The host Chillicothe Paints scored eight runs in the first five innings and all eight came with two outs in an 8-2 Frontier League victory over the Florence Freedom Tuesday night at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.

The victory stopped a four-game slide for Chillicothe (5-8) while Florence (6-7) saw its season-high three-game winning streak come to an end.

Paints shortstop Travis Garcia keyed his team’s 13-hit attack with four hits, including two doubles. Garcia drove in a pair of runs and scored one. Left fielder Paul Rutgers drove in two runs with a single in the Paints’ key second-inning uprising that widened their advantage to 5-0 and spelled the end of the night for Florence starting pitcher Chris Webb (2-1). It appeared as though Webb may escape trouble in the second when Paints DH Jaziel Mendoza hit into a 1-6-3 double play, but after catcher Alex Derhak was hit by a pitch, the Paints strung together four consecutive hits with Rutgers’ two-run single being the big blow. Webb, a knuckleballer from Springfield, Ga., gave up five runs on six hits in only two innings to suffer his first loss.

Meanwhile, left-hander Bryan Johnson (2-0) was quieting the Freedom offense. Johnson went seven innings, allowing only two runs on three hits with five walks and three strikeouts. Right-hander Justin Drabek finished up on the mound for Chillicothe with two scoreless innings, giving up only one hit.

Center fielder Reggie Watson scored both Florence runs, and had one of the team’s four hits – a lead-off double in the fourth. Second baseman Joe Holland added a double, while first baseman Beau Blacken drove in one of the two runs with a single in the fourth and left fielder Ryan Basham chipped in with a single in the ninth off reliever Justin Drabek.
Basham was then erased from the base paths when Holland rapped into a 5-4-3 double play.

The same two teams will meet Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. EDT at V.A. Memorial Stadium to conclude the brief two-game series. Right-hander Jason Bowlin (1-1) will pitch for Florence while right-hander Luke Palmer gets the start for Chillicothe.