Rawhide Drop Road Trip Opener

SAN BERNARDINO--A 4-run bottom of the 5th carried Inland Empire past Visalia 4-2 on Thursday night at San Manuel Stadium, and sent John Omahen to his first loss of the season.

New Rawhide player Stryker Trahan made an immediate impact in the top of the 2nd, launching a long solo home run to right field in his first Cal League at-bat. He also threw out a runner in the bottom of the 2nd.

Omahen, meanwhile, fought his command (successfully) for 4 innings before succumbing in the 5th. A walk to Pedro Ruiz was followed by a sacrifice bunt, a single, and a hit batter to load the bases and bring up Eric Aguilera, who doubled home 3 runs to turn the game around.

Later in the inning, Michael Strentz grounded a ball into center to bring home Aguilera and make it 4-1.

The Rawhide scored in the 7th on a single by Jamie Westbrook and a double by Fidel Pena. But they couldn't score further, and saw their magic number remain at 2.

The 'Hide lead Rancho and Modesto by 9 games with 10 remaining in the First Half. Game 2 of the series is tomorrow night at 7:05.

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