Wasted Comeback

Saturday’s road trip opener in Tucson was one of those frustrating games that just makes you groan.

Trailing 7-0 after six innings, Tacoma scored seven runs in the top of the 7th inning to tie the score, 7-7. Alex Liddi hit a two-out, two-run double, and then Mike Carp extended his hitting streak to 20 straight games with the game-tying two-run single.

Cesar Jimenez came in to pitch the bottom of the inning, and he recorded two quick outs. Just when it seemed Tacoma had all of the momentum, the Tucson Padres 7-8-9 hitters executed a two-out rally, with Luis Durango doubling home two runners to give Tucson the 9-7 lead.

Durango’s at-bat was impressive: Jimenez got ahead of him 1-2, and Durango fouled off pitch after pitch, eventually working a full count, before yanking a liner down the left field line to give Tucson the lead.

Tucson tacked on three more runs in the eighth and won it, 12-8.

Several concerns for the Rainiers, and they all fall under the categories of pitching and defense which have plagued the team since opening day.

First, Tacoma made two more errors yesterday and could have easily been charged with two more. The team’s defense, in a word, has been awful – all season long. Outfielders fumbling grounders, not catching fly balls, leisurely getting the ball back into the infield on hits allowing runners to take an extra base – we saw it all yesterday.

The Rainiers have the 2nd most errors in the PCL and the worst team fielding percentage.

Second, the Rainiers pre-season ace really struggled yesterday – in a new way. Luke French, known for his command, walked a career-high eight batters over 4.2 wild innings yesterday. French had previously walked more than five only once in his career, six in a game against the White Sox at Safeco in August, 2009. He could count his career five-walk games on one hand. I don’t know what happened yesterday, but it wasn’t pretty. Hopefully it was an isolated incident.

Third, the team is having trouble finding any consistency in the bullpen. Both Cesar Jimenez and Josh Lueke have had good outings recently, and both allowed important runs in the late innings yesterday. In both instances, the reliever couldn’t close the inning after there were two outs.

I don’t know what the answer is to these problems – there certainly isn’t a quick fix available – but it’s going to be a long season if the Rainiers don’t clean up some of these issues.

Here is some good news: the team activated Matt Mangini from the disabled list yesterday, and he went 1-for-5 with a run in his first action since May 10. Chris Seddon was placed on the temporarily inactive list to make room, but he is still scheduled to start on Thursday in Sacramento.

Well today is a new day and the Rainiers play a rare Sunday night game in Tucson, at 7:00. You can hear it on 850 AM or streaming online. Tacoma starts knuckleballing RHP Charlie Haeger (0-0, 7.00) against Tucson veteran RHP Jon Leicester (3-0, 3.45).

I’m pretty sure manager Daren Brown is going to use Josh Bard as the catcher today. How will Bard catch the knuckleballer? It is well-known that he struggled catching Tim Wakefield, leading to his infamous trade to San Diego. Reliving this bit of baseball drama through the internet today, I was reminded that Jason Varitek couldn’t catch Wakefield, either. Mirabelli must have had some sort of special knuckleball catching skill.

Sunday links are the best links:

• Here is the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune, as typed at high-speed by yours truly well after the paper’s deadline.
• In my minor league notebook, I wrote about how the exchange of Reno and Tucson in the divisions effected the PCL standings.
• The Rays slowed down the Mariners behind Jeremy Hellickson yesterday. Hellickson and Michael Pineda could have a really entertaining battle for the AL Rookie of the Year award this season.
• In his Sunday column, Ryan Divish tells the Mariners to just pick the best player available, period. I couldn’t agree more. The Mariners have the #2 pick in tomorrow’s draft.
• Also writing about the draft, Larry Stone thinks that Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon could be the Mariners pick.*
• Here’s a whole bunch of Mariners notes from Larry LaRue. LaRue has been out at Cheney Stadium quite a bit this year and he blogged about Mike Carp.
• John McGrath wrote about Carlos Peguero and the Ted Williams Shift.
• There are some good tidbits in Stone’s Sunday Notebook, including a good quote from Indians manager Manny Acta, and depressing news from Florida – at least far as my one-man DMB team is concerned.
• Here are Stone’s Power Rankings. Of course, his #1 team is in danger of being swept by Pittsburgh today, haha! His A’s comment made me laugh.
• Ex-Rainiers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo is struggling since his legal trouble. He’s very open about it, and I’m pulling for him.
• John Shea from the San Francisco Chronicle always has a good Sunday column and today he writes about how the new bats in NCAA baseball have caused scouts to adjust.
• In the PCL-North, first-place Reno extended its lead with a 3-2 win over Salt Lake. New Aces catcher Lucas May had the game-winning hit. The Aces have six starters batting over .300.
• Colorado Springs can’t beat Sacramento – they are 0-5 against the River Cats after yesterday’s loss. The Sky Sox lost tough reliever Rex Brothers to the big leagues.
• They had a rainout in Fresno on June 4 – and you say the apocalypse didn’t happen.
• The Nashville Sounds have the best collection of outfield arms in the PCL.
• Tommy Hunter had a rough rehabilitation start and Round Rock got ripped by Albuquerque, 8-3.
• Good news for PCL radio guys and newspaper editors: in this story we learn that New Orleans reliever Pete Andrelczzyk was shipped to Double-A. Our gain is the Southern League RG’s misfortune.
• The Iowa Cubs picked up their first win of the season on a travel day yesterday, as Bryan LaHair chipped in with a homer. LaHair is batting .363 with 14 homers and 42 RBI.
• The New Orleans Zephyrs like their promotions small. Mini, even.
• Here’s more on the ballpark plan in Vancouver, WA.

This Sunday night game feels weird, but it’s so hot in Tucson they do this for the players and fans. It’s kind of nice to be able to take my time with all of the good Sunday baseball stories, and I think I might mix in a nap. I could get used to this!

* I’m hoping Rendon goes 0-for-4 today – his Rice Owls are playing my Cal Bears in an NCAA regional elimination game.