May 22, 2024 By Chris Dugan 3 min read

The most recent outing by Washington starting pitcher Malik Barrington was infinitely better than his previous appearance at Wild Things Park.

Barrington had a rocky relief outing in the season opener almost two weeks ago when he walked all three batters he faced and each scored, leaving the righthander with an earned run average of infinity.

Since that night, Barrington has been very good and getting better. And the ERA is sinking like a rock.

The former Minnesota Twins farmhand allowed two hits in five innings in a start last week at New England. He took a no-decision because the two hits were home runs.

Against Evansville Wednesday night, Barrington pitched one-run ball over seven innings as the Wild Things extended their winning streak to seven games with a 2-1 victory over the Otters.

Barrington (1-1) walked only one batter – that coming in the first inning – and struck out 10.

“I’m sure Malik wasn’t happy with his first two outings,” Washington manager Tom Vaeth said. “We had talked. He watched Kobe (Foster) pitch Saturday night at Tri-City and had worked with (pitching coach) Alex Boshers, he knew what adjustments he had to make and made them.”

Evansville starter Zach Smith (0-2) also pitched well over 6 2/3 innings. Combined with Barrington’s performance, it was no surprise that the game time was a tidy 2:11.

“Both pitchers did a really good job,” Vaeth said. “Zach Smith was really good. Malik was just a little better.”

Washington made the most of only four hits off Smith and reliever John Beymer. Two of those hits came in the fourth inning when the Wild Things broke a 1-1 tie.

Right fielder Alex Ovalles led off the inning with a single and stole both second and third. Quincy Latimore followed with a walk, and one batter after that first baseman Tyreque Reed laced an RBI single to the gap in right centerfield to give Washington the lead.

Barrington and relievers Alex Carrillo and Gyeongjy Kim made sure the one-run lead would hold up.

Carrillo entered in the eighth and immediately ran into trouble but cleaned it up with one pitch. Singles by Blaze Mozley and Patrick Lee started the eighth, but one pitch after Lee’s hit Carrillo got David Mendham to ground into a double play. A strikeout of cleanup hitter Jomar Reyes ended the threat.

“We got the double play but the job wasn’t finished,” Vaeth pointed out. “They had their most dangerous hitter up and Alex made three good pitches over the outside part of the plate.”

Kim notched his third save by pitching the ninth, though Evansville did get two more singles in the inning.

The Otters took a 1-0 lead in the third when Lee hit a solo home run to left field. It was the center fielder’s third home run of the season.

Washington tied the score in its half of the third. Catcher Ricardo Sanchez drew a one-out walk and moved all the way to third base on a wild pitch. Another wild pitch sent him home with the Wild Things’ first run.

Extra bases

It’s Washington’s first seven-game winning streak since late in the 2021 season. … Smith walked five and struck out seven. … The Otters had two hits in three different innings but failed to score in each. … Washington had five stolen bases.