COLORADO SPRINGS, colo. – The Tacoma Rainiers need to find a way to skip the fourth inning.
For the second straight game, Tacoma’s starting pitcher cruised through three innings looking pretty sharp, only to allow a massive uprising in the fourth.
Andrew Carraway allowed seven runs in the fourth inning to Colorado Springs on Friday night, taking a 13-6 loss in front of 8,115 fans at Security Service Field.
That came one day after Rainiers starter Hector Noesi gave up eight runs in the fourth at home to Sacramento.
“It was different guys on the mound,” said Tacoma manager Daren Brown, “but this whole week’s been weird.”
First it was extra innings in four out of six games, culminating with the epic 18-inning win Wednesday night.
Now it’s a fourth-inning boondoggle.
Noesi had allowed one run in three innings before his trouble on Thursday. Carraway was even sharper, opening the game with three shutout innings and having set down four straight batters going to the fourth.
Then the Sky Sox had seven straight hits to open the inning. Matt McBride hit a two-run double to make it 2-2, Brendan Harris hit a two-run triple, and Chad Tracy hit the very next pitch for a two-run homer to make it 6-2. The Sky Sox tacked on one more unearned run.
The seven-run rally seemed to happen in a blink.
“He left a lot of pitches up in the zone.” Brown said.
Carraway (3-5) returned to the mound in the fifth as Tacoma’s bullpen is still recovering from the string of extra-inning games. He allowed two more runs, and ended up being charged with nine runs on 12 hits in four innings.
Colorado Springs starter Rob Scahill turned in his fourth consecutive quality start, allowing two runs over six innings to earn the win. Scahill (8-9) struck out five batters, raising his season total to 110 – second best in the Pacific Coast League.
Tacoma trailed 13-2 before Mike Wilson connected for a three-run homer in the eighth, making the final score a bit more respectable.
SHORT HOPS
Before the game, Tacoma placed reliever Scott Patterson on the 7-day disabled list with a sore shoulder. Left-hander Jose Jimenez was promoted from Double-A Jackson to take his spot. Jimenez has pitched in 35 games combined between Jackson and Class-A High Desert, going 1-0 with a 3.85 ERA. He allowed three runs in 1 innings Friday in his Triple-A debut.
ON TAP
The second game of the five-game series is tonight at 5:05 (PDT). Tacoma starts Steve Garrison (0-2, 6.50 ERA) against Colorado Springs left-hander Nick Schmidt (1-2, 9.00).
Mike Curto is the radio broadcaster for the Rainiers.
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