Oklahoma City Takes Series Lead

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – The Tacoma Rainiers (78-65) lost by a score of 9-3 to the Oklahoma City Baseball Club (74-69), Saturday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Oklahoma City jumped in front with a solo home run from Dalton Rushing in the first inning, but Tacoma answered in the second on a two-run double from Michael Papierski.

They held their lead until the third, when the Baseball Club tied the game with a solo home run from Andre Lipcius and took the lead on an RBI single from Ryan Ward.

Already up 3-2, Oklahoma City scored three more runs in the fourth on a double from Lipcius and a two-run single from Rushing. The Rainiers scored a run on a fielder’s choice in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough.

A two-run double from Austin Gauthier made it 8-3 and a ninth run scored on an error, giving the Baseball Club a six-run lead after seven frames. Neither team scored again, as Oklahoma City ended Tacoma’s two-game winning streak and took a 3-2 series lead into the finale tomorrow.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Tacoma only had three hits, all from the bottom two hitters in the lineup. Michael Papierski went 2-for-4 and Kobe Kato went 1-for-3.
• Blas Castano suffered his fourth loss of the season, allowing six earned runs on 10 hits including two home runs over 3.1 innings.
• In his first game with Tacoma since Sept. 8, Ryan Bliss went 0-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base. It was his 45^th stolen base of the year, tied for second in the PCL.

Tacoma and Oklahoma City will play their series finale tomorrow afternoon, with first pitch from Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark scheduled for 12:05 PM PT. For more information and tickets, visit https://www.milb.com/tacoma.