May 26, 2023 4 min read

Prior to his team’s game Friday night against the Tri-City ValleyCats, Wild Things manager Tom Vaeth talked about its recent slide and the young pitching staff’s struggles by comparing them to the Beatles.

The Beatles? Yep.

“I’m sure that when John, Paul, George and Ringo played together for the first time, they weren’t the Beatles,” Vaeth said. “I’m sure it took some time for them, to use a rock term, to become tight. They had to play together for a while. That’s like our young guys. They need to play together a while.”

Washington’s play struck a sour note again against Tri-City with a 6-3 loss before a Fireworks Night crowd of 1,789.

The loss dropped the Wild Things’ record below .500 (6-7) for the first time this season. It is the sixth consecutive loss, which is the longest losing streak for Washington in manager Tom Vaeth’s three seasons.

Wild Things right fielder Anthony Brocato had a big night, going 4-for-4 with two RBI. He was a double shy of hitting for the cycle.

Left fielder Tristan Peterson also homered for Washington.

Tri-City starter Rafi Vasquez (2-0), who shut out Washington five days earlier, pitched five innings to get the win. He gave up seven hits and three runs but got 11 outs on ground balls and struck out three.

Reymin Guduan, the fourth Tri-City pitched, threw a scoreless ninth inning for his second save.

Washington starter Spencer Johnson (1-2) gave up 10 hits and three walks in five innings but limited the damage to five runs (four earned).

Tri-City started fast, scoring two runs in the top of the first against Johnston. Josh Broughton and Jaxon Hallmark began the game with consecutive singles. Two outs later, Tri-City first baseman Trey Hair drove in two runs with a double to right field.

Hair hit two home runs off Johnston on Sunday in the ValleyCats’ 4-0 win in Troy, N.Y.

In the fourth, the Tri-City lead grew to 4-0 in the fourth. The inning began with a walk to Pavin Parks, the No. 9 hitter in the ValleyCats’ lineup. Parks went 1-for-2 with two walks, continuing a trend during homestand of Wild Things pitchers struggling against he opponent’s No. 9 hitter. They are 9-for-12 in the four games.

Broughton had his second single of the game and scored, along with Parks, on a solid two-out single by Carson McCusker.

Washington countered its first run in the bottom of the fourth. Andrew Czech hit a two-out single and scored when Brocato’s hit into the right-centerfield gap split the outfielders and rolled to the wall for an RBI triple.

The teams traded single runs for two innings. Tri-City designated hitter Aaron Altherr hit a solo home run in the fifth inning and had an RBI single in the sixth that made it 6-2.

Altherr is one of five for major leaguers playing in the Frontier League this season. He played 359 major league games from 2014-19. Altherr’s best season was 2017 when he hit 19 home runs and drove in 65 for the Philadelphia Phillies.

The 32-year-old Altherr later had briefs stints with San Francisco and the New York Mets before playing two years in the KBO League in South Korea.

Brocato hit his second home run of the season in sixth inning and Peterson added his second two innings later. Both blasts were solo shots.

“We’re not playing good baseball right now,” Vaeth said. “We have to play better baseball.

Notes

Washington is 13-12 all-time against Tri-City including an 11-5 mark at Wild Things Park. … Wild Things reliever Chistian James pitched the eighth inning, striking out the side. … Washington was without second baseman Scotty Dubrule, who was attending his brother’s graduation from the United States Military Academy. Kevin Dubrule was the Patriot League Player of the Year after leading the conference with a .411 batting average. … Greg Loukinen (2-1, 4.35) will pitch tonight’s middle game of the series against Tri-City’s Elijah Gill (0-1, 8.64).