Rainiers and Chihuahuas Split Twin Bill

TACOMA, WA – The Tacoma Rainiers (15-10) and El Paso Chihuahuas (11-14) split their doubleheader, with El Paso winning game one 7-4 and Tacoma winning game two 3-2, Friday at Cheney Stadium.

Dallas Keuchel recorded two quick outs in the first inning before running into trouble, as El Paso strung three hits together and took an early 2-0 lead. They scored in each of the next three innings as well, highlighted by home runs from Tim Locastro and Donovan Solano.

Trailing 6-0, Tacoma got on the board with an RBI single from Michael Chavis in the fifth. Matthew Batten used an RBI single of his own in the sixth to bring the Chihuahuas’ lead back to six, at 7-1.

The Rainiers cut their deficit in half in the bottom of the sixth, scoring three runs on an RBI double from Jason Vosler, ground out from Brian Anderson and another single from Chavis. Their comeback attempt stalled from there, as the Chihuahuas took game one of the doubleheader by a score of 7-4.

El Paso didn’t waste any time getting on the board in game two, as Clay Dungan hit the first pitch of the game over the wall, giving the Chihuahuas a 1-0 lead. They added a second run in the third inning on a ground out from Bryce Johnson, going up 2-0.

Gabe Mosser, who entered the game with an ERA of 189.00, spun four perfect innings, striking out six batters along the way. As soon as Mosser left the game, Tacoma tied it, as Anderson doubled in two runners who reached base via free passes.

Anderson gave Tacoma their first lead of the night the next inning with a sacrifice fly, making it 3-2. Trevor Kelley earned his first save of the year, closing out the game with a scoreless final inning to even the series.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Michael Chavis went 2-for-3 with two more runs batted in in game one of the doubleheader, giving him a team-leading eight multi-hit games this year for Tacoma.
• Trevor Kelley became the third Rainiers pitcher to earn a save this year, throwing a scoreless seventh inning.
• Tacoma recorded just one hit in their 3-2 win over El Paso, a two-run double from Brian Anderson. They took advantage of five walks and a hit batter.

Tacoma and El Paso will meet for game five of their six-game series tomorrow night, with first pitch from Cheney Stadium scheduled for 6:05 pm. For more information and tickets, visit https://www.milb.com/tacoma.