Rainiers Surrender Six Unanswered Runs in 6-3 Loss to Chihuahuas

EL PASO, TX (August 27, 2025) — The Tacoma Rainiers (71-55/33-20) fell 6-3 to the El Paso Chihuahuas (70-57/32-20) on Wednesday afternoon at Southwest University Park. With the loss, Tacoma remains in first place now 0.5 game ahead of El Paso in the second half.

Tacoma sent eight batters to the plate in the top of the first inning to bring in three runs on four singles. Rhylan Thomas reached on a one-out single before Harry Ford singled to extend his on-base streak to 26 games. With runners on the corners, Ben Williamson drove in the first run of the afternoon with a single to center field. Miles Mastrobuoni loaded the bases after drawing a two-out walk. Leo Rivas hit a single in the gap to left field to bring in Ford and Williamson and Tacoma led 3-0.

El Paso wasted no time bringing in a run in the bottom of the first inning. With two-outs, Yonathan Perlaza roped a double to left field before being brought in on a single from Luis Campusano. Tacoma starter, Dylan File, went on to post zeroes for the following four frames, keeping El Paso off the board until the sixth. After pitching into the sixth inning, File gave the ball over to Austin Kitchen who pitched the following 1.2 innings. In File’s debut, he tossed 5.0 innings allowing two runs on six hits while striking out two in a no-decision.

The Chihuahuas put together five runs over the following three frames. In the bottom of the sixth, Campusano led off with a double followed by a single from Nate Mondou. Rodolfo Duran gave El Paso their first lead of the game with a three-run blast to left field to put the Chihuahuas up 4-3.

In the seventh inning, Tirso Ornelas lined a one-out double to right before being brought in on a double to left from Perlaza to extend the advantage to 5-3. Tacoma loaded the bases in the home half of the frame but the Chihuahuas turned a double play to keep Tacoma off the board.

El Paso added one more run in the bottom of the eighth inning. A walk from Clay Dungan along with a single from Ripken Reyes stationed two before a ground out advanced both to scoring position. Ornelas hit a ground-rule double to right to drive in a run and El Paso extended a 6-3 lead. Tacoma went down in order in the ninth and the score held with the Rainiers falling 6-3 in game two.

Wes Benjamin earned the winning decision after tossing 5.0 scoreless innings allowing two hits while walking one and striking out one in relief. Austin Kitchen was saddled with the loss after tossing 1.2 innings allowing three runs on five hits while walking one. Ron Marinaccio earned the save with 1.0 perfect inning with one strikeout in the ninth.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Harry Ford extended his on base streak to 26 games after a single in the first inning today…across the 25-game stretch, Ford is hitting .280 with 4 2Bs, 7 HRs, 24 RBI, and 3 SB, while notching a .416 OBP…Ford’s streak represents the second-longest active on-base streak in the PCL.
• Rhylan Thomas has reached safely in the last 14 games dating back to August 12th…in that span, Thomas has hit .377 with a pair of doubles, 9 RBI, and 7 stolen bases to notch a .441 OBP…Thomas has struck out just once in that span compared to 9 walks.
• After going 1-for-2 today with a pair of walks, Miles Mastrobuoni extended his on-base streak to 7 games while also extending his hit streak to 4 games…since joining Tacoma on August 19th, he has hit .320 across 8 games with 3 doubles, 1 homer, 5 RBI, and 5 stolen bases to record a .541 OBP…he has worked 12 walks to 6 strikeouts in that span.