Ride Ends for Rainiers

TACOMA, Wash - Thirteen turned out to be an unlucky number for the Tacoma Rainiers as their season ended with a 5-2 loss to the Nashville Sounds on Friday night in a 13-inning marathon. The Sounds completed a three-game sweep of the Rainiers, earning the Pacific Coast League Championship.

The Sounds opened the scoring in the third with a leadoff homer by shortstop Steve Scarborough. They took a two run lead in the sixth when Hunter Brown misplayed a fly ball to shallow right by Nelson Cruz. Mike Rivera then singled, scoring Cruz from second.

Tacoma’s defense kept the game from getting out of reach. In the second inning, T.J. Bohn threw a laser from deep center field to nail Tony Zuniga at third. In the bottom of the fifth with the bases loaded and only one out, Ryan Knox tried to score on a ball that got past catcher Rene Rivera and was tagged out at home on a very close play.

The Rainiers finally broke through in the seventh. Wiki Gonzalez and Aaron Rifkin hit back-to-back singles with one out. After Brown struck out, T.J. Bohn came up big, driving both runners in with a double to right-center.

Tacoma threatened in the bottom of the 12th, loading the bases with only one out. Rivera popped out to the catcher, and Asdrubal Cabrera grounded out back to the mound, getting Nashville out of a huge jam.

In the top of the 13th the Sounds made their claim for the PCL Championship. With two outs Asdrubal Cabrera made a throwing error. Tony Zuniga then walked, setting the stage for Nelson Cruz. Cruz responded by hitting his third home run of the series, giving Nashville a three-run lead.

The Rainiers managed to get a baserunner on in the bottom of the inning, but Bucky Jacobsen struck out to end the game, and the Rainiers’ season.

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