Tacoma Rainiers have ninth-inning rally fall short in 2-1 loss to Fresno

The Rainiers appeared to have built up enough momentum to dig themselves out of a two-run hole in the bottom of the ninth.

A quick solo home run by Stefen Romero cut Tacoma’s deficit to one, but with two outs, pinch-hitter Rob Brantly hit a short ground ball, and was quickly thrown out at first as Fresno defeated the Rainiers, 2-1, at Cheney Stadium on Monday night.

But Brantly didn’t leave the field, contesting that the final out should have been ruled a foul saying the ball hit the inside of his shoe after he made contact.

“It hit the inside of my cleat, and my first reaction when I hit it was to run to first base, which makes it look like it didn’t hit my foot,” Brantly said. “But I took a couple steps and I looked at (the umpire) and was like ‘It’s a foul ball! It’s a foul ball!’ But I guess they didn’t see it.”

Brantly wasn’t the only person to butt heads with the officiating crew.

Fresno catcher Tyler Heineman was ejected to close out the top of the second inning after arguing a strike-three call and throwing his bat. Grizzlies manager Tony DeFrancesco quickly joined in and yelled at the home plate umpire for over a minute. He was also ejected.

Tacoma managed just five hits, but its pitching kept the game within reach. Starter Cody Martin threw a season-high seven strikeouts, and kept the power-hitting of Fresno’s A.J. Reed and Tyler White at bay.

“Martin was great,” manager Pat Listach said. “To hold a good line like that, they’ve got some guys who can hit. … He did his job, but unfortunately we didn’t back him up and score some runs for him. That’s too bad.”

Fresno’s first run came early when Andrew Aplin scored from third on a sacrifice fly in the first inning.

After giving up a triple to start the second inning, Martin struck out three consecutive batters.

Martin also finished the final 14 batters he faced, but picked up the loss.

“I was ahead of a lot of guys so I could kind of do what I wanted with the breaking ball, cutter,” Martin said. “I’ve been beat a lot with walks this year, so I just wanted to stay ahead of guys and finish them when I can.”

Reliever Steve Johnson disposed of three batters in a row, two by strikeout, in his one-inning stint in the eighth inning. Johnson was designated for assignment by the Mariners on Friday.

After Tacoma quickly corralled two outs in the ninth, Fresno’s A.J. Reed, who bats .179 against lefties, blasted his second home run of the series off of lefty Kyle Hunter, giving the Grizzlies a 2-0 lead.

“I’m sure it was something soft,” Listach said of Hunter’s pitch. “I think everything (Reed hit) this series was off something off-speed. Hunter doesn’t have the fastball to blow it by them.”

Fresno’s James Hoyt, who leads the Pacific Coast League in saves, picked up his 16th save.

SHORT HOPS

Mike Baxter was placed on the disabled list and will be out 4-6 weeks after suffering a broken hand in Sunday’s game. Baxter was hit by a pitch in the 11th inning, and an X-ray discovered a fracture in his hand. Baxter was hitting .249, including seven home runs and 34 RBIs for Tacoma this season. ... Rainiers shortstop Chris Taylor was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for right-handed pitcher Zach Lee. Taylor hit .312 with a .387 on base percentage for Tacoma this season, and spent a brief two-game stint with the Mariners in late May before being optioned back to Triple-A. Lee will join the Rainiers on the road in Sacramento. ... The Rainiers lost their solo grip on first place in the PCL Pacific Northern standings. They now hold a tie with Reno for first after Tacoma lost and Reno won Monday.

ON TAP

Tacoma heads to Sacramento to face the River Cats on Tuesday. The Rainiers will start Brad Mills (3-1, 3.93 ERA) against Sacramento’s Chris Heston (1-8, 3.96). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. and can be heard on 850-AM.

This story was originally published June 22, 2016 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Tacoma Rainiers have ninth-inning rally fall short in 2-1 loss to Fresno."