Crawford Drives in Six as Rainiers Hang On to Beat Albuquerque in Series Finale

Tacoma, WA - Shortstop J.P. Crawford went 4-for-5 with a home run and a career-best six RBI as the Tacoma Rainiers jumped out to an 11-run advantage before closing out a 12-8, series-clinching victory over the Albuquerque Isotopes on Monday at Cheney Stadium to earn Mariners top prospect Justus Sheffield his first Rainiers win.
After Albuquerque (17-15) jumped in front with a second inning run, the Rainiers (15-18) evened the score with a third inning sacrifice fly from Eric Young, Jr., scoring Ian Miller. Austin Nola also lifted a sac fly in the inning, allowing Tim Lopes to hustle home for a 2-1 advantage.
The southpaw Sheffield started the game for the Rainiers and earned his first victory of the season, going 5 1/3 one-run innings with four hits, three walks and five strikeouts on his ledger. The lone run that the prospect allowed came on a solo home run in the second.

Sheffield was relieved by right-hander David McKay with a runner on and one out in the fifth. McKay recorded the next four outs consecutively, starting with three punch-outs.
In the bottom of the fifth, Crawford collected his second single and first RBI of the night, bringing home Lopes for his second run.
An inning later, the Rainiers broke the game open with seven runs after seven-straight batters reached with two outs. Miller drove in Shed Long for the first run of the inning and Tim Lopes followed with a run-scoring double. The inning seemed to be in the bag when Mallex Smith legged out an infield grounder to former Tacoma pitcher James Pazos.
After Smith's infield hit, Young, Jr. singled home Lopes for his third of four runs. After Sam Howard replaced Pazos on the mound, Crawford blasted his third home run, a three-run shot to right center. Before the rally came to an end, Shed Long tripled home Austin Nola, giving the Rainiers the cycle as a team in the inning.
Tacoma added their last two runs in the seventh on a hard-hit single off Crawford's bat that got to the right field wall. Miller and Lopes scored to make it 12-1.
Albuquerque scored the last seven runs over the final two innings, but Ruben Alaniz struck out three in the ninth to fend off the Isotopes for the victory.
Crawford's six RBI and Lopes' four runs are both season-highs for the Rainiers.
Tacoma starts a four-game tilt against the Reno Aces, Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, on Tuesday at Cheney Stadium. First pitch is at 6:05 p.m. PDT as Tyler Cloyd (0-0, 0.00) will make his third start. Mike Curto will have full coverage on South Sound Talk 850, with audio streaming available on the Rainiers TuneIn Radio Network.
All tickets, group outings, and suites packages for the 2019 season are available for purchase in person at the Cheney Stadium Box Office, online at TacomaRainiers.com and WeRTacoma.com, or over the phone at (253) 752-7707. The most up-to-date news and notes about the Rainiers throughout the season can be found by following the Rainiers on Twitter (@RainiersLand), Instagram (tacomarainiers) or liking the team on Facebook.
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