The Tacoma Rainiers lost at Reno last night, 5-4, losing in the bottom of the ninth inning in one of the most unlucky ways I have ever seen.
Tacoma held a 4-3 lead going into the ninth, and brought in reliever Brett de Geus to close it out. He appeared to be up to the task, retiring the first two hitters. The Rainiers were just an out away from victory, but Reno’s Bryson Brigman kept the game alive with a clean single to center.
That’s when things started to go downhill for the Rainiers – and by no fault of their own.
Reno sent up pinch-hitter Ronaldo Hernandez, and de Geus got him to hit a ground ball up the middle. Rainiers second baseman Samad Taylor was shaded up the middle, and he moved behind the bag to field the ball and get what should have been a routine final out of the game. However, the ball hit second base and bounced askew into the shallow outfield for a single, with Brigman advancing all the way to third.
Well, that was a bummer, but the Rainiers could still win it. Albert Almora was up next, and de Geus jammed him, getting Almora to hit a little bouncer 50 feet up the third base line. Michael Chavis charged it and made a terrific pick-up and throw to first, but Almora runs well and he barely beat it out for a game-tying single.
Two really lucky hits in a row tied the game for Reno with two outs in the ninth, and now we all knew what was coming next. Reno won it seconds later when Adrian Del Castillo pulled a walk-off RBI single into right field, scoring pinch-runner Brett Johnson with the winning run.
Tacoma has lost the first three games on the series, and is now 2-7 on the road trip. After starting the season 13-4, the Rainiers have lost 13 of the last 19 games. This team has been streaky.
Last night’s game should have been a win. Let’s see if they can get one tonight.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Reno had four straight hits with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, scoring two runs to beat Tacoma 5-4. Rainiers starter Dallas Keuchel pitched well, lasting into the sixth inning and allowing two runs. Reliever Joey Krehbiel recorded four key outs in the seventh and eighth innings. Isiah Gilliam went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.
TODAY: Tacoma Rainiers (19-17) at Reno Aces (18-18), 6:05.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Arizona Diamondbacks.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Blake Lalli.
SEASON SERIES: Tacoma leads, 5-4.
PITCHERS: LHP Jhonathan Diaz (5-0, 2.37) at LHP Tommy Henry (1-0, 1.50)
ROSTER MOVES: None today as of blog posting time.
HOT HITTERS: Jason Vosler has reached base in 24 of his last 25 games… Michael Chavis is 7-for-16 during a four-game hitting streak… Brian Anderson has reached base in 17 straight games, hitting safely in 14 of them… Samad Taylor has a six-game hitting streak… Blake Hunt has a four-game hitting streak.
OPPONENT NEWS: Reno just went 3-4 in a seven-game series at Las Vegas… Kyle Garlick was one of the top power hitters in the league to start the season, but he has since slowed down a bit with his last home run coming April 27… the Aces have no former Rainiers on the roster, although they just activated ex-Mariner Kolten Wong from the injured list.
BROADCAST: Games are broadcast on our new radio partner KIXI 880 AM in the Seattle/Tacoma market, also airing on 106.9 HD channel 3. As in the past, there is a live audio stream which is available right here. The stream is also available through the KIXI website. The radio pregame show starts 15 minutes prior to first pitch, and since we are back on terrestrial radio I will do many more interviews this season that air during the pregame show. Streaming telecasts are available via subscription to MLB.TV.
PCL SCOREBOARD: Follow all league games in real-time with links to broadcasts and Gameday screens right here.
Links:
- The Mariners lost the final game of their road trip in Minneapolis yesterday, 11-1.
- Now the M’s are home to face a much-improved Oakland A’s team.
- Mike Vorel has an article full of Mariners stats.
- Adam Jude tries to figure out how Julio Rodriguez became a singles hitter.
- Former PCL and MLB infielder Sean Burroughs passed away at age 44. He played very briefly – just four games – for Tacoma in 2007. He had a crazy story, which Jim Caple wrote about in 2011.
May 19, 2024