When things started to go wrong for the Tacoma Rainiers, it seemed as though there was nothing they could do to make them stop.
They just couldn’t get the one pitch, the one play or the one out to keep things from getting out of hand in a five-run fourth inning that ultimately cost them a 7-4 Pacific Coast League loss to the Iowa Cubs on Saturday at Cheney Stadium.
“We gave up a few hits in the inning. We had a couple of misplays in the inning. And we gave up some free bases in the inning, which turned into runs,” Rainiers manager Daren Brown said.
For a team clinging to postseason hopes, the loss wasn’t back-breaking, but it didn’t help.
Tacoma (59-62) came into the night 31/2 games out of first in the Pacific North division. But the loss, coupled with a Colorado Springs win, dropped them 41/2 games back. If there was a silver lining, the Salt Lake Bees, who were tied for second with the Rainiers, also lost.
Remove that five-run fourth, or at least limit it to one or two runs, and the Rainiers might have prevailed. Tacoma held a 3-1 lead going into the fourth thanks to an RBI single from Chris Shelton and a deep two-run homer from Bryan LaHair in the second inning – his 25th of the season – all against Cubs starter J.R. Mathes (11-6)
The fourth started with a harmless-appearing single to lead off by Brad Snyder against Rainiers starter Chris Seddon (7-7). But a double and a walk loaded the bases for Steve Clevenger, who singled to right to score two runs.
That’s when things fell apart. Shelton booted a grounder to third to reload the bases, bringing up leadoff hitter So Taguchi.
The former big leaguer doubled to right to score two runs, and a throwing error by Prentice Redman allowed another run to score.
Seddon stopped the bleeding by getting three straight fly outs. But the damage – five runs on four hits – was done.
“It’s not indicative of how we’ve been playing,” Brown said. “We’ve been playing pretty good baseball for the last few weeks. It was just that one inning that got messy.”
Brown was thankful it wasn’t messier.
“It could have been worse,” Brown said. “Seddon made some pitches to get out of it and did a nice job of keeping us somewhat in the game.”
Seddon allowed six runs, five earned, on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts in five innings. It was the most runs he’d allowed in a start since May 18.
It didn’t help him that the Rainiers couldn’t muster much late offense. The relief duo of John Gaub and Blake Parker held Tacoma to three hits and one run – Mike Carp’s solo home run in the eighth – in the final four innings.
“We just couldn’t get anything going after the second inning,” Brown said.
Iowa even tacked on an insurance run in the ninth when Micah Hoffpauir hit a solo home run to right against reliever Randy Messenger.
On tap
The Rainiers will face the Iowa Cubs in game three of the four-game series at 1:30 p.m. today. Right-hander Andy Baldwin (6-8, 4.59 ERA) will start for Tacoma, while the Cubs will send lefty James Russell to the mound. The game will be broadcast on 850-AM and televised on Comcast Sports Northwest.
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483
ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com
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