A year ago, the Cheney Stadium fences wouldn’t have allowed it to be a home run. It might not have even been a double with big Luis Jimenez’s speed, or lack thereof.
But it isn’t a year ago. And Jimenez hit it far enough to win the game for the Tacoma Rainiers.
With the score tied at 5, the left-swinging designated hitter led off the bottom of the ninth with a solo homer just high enough to clear the lowered fence in left field and give the Rainiers a 6-5 win over the Fresno Grizzlies on Thursday.
Jimenez hit the first pitch from reliever Dan Otero for his ninth home run of the season. It was the first walk-off win for the Rainiers this season.
“We’ll take them,” Rainiers manager Daren Brown said. “It’s the way this park is playing this year. I don’t know if either of them would have been out last year, but they’re out this year.”
Besides Jiminez, Kyle Seager hit his first Rainiers homer – a three-run shot in the second off of Fresno’s Ronnie Ray.
Seager added two other hits along with a walk to finish 3-for-4. He is now hitting .548 (17-for-31) since being called up from Double-A Jackson.
Jimenez has been nearly as hot for Tacoma. The game-winner was his fifth homer in the last five games. He has raised his batting average to .287 and has driven in 39 runs for Tacoma.
Jimenez’s homer also made a winner out of reliever Josh Lueke (2-3). Lueke, who was recently named the Rainiers’ representative on the Pacific Coast League All-Star team, relieved starter Nate Robertson in the eighth inning. Spotted a 5-3 lead, Lueke gave it right back to Fresno. He hit Tyler Graham to start the inning, and then gave up a double to Justin Christian. With Graham at third, Lueke threw a wild pitch in the dirt to allow a run to score. Edgar Gonzalez later tied the game on a single to center.
Lueke’s first blown save of the year cost Robertson a win. The veteran lefty looked solid, pitching seven innings and allowing three runs on five hits, while walking one and striking out four. Robertson threw 90 pitches, 58 were strikes.
“We made it tough on ourselves,” Brown said. “I thought Robertson was good. He was efficient with his pitches. ”
ROSTER MOVES GALORE
With both of their catchers – Josh Bard and Jose Yepez - called up to the big leagues, the Rainiers filled the void by calling up Ralph Henriquez from Double-A Jackson and Trevor Coleman from Single-A High Desert.
The Rainiers also added right-hander Jarrett Grube from Jackson. Grube was 5-2 in 14 starts with a 3.14 ERA.
Tacoma also removed a few players from its roster. Infielder Leury Bonilla was dropped to Jackson, while reliever Denny Bautista was released and will instead head to Korea to play for Hanwhan Eagles.
ON TAP
The Rainiers will send left-hander Chris Seddon (5-4, 4.89 ERA) to the mound for the start today at 7:05 p.m. Fresno will go with right-hander Shane Loux (5-3, 4.45). The game is on 850-AM and www.tacomarainiers.com.
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