It would have been a good tag-line in a country-western song, or the atmospheric first sentence of a detective novel.
But when Tacoma Rainiers manager Daren Brown drawled, “It was a lonely night in the third-base box,” it was the lament of a man whose team’s offense left him all alone and feelin’ blue most of the night.
Only one Rainier made it as far as third base to visit with Brown as the Rainiers got shut out 2-0 by Tucson in a Pacific Coast League loss in front of 4,737 at Cheney Stadium.
“We didn’t do a whole lot offensively,” Brown said. “We had a hard time stringing anything together, and their guy (starter Rob Musgrave) did a nice job.”
The Rainiers (67-71) had won games two nights in a row with late-inning home runs, conditioning fans to expect deferred drama.
And the set-up was there in the eighth as Brown got his first company when Sean Kazmar walked and made it to third on a single by Greg Halman. That brought Monday night’s hero, Michael Saunders, to the plate.
But this time Saunders grounded into a rally-ending double play.
Left fielder Mike Wilson lined a two-out double into left in the bottom of the ninth. But Johan Limonta then struck out to end the game.
Consider that reflective of a game dominated by tough pitching and fine defense.
Tacoma starter Erasmo Ramirez, a 21-year-old from Nicaragua, had an impressive night with a bit of bad fortune. The 180-pound righty heated up the cool night with fastballs in the 90s, but was made to pay for his few miscues.
In the third, Ramirez walked leadoff batter Luis Martinez and then was stung for a home run by Tucson designated hitter Kyle Phillips. So, although he gave up only two hits and one walk while striking out seven, he was tagged for the loss. It dropped his record with Tacoma to 3-2.
“He had a leadoff walk and then an 0-2 pitch he’d like to have back,” Brown said of the breaking ball Ramirez left up in the strike zone to Phillips. “He threw the ball all right beside that; just made one mistake and didn’t get by with it. He’s only 21 years old, hasn’t been here that long, but he’s got a bright future ahead of him.”
Justin Smoak, down from the Mariners on a rehab assignment (broken nose), played in his second game with the Rainiers, serving as designated hitter. Smoak went 0-for-4 with a ground out and pop out before putting a nice charge into a line drive that was pulled in by Tucson center fielder Eric Patterson in the sixth.
He also led off the bottom of the ninth against Tucson reliever Luis Perdomo, and grounded back to the pitcher.
In spite of the limp offense, the Rainiers had several strong defensive plays as Wilson made a diving catch of a Phillips fly in the fifth, and catcher Jose Yepez nailed Anthony Contreras trying to steal second in the sixth inning. Also, reliever Cesar Jimenez struck out four Padres in two innings of work.
BARGAIN TICKETS
Tickets for children 12 and younger will be 50 cents for tonight’s 7:05 game against Tucson.
ON TAP
Scheduled starters for tonight’s game: Tucson’s Samuel Deduno (4-4, 3.91) vs. Tacoma’s Nate Robertson (5-6, 7.16).
Dave Boling: 253-597-8440 dave.boling@thenewstribune.com
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