Rainiers’ offense can’t catch Isotopes in 12-8 loss

Tacoma’s Tyler O’Neill went 3-for-5 with two runs, one homer, a pair of doubles, 2 RBIs and one walk.

Boog Powell slugged four hits, going 4-for-5 with two runs scored, a brace of doubles and 2 RBIs of his own.

And the Rainiers set a new season-high mark in hits with 16 on the night.

But even with all that offense, the Rainiers’ (10-8) offense couldn’t catch the Albuquerque Isotopes (9-10) on Monday night at Isotopes Ballpark in Albuquerque.

It was the first three-hit game of O’Neill’s Triple-A career.

Albuquerque jumped out to a commanding 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, highlighted by a two-run home run from Noel Cuevas. The Isotopes tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the third to extend their lead to 8-1 after O’Neill launched solo home run in the top of the inning for Tacoma’s first run.

Ben Gamel and Tuffy Gosewisch cut the deficit to within five with a pair of RBI singles in the top of the fifth, and O’Neill’s RBI double in the sixth collected the Rainiers fourth run in the sixth. Tacoma’s Tyler Smith added to the scoring with an RBI single in the eighth.

The Isotopes drove in one in the fifth inning, two in the sixth, and one more in the seventh to maintain their lead over the Rainiers.

Smith smacked an RBI single in the top of the ninth and Powell followed with a two-run single to cap the Rainiers scoring, creating the final score of 12-8.

Tacoma’s bullpen combined to allow seven runs on 12 hits while issuing five walks with five strikeouts.

The Rainiers will send left-hander Dillon Overton (1-0, 8.44 ERA) to the mound as Tacoma and Albuquerque wrap up their series on Tuesday at 10:05 a.m. The Isotopes have not yet named a starter.

This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 10:02 PM with the headline "Rainiers’ offense can’t catch Isotopes in 12-8 loss."