Erasmo Ramirez has a certain level of comfort pitching at Cheney Stadium.
In his seven starts at home in Triple-A, the right-hander is 4-1 with 2.01 earned-run average compared to an 8.39 ERA and 0-2 record on the road.
The trend continued Saturday.
In Ramirez’s final home start of the season for the Tacoma Rainiers, he dazzled over 7 innings in a 4-1 win over Las Vegas in front of 6,937 fans.
Ramirez allowed four hits and struck out six before leaving with runners on the corners with one out in the eighth. He didn’t allow an earned run and before Luke Hughes’ double in the seventh, Ramirez retired 15 of the previous 16 batters he faced.
It was Ramirez best outing since Aug. 4, when he allowed one run in six innings in a 5-1 win over Oklahoma City.
“I was feeling good with my command … and just being aggressive,” said Ramirez, who improved to 5-3 and lowered his ERA to 3.98. “I walked two guys … but that’s baseball. My team played defense and they helped me a lot with the good plays. Everything just came though and I’m happy about it tonight.”
A two-run double by Carlos Triunfel opened the scoring in the second inning.
In the fourth, Tacoma (58-77) collected three consecutive hits off 51s starter Brett Cecil, including doubles by Luis Jimenez and Carlos Peguero, to take a 3-0 lead.
Jimenez continued his hot hitting with a 2-for-3 performance. In the past 15 games, he’s batting .428 with six doubles, a triple, five home runs and 13 RBI.
The Rainiers finished with 10 hits, including Alex Liddi’s RBI single that scored Franklin Gutierrez in the eighth to end the scoring.
TICKETS AVAILABLE
Today’s 1:35 p.m. game with Las Vegas is the final home game of 2012 for the Rainiers.
Although it is sold out, the club announced a limited number of tickets will be available for purchase at the box office starting at 9 a.m. or online at www.tacomarainiers.com.
ON TAP
Tacoma will send right-hander D.J. Mitchell (1-2, 3.47 ERA) to the mound against Las Vegas righty Bobby Korecky (3-2, 3.45) today. Tacoma will travel to Las Vegas on Monday to begin a four-game series with the 51s, followed by a three-game series at Fresno to conclude the 2012 season.
mwochnick@theolympian.com 360-754-5473
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.