Christian Johnson carried a no-hitter through 6.2 innings to help the Schaumburg Boomers to a 4-1 victory over the Windy City ThunderBolts at Wintrust Field on Wednesday night, lowering the magic number to win the West Division down to two.
Johnson worked a 1-2-3 first inning and the Boomers provided enough support in the bottom of the frame. Christian Fedko led off with a double. Chase Dawson walked and stole second. With two away Nick Podkul slashed a two-run single to left to open the scoring. The lead grew to 4-0 in the third. Anthony Calarco drove home his 116th run of the year with a groundout and Podkul followed with a solo homer. Windy City had just two baserunners against Johnson going into the seventh. Johnson retired the first five batters and then sat down nine straight from the second through the fifth. Following consecutive strikeouts in the seventh, James Dunlap recorded the first hit, a double to center. The lone run for Windy City scored in the eighth.
Johnson earned his fourth win of the year by tossing eight innings and allowing just one run on two hits with a walk and five strikeouts. Mitch White was able to shut the door for his 11th save of the season. The Boomers finished with seven hits. Seven of the nine members of the lineup reached base.