Rainiers Fall to Long Ball

SACRAMENTO, CA – The Tacoma Rainiers (17-11) allowed four home runs, dropping the series opener to the Sacramento River Cats (18-10) by a score of 6-4, Tuesday at Sutter Health Park.

Sacramento got on the board in the first inning on an RBI double from Trenton Brooks to take a 1-0 lead. They padded their lead in the third on solo home runs from Casey Schmitt and Brooks, growing their lead to three.

On the other side, Tommy Romero limited Tacoma’s offense to just two hits and two walks, striking out four hitters over his 5.0 scoreless innings. The River Cats scored a fourth run on yet another solo home run, this time from Brett Wisely in the seventh inning.

Down to their final three outs trailing 4-0, the Rainiers came all the way back to tie the game. They scored four runs on a bases loaded walk from Samad Taylor, a two-run single from Michael Papierski and a wild pitch.

Brett Wisely ended their hopes of a true comeback, however, using a two-out, two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the River Cats a 6-4 win.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Casey Lawrence spun a quality start tonight, tossing six innings of three-run ball. The right-hander allowed seven hits including two home runs and two walks while striking out four.
• After going hitless last series against the Chihuahuas, Michael Papierski collected two of Tacoma’s five hits tonight.

Tacoma and Sacramento will play game two of their six-game series tomorrow afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 12:05 pm. For more information and tickets, visit https://www.milb.com/tacoma.