Wild Things lose 4th straight, fall out of first place
PEARL, Miss. – Kasten Furr hit a two-run single in the seventh inning and the Mississippi Mud Monsters defeated the Wild Things 2-1 Friday night, knocking Washington out of first place in the Central Division.
The loss was the fourth straight for Washington, the first time the Wild Things have lost that many in a row since the 2023 season. Combined with Lake Erie’s 2-1 win at Gateway, the loss dropped the Wild Things a half-game behind Lake Erie in the standings. Washington had been in first place since June 1.
The game was scoreless in the sixth inning when Washington’s Ethan Wilder was called out on strikes. Wilder was then ejected, as was Washington starting pitcher Kobe Foster, who was in the dugout at the time. Foster had blanked Mississippi on four hits through five innings. He struck out five and did not walk a batter.
Mississippi took a 2-0 lead against reliever Hector Garcia (3-2), using a single and two walks to load the bases with one out before Furr, the No. 9 batter in the Mud Monsters’ lineup, hit his two-run single.
Washington scored in the eighth when Tommy Caufield raced home on a sacrifice fly by Jeff Liquori.
The Wild Things put runners on second and third with one out in the ninth, but Mississippi closer Sergio Sanchez got Caufield to fly out to shallow left field and struck out Tyreque Reed to end the game.
Winning pitcher Luis Devers (5-3) struck out nine over seven shutout innings.
Andrew Czech had a pair of hits, including a double, but the Wild Things left 12 runners on base.