Ridiculously, Tacoma's Win Streak Ends

The Rainiers six-game win streak came to end last night with a ten inning loss at Sugar Land, 7-6.

We’re now going to attempt to explain how this game ended. The whole series of events really boggles the mind.

Thanks to a Brian O’Keefe three-run homer and a nice first start of the year from Logan Allen, the Rainiers held a 5-1 lead at the seventh inning stretch. But in typical PCL fashion, a comeback bid was started by Sugar Land. The Cowboys scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh, with Jon Singleton hitting a homer, and now it was 5-4.

It was still 5-4 when we went to the bottom of the ninth. Apparently Rainiers closer Matt Festa was not available, unbeknownst to me, so major league veteran Diego Castillo was summoned to try to close it out.

And it looked like it was going to work. Castillo quickly retired the first two batters, and just had to get the No. 9 hitter to finish it off.

Welp, he walked Luke Berryhill on four pitches. Then a wild pitch sent him to second. A passed ball moved him to third. Now rattled and with the pitch clock winding down, Castillo balked and Berryhill scored the tying run.

So we went to the tenth, tied 5-5, and we need to backtrack for a minute. In the series opener Tuesday the Rainiers knocked out Sugar Land’s starting pitcher in the first inning, and they used a lot of relievers. Yesterday Sugar Land’s starting pitcher Ronel Blanco got called up, and then his replacement Shawn Dubin was scratched moments before game time, and the Cowboys were forced into a bullpen game that they were unprepared for.

By the time the tenth inning rolled around, Sugar Land had already used six pitchers, the final three of whom pitched back-to-back games Tuesday and Wednesday. They were out of pitching.

Space Cowboys manager Mickey Storey – now a PCL veteran – had no choice but to send a position player to the mound in the top of the tenth inning. In came reserve outfielder Marty Costes, lobbing 45-miles-per-hour pitches towards the plate.

Normally when Triple-A hitters face a position player lobbing the ball in, it’s the end of a game with the score 17-5 or something. Not a tie game when you actually have to try to hit the thing – and professional hitters are not used to hitting slow-pitch softball lobs.

Riley Unroe was the automatic runner at second base. Ryan Bliss was first up, and he walked on four pitches as Costes couldn’t lob a strike (Bliss went 0-for-3 with two walks, two strikeouts, and a stolen base in his Mariners organization debut).

Then Brian O’Keefe came up, and he watched Costes lob ball one and ball two up there. But then Costes got a couple of lobs over the plate for called strikes, and suddenly O’Keefe had to try to hit the thing. And hit it he did: a grounder directly at the shortstop for a double play, and now the Rainiers were in big trouble.

Unroe did eventually score the go-ahead run, scampering home when a short lob skipped a few feet away from the Sugar Land catcher in a bold and successful bit of baserunning, but the Rainiers needed to score more than one run off the pitching outfielder.

Castillo took the mound again in the bottom of the tenth, once again protecting a one-run lead, but now with an automatic runner placed at second base. He got the first out, but Pedro Leon doubled home the tying run. After an intentional walk to Bligh Madris, Castillo recorded the second out on a fly ball.

We were one out away from heading to the 11th inning, and another chance for the Rainiers to load up on a position player pitching, but Sugar Land’s J.J. Matijevic ended the game with a sharp ground ball single to right, scoring the speedy Pedro Leon for the walk-off win.

From the walk – wild pitch – passed ball – balk sequence to the position player getting the double play ball in the tenth, this game was beyond abnormal. It’s almost as if it was an insult to our intelligence.

What a way for a winning streak to end.

RAINIERS DAILY

YESTERDAY: The Rainiers six-game win streak came to an end in a wild 7-6, ten-inning loss at Sugar Land as detailed above. Brian O’Keefe hit a three-run home run, his 20th of the season and fourth in his past six games. Logan Allen made his first start of the season and pitched well, allowing one run over five innings. Stephen Kolek struck out all four batters he faced during the seventh and eighth innings.

TODAY: Tacoma Rainiers (53-51, 16-13) at Sugar Land Space Cowboys (44-60, 11-18), 5:05 Pacific.

OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Houston Astros.

OPPOSING MANAGER: Mickey Storey.

SEASON SERIES: Tied, 1-1.

PITCHERS: RHP Adam Oller (1-1, 2.37) at RHP Spencer Arrighetti (0-2, 4.26)

ROSTER MOVES: Prior to yesterday’s game Didi Gregorius opted out of his contract and became a free agent. Both Juan Then and Ryan Bliss reported to the team, with Taylor Trammell and Eduard Bazardo expected today.

HOT HITTERS: Jake Scheiner leads the PCL with 25 home runs, and he has hit 15 of them at Cheney Stadium… Scheiner is the league leader with 85 RBI… Sam Haggerty has reached base in his last 13 games while collecting 22 hits during that time, and he has homered in four of his last seven games, winning PCL Player of the Week… Zach DeLoach has reached base safely in each of his last 11 games, and he has homered in three of his last five… Brian O’Keefe has a six-game hitting streak with four home runs and 11 RBI… Adam Engel has reached base safely in 21 of his last 22 games..

OPPONENT NEWS: Sugar Land just split a six-game series at Las Vegas that ended Sunday night. The Space Cowboys are 8-5 over the last 13 games, but they lost 18 of 23 going into the all-star break… first baseman Jon Singleton has been hot at the plate, ripping seven home runs over his last 12 games… J.J. Matijevic has four homers and ten RBI during a six-game hitting streak… Pedro Leon has a seven-game hitting streak… the Space Cowboys have no former Rainiers or local players on the team.

BROADCAST: All games will be broadcast free on a live audio stream which is available right here.

Unfortunately, there is no traditional terrestrial radio station carrying the games at this time.

PCL SCOREBOARD: Follow all league games in real-time with links to broadcasts and Gameday screens right here.

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