Five consecutive first-inning singles set the tone for the Tacoma Rainiers on Thursday, producing a 3-0 lead and opening a game in which each of their 10 hits was good for one base.
It may have been unintentional small ball, but it gave Blake Beavan and Josh Lueke enough to work with to beat the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, 4-2, in front of 5,455 at Cheney Stadium.
After Beavan worked a 1-2-3 first inning, the Rainiers came to bat – and Ryan Langerhans, Kyle Seeger, Alex Liddi, Luis Jimenez and Mike Wilson each singled. An extra-base hit in there might have blown the game open, but Tacoma didn’t get one.
Not then. Not all night.
“We didn’t need ’em tonight,” manager Daren Brown said. “Although, without a lot of speed, we need about four singles to score a run sometimes.”
Beavan made “singles night” stand up by pitching seven strong innings for his fifth win of the season – and reliever Lueke came in to pick up his second save.
And the newest Rainier, second baseman Kyle Seeger, made the most of his first game in Class AAA by lining two hard singles in his first two at-bats.
Since May 20, Beavan has made six starts and his earned run average has dropped in each of them. While he has a 4-2 record in that stretch, he pitched well even in the two losses – when he worked a combined 12 innings and allowed all of two earned runs.
That stretch coincides with the addition of a curve to his pitching arsenal, one suggested last month by pitching coach Dwight Bernard.
“Dwight had me throw it in the bullpen, then about five or six starts ago I started working it into the game,” Beavan said. “I’m getting more and more confidence in it. Tonight, I probably threw just under 20 of them.”
This time out, there were two solo home runs, but no damage when there could have been a lot.
Leading 3-0 in the third inning, Beavan had Colorado Springs load the bases with two outs, then got the Sky Sox’s No. 3 hitter, Ian Stewart, on a ground ball to third base.
In the fifth inning, Beavan threw away a ground ball for an error, then a one-out error by shortstop Sean Kazmar put runners at first and third. The right-hander held, getting a pop out and a strikeout.
There were a couple of marvelous defensive plays behind him, too. Center fielder Ryan Langerhans made a diving catch and third baseman Alex Liddi sprawled across the foul line to smother a grounder, then made the out with a strong throw to first.
The same night the Rainiers put infielder Luis Rodriguez on the disabled list (tender elbow), it lost the services of shortstop Sean Kazmar in the sixth inning.
“He hit a hard foul ball off the ground and it came right up and hit him in the chin,” Brown said. “It had him dazed for a few minutes. He wanted to stay in, but the word ‘dizzy’ kept coming up, so we got him out of there.”
Kazmar is expected to return to the lineup tonight.
In a quick two innings of relief, Lueke threw 20 pitches, 15 of them for strikes, and Tacoma snapped its four-game losing streak.
ON TAP
Tacoma plays host to Colorado Springs in a 7:05 p.m. game today. Probable starting pitchers: Billy Buckner (1-2, 5.36 ERA) vs. Nate Robertson (1-2, 5.23).
larry.larue@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners
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