Rainiers Dealt Third Consecutive Walk-off Loss, Lose 7-6 on Wild Pitch

ALBUQUERQUE, NM (May 17, 2025) — The Tacoma Rainiers (17-27) held a 6-2 lead after eight innings, but the Albuquerque Isotopes (19-24) plated five runs in the ninth inning and scored the winning run on a wild pitch to deal the Rainiers their third consecutive walk-off loss, 7-6, on Saturday night at Isotopes Park.

Blas Castaño entered the game with 37.2 innings under his belt without allowing a home run, the second-most innings in baseball without allowing a long ball. Warming Bernabel ended that streak with a one-out, solo home run in the third inning, his sixth of the season, giving the Isotopes a 1-0 lead.

Anthony Molina retired the first six batters he faced over the first two innings. The Rainiers saw their first baserunners in the third as Spencer Packard drew a leadoff walk but was eliminated on a 6-4-3 double play. Jack Lopez and Rhylan Thomas each singled with two outs but could not plate a run, stranding runners at the corners.

The Rainiers got on the board in the fourth inning as Samad Taylor led off the frame with a double and Dominic Canzone smacked a two-run home run to left-center field, his 10th of the year, to put the Rainiers up 2-1. Two batters later, Austin Shenton hit a solo home run to center field, his eighth of the season, padding the lead at 3-1.

Two more Tacoma runs scored in the fifth inning. Thomas, Cole Young and Taylor each singled to load the bases with no outs. Canzone then hit a ground ball back to the pitcher that turned into a 1-2-3 double play, cutting down Thomas at the plate. Tyler Locklear delivered a two-run single up the middle to bring in Young and Taylor and extend the Rainier lead to 5-1.

The bottom of the Rainiers’ lineup produced another run in the sixth inning. Spencer Packard led off with a double. Blake Hunt filed out to center field, allowing Packard to tag up and move to third base. Lopez singled to drive in Packard, putting the Rainiers up 6-1, their largest lead of the game.

Castaño continued to dominate the Isotopes lineup, firing 7.0 innings of one-run baseball. He did not allow a hit after a leadoff single in the fourth inning, which was also the last runner to reach scoring position against Castaño, who did not factor into the decision on Saturday.

Albuquerque’s rally started in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jackson Kowar entered the game on Major League rehab, striking out his first two batters. Ryan Ritter then hit a triple off the center field wall and Sam Hilliard singled to bring him in, getting the Isotopes their second run. Sean Bouchard drew a walk, bringing about the end of Kowar’s outing. William Fleming came in to get the final out of the inning, which he did on one pitch.

Trailing 6-2 going into the bottom of the ninth inning, the first four Isotope batters of the inning picked up hits. Keston Hiura doubled, followed by three straight singles from Bernabel, Zac Veen and Braxton Fulford. Veen and Fulford each drove in a run, cutting the Rainiers’ lead to 6-4. Hagen Danner entered the game in relief of Fleming, with runners at the corners and one out. Ritter then hit a double to the left-center field gap, scoring Veen and Fulford to tie the game at six.Hilliard was intentionally walked, putting runners at first and second. Bouchard then hit his third single of the game into left field, but Packard got the ball in quickly, holding the winning run at third base. A wild pitch allowed Ritter to score, giving the Isotopes their third consecutive walk-off win over Tacoma, winning 7-6.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Saturday was the Rainiers’ third consecutive walk-off loss and fifth of the season…the Rainiers’ five walk-off losses are tied for the most in the minor leagues…the last time the Rainiers were walked off in three consecutive games was September 9-12, 2023, with the first two coming against Salt Lake and the third against Oklahoma City
• Blas Castaño became the sixth PCL pitcher this year to log a start of at least 7.0 innings and one-or-fewer runs allowed, and the first Rainier to do so since Emerson Hancock’s complete game shutout on July 21, 2024, against Reno
• Dominic Canzone’s home run in the fourth inning extended his hitting streak to 16 games, the third-longest streak in the PCL this year and the second-longest active streak…over his streak, Canzone is hitting .354 (23x65) with five doubles, eight home runs, 24 RBI and 16 runs scored