a three-run bottom of the third to push in front 4-0. A Benson solo-home run to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning pushed the Dogs in front 5-0.

Benson finished the game 2-4 with three RBI. He is now 5-9 in the series, and has driven in seven of the 13 Dogs runs in the series as well.

Logan Watkins accounted for the only Wichita run against Simms, popping a solo home run to lead off the seventh. The Wingnuts then scored once in the eighth and once in the ninth, as Wichita plated their first runs of the series against the Chicago bullpen on two wild pitches.

Taylor Grover worked the ninth inning for Chicago, and picked up his sixth save of the year in seven chances.

Rubi Silva went 1-4 with a double Wednesday, extending his hitting streak to 13 games.

With the victory, the Dogs now sit at 27-42 on the year, while the Wingnuts fall to 43-26.