The Tacoma Rainiers held off El Paso’s second late comeback attempt Thursday and beat the Chihuahuas 16-15 in a chaotic game at Southwest University Park.
The Chihuahuas have lost four consecutive games for the first time since April 10-14, with the last three losses of that streak also coming against Tacoma.
Trailing 10-4 at the seventh inning stretch, the Chihuahuas pounded eight hits in a ten-batter span and scored six times to tie the game. The Rainiers immediately countered with six runs of their own to go ahead 16-10, before El Paso brought in three runs in the eighth and two in the ninth at the end of the one-run loss.
Manuel Margot went 5-for-6 with two home runs and four RBIs, his first five-hit game and first multi-home run game at the Triple-A level. Margot had two extra-base hits while he was a triple shy of the cycle, doubling in the seventh inning and cranking his second homer in the ninth.
Hector Sanchez went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run and Nick Torres went 2-for-5 with three RBIs in the loss. Hunter Renfroe and Diego Goris had three hits each and joined Margot as players who fell a triple shy of a cycle Thursday. The Chihuahuas led off the first three innings with home runs.
El Paso entered the game with a dependable .981 fielding percentage, good for fifth-best in the league, but made three errors Thursday leading to eight unearned runs.
Gameday Box Score: http://www.milb.com/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_08_04_tacaaa_elpaaa_1&mode=gameday
Team Records: Tacoma (66-46), El Paso (62-51)
Next Game: Friday at 7:05 pm vs. Tacoma at Southwest University Park. Tacoma RHP Jarrett Grube (1-2, 3.83) vs. El Paso RHP Carlos Pimentel (5-1, 4.70). Game coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. on 600 ESPN El Paso and www.epchihuahuas.com
Tacoma 16 El Paso 15 – Thursday
WP: Rollins (4-0)
LP: Jester (0-2)
S: None
Time: 3:14
Attn: 7,728
