Chihuahuas fall to Tacoma in series finale
Late comeback by El Paso falls short
Felix F. Chávez
Tacoma Rainiers starting pitcher Joe Wieland has been sharp in recent starts and has also been tough on the El Paso Chihuahuas this season.
On Saturday night in the finale of a four-game series at Southwest University Park, he was effective once again in leading the Rainiers to a 7-5 win.
He went 6⅔ innings, struck out 10 batters, allowed only two runs and earned his 11th win of the year. He's 5-0 in his last five outings and is 3-0 against the Chihuahuas this season.
Tacoma (67-47) won three of the four games against El Paso in the series and continues to lead the Pacific Coast League Pacific Northern Division. El Paso is now 63-52 on the season and is still in first place in the PCL Pacific Southern Division. The Rainiers have the best record in the PCL.
Tacoma jumped on top of El Paso starting pitcher Daniel McCutcheon for three runs in the first two innings.
For the second straight game, the Rainiers led off the game with a homer to left as second baseman Daniel Robertson belted a solo blast for a 1-0 lead.
In the second, James Ramsey made it 3-1 Tacoma with a two-run homer. El Paso got a run in the bottom of the first on a triple by outfielder Manuel Margot and an RBI double by catcher Austin Hedges.
The Rainiers went ahead 4-1 in the fourth on an RBI single by Ramsey. Margot saved another run from scoring on an outfield assist from center field.
El Paso made things interesting in the seventh, getting a two-out RBI single by Margot to cut the led to 4-2 and had runners on first and second. But Robertson made a great play at second to end the inning when he backhanded a Carlos Asuaje grounder up the middle and got Asuaje at first base by a step. Margot finished the game with three hits.
Tacoma extended its lead in the top of the eighth to 7-2 with three runs off of El Paso reliever Michael Dimock.
Catcher Jesus Sucre tripled in two runs and Ramsey singled in a run. Ramsey finished the game three for three with four RBIs.
In the bottom of the eighth, El Paso cut the lead to 7-4 on a two-run homer by catcher Hector Sanchez. The Chihuahuas cut it to 7-5 in the ninth on a solo homer by infielder Nick Noonan, who went two for four at the plate and extended his hitting streak to nine in the process. But El Paso couldn't scrape across any more runs and Tacoma finished off the game. David Rollins earned his first save of the year.
The Chihuahuas were out-hit 11-10 and struck out 12 times on the night.
McCutcheon settled in and wound up going six innings, but suffered his eighth loss of the year. He scattered seven hits and struck out four.
El Paso begins a four-game series against Fresno on Sunday night. The first pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m.
Notes: El Paso outfielder Hunter Renfroe left the game after the third inning after being hit by a pitch around the forearm area ... Tacoma went 11-5 against El Paso this season ... The Chihuahuas are 5-45 this year when trailing after seven innings.
Felix F. Chávez may be reached at 546-6167; fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on Twitter.