Rawhide Fall 3-2, Lose 3rd Straight

VISALIA--A battling effort by the Rawhide fell short, as Modesto again jumped to an early lead and held on for a 3-2 win over Visalia at Rawhide Ballpark on Tuesday night.

The loss was Visalia's 3rd in a row, marking their longest losing streak of the season.

For the 3rd consecutive game, Modesto struck quickly in the 1st. Reimel Tapia fell behind 0-2 against Zack Godley, but then drilled a fastball off the top of the barn in right-center for a solo home run, making it 1-0 Nuts.

Tapia knocked in another run in the 3rd, driving home Wilson Soriano with a single after Soriano had reached on an error and advanced on a sacrifice bunt. It was 2-0.

Antonio Senzatella was dominant for 5 innings for the Nuts, striking out 8 Rawhide hitters. He faltered a bit in the 6th, however, putting 2 runners on and then surrendering a 2-out RBI single to Stewart Ijames, cutting the lead to 2-1.

Modesto got it right back in the 7th, though; Roselle Herrera walked with 1 out, went to 3rd on Troy Stein's single, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ashley Graeter. The Nuts led 3-1.

The Rawhide drew to within 3-2 in the last of the 8th, as Daniel Palka singled and Kevin Cron doubled him home. With the tying run in scoring position and nobody out, however, the 'Hide couldn't bring him home; after a sacrifice bunt moved the runner to 3rd, a strikeout and a ground ball ended the inning, leaving Visalia a run short.

They went in order in the bottom of the 9th against Matt Carasiti, who picked up his 2nd save of the series.

Visalia's lead in the North is now 8 games with 18 to play. They'll head to Bakersfield for 4 games over the weekend before returning to Visalia for 3 against Lancaster next Monday through Wednesday.

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