Isotopes Get Even

In the first game of the series against Albuquerque on Saturday night, the Rainiers won a game they probably shouldn’t have won.

On Sunday, it was Albuquerque’s turn to steal a win.

Tacoma held a 1-0 lead with two outs in the ninth. Blake Parker had a 1-2 count on Dustin Garneau. Tacoma was a strike away from victory.

But Garneau launched a game-tying homer to left field, and he went to extras.

Tacoma almost won in the tenth, when Rob Brantly drilled a deep drive to right-center – only to have Jordan Patterson catch it at the wall.

Paterson would get the game-winning hit, a two-out, two-run double to right-center in the top of the 12th.

Even after Albuquerque scored three times in the top of the 12th inning, the Rainiers did not quit. They brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the inning before eventually succumbing, 4-2.

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Tacoma is set to start Taijuan Walker in a rehab outing today. He’s been on the Mariners disabled list since July 6 with right foot tendinitis. The hope is that he can go five innings, but that would mean no high pitch-count innings along the way.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: Albuquerque tied it in the ninth and beat Tacoma in the 12th inning, 4-2, to even the series at a game apiece.

Roster Moves: The Mariners made a move today, claiming infielder/outfielder Mike Freeman off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Freeman was hitting .317 with one home run and a .387 on-base percentage for Reno; I assume he’ll join Tacoma in a day or two. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, Tacoma’s Patrick Kivlehan was designated for assignment – if he clears waivers, he’ll rejoin the Rainiers but right now he’s in baseball limbo. Also, it sounds like new lefty Ariel Miranda (acquired yesterday in the Wade Miley trade) is slated to join the Rainiers.

Today: Albuquerque (47-60) at Tacoma (63-45-1), 7:05 (Pacific).

Opponent Affiliation: Colorado Rockies.

Season Series: Tacoma leads, 8-6.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Jeff Hoffman (5-8, 3.95) at RHP Taijuan Walker (-)

Break out your radar guns – we’re going to see some heat tonight. Hoffman is the Rockies top pitching prospect and he throws gas.

Hot Rainiers: Daniel Robertson had his ten-game hitting streak end with an 0-for-4 yesterday. He drove in both Tacoma runs with a pair of sacrifice flies… Tyler Smith had his first four-hit game of the season yesterday, going 4-for-5.

Look Out For: Stephen Cardullo has a ten-game hitting streak, with multiple hits in seven of the games… Tom Murphy hit .540 in July (34-for-63), with eight home runs… catcher Dustin Garneau has hit safely in ten of his last 11 games, with four homers.

Broadcast: The pregame show starts at 6:50 on South Sound Sports 850 AM. The broadcast also streams online via the TuneIn app – just click here.

PCL Scoreboard: Follow all Pacific Coast League games in real-time with links to Gameday screens right here.

Links:

• The Rainiers game story has details on the defeat, and reaction from manager Pat Listach.
• The Mariners also had a tough loss last night, blowing a 6-0 lead in a 7-6 defeat at Chicago. Just like Tacoma, they blew a lead in the ninth and lost in the 12th inning.
• Seattle did not make a trade today, but yesterday they traded Wade Miley to Baltimore for Triple-A lefty Ariel Miranda. Read about it in Bob Dutton’s Mariners Notebook.
• Baseball America wrote up the trade.

PCL Game Reports:

• Reno scored six runs in the seventh inning and beat Fresno, 12-7. So Reno is back to three games behind Tacoma, and Fresno is 4.5 back.
• El Paso shut out Las Vegas, 4-0, and has opened up a huge lead in the South.
• Sacramento exterminated the Salt Lake Bees, 15-1.
• David Washington homered and drove in three runs as Memphis won at Round Rock, 4-2.
• Colorado Springs stunned Oklahoma City with a comeback win, 9-8.
• Nashville’s Chris Jensen pitched well in a 6-2 win at New Orleans.
• Billy Burns made his Omaha debut in an 8-3 loss to Iowa.