Rainiers Lose Late Lead in Finale

ALBUQUERQUE, NM– The Tacoma Rainiers (51-42) gave up two solo home runs in the eighth inning, losing to the Albuquerque Isotopes (36-57) by a score of 5-4, Sunday at Isotopes Park.

Both teams were kept silent on offense through the first four frames, as Peyton Battenfield and Blas Castano battled each other pitch-for-pitch. Tacoma broke the scoreless tie in the fifth on a solo home run from Jake Slaughter.

Seby Zavala followed Slaughter and clubbed a two-run blast, giving the Rainiers a 3-0 advantage. Slaughter padded the lead with an RBI single in the sixth, bringing Tacoma’s lead to 4-0 at that point.

A costly error kept the bottom of the sixth inning alive and the Isotopes took advantage, getting a two-run single from Jimmy Herron and an RBI single from Willie MacIver. The game stayed 4-3 until the eighth inning.

Elehuris Montero and MacIver each hit solo home runs in the bottom of the eighth, giving Albuquerque their first lead of the game, at 5-4. It stayed there, as John Curtiss needed just seven pitches to throw a scoreless ninth inning, earning his fifth save of the year.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Blas Castano didn’t allow an earned run, giving up just two hits and two walks while striking out two over 5.1 innings. The right-hander lowered his ERA through three starts to 2.76 with the outing.
• Carlos Vargas suffered his fourth loss of the season after allowing two home runs in the eighth inning today. He entered play with just two home runs allowed all year.
• Jake Slaughter went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two runs batted in today, while Seby Zavala went 1-for-3 with a run scored and two runs batted in. The two drove in all four runs and accounted for three of Tacoma’s eight total hits.

Tacoma will get the next four days off for the All-Star break and resume play on Friday, July 19, at home against Reno. First pitch from Cheney Stadium is scheduled for 7:05 pm. For more information and tickets, visit https://www.milb.com/tacoma.