Tag Archives: tacoma rainiers

Pacific Coast League MVP Hunter Renfroe had the biggest hit of the Chihuahuas’ season in El Paso’s 5-4 win over the Tacoma Rainiers Saturday night.

It was El Paso’s third consecutive win to clinch the best of five series against Tacoma, sending the Chihuahuas to their first championship series in team history.

The Chihuahuas trailed 4-2 in the top of the seventh when a two-out error by Tacoma third baseman Zach Shank prolonged El Paso’s inning. The Chihuahuas took advantage later in the inning when Carlos Asuaje hit an RBI single to get within one.

Trailing by a run in the top of the eighth, Austin Hedges walked to begin the inning and scored one batter later when Renfroe hit a high home run that snuck over the left field wall and gave the Chihuahuas a 5-4 late advantage.

Tacoma had the potential tying runs on base in both the eighth and ninth innings but El Paso’s bullpen held on to secure the win.

The Chihuahuas outscored the Rainiers 24-11 in the series. El Paso’s back-to-back wins at Cheney Stadium were especially impressive, where Tacoma had a league best 46-26 home record during the regular season.

Renfroe went 3-for-4 with a double and the homer after starting the series 0-for-11. Manuel Margot went 2-for-4 Saturday and had nine hits in the four-game series.

Gameday Box Score: http://www.milb.com/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_09_10_elpaaa_tacaaa_1&mode=gameday

Team Records: El Paso (3-1), Tacoma (1-3)

Next Game: Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. Pacific Coast League Championship Series at Southwest University Park. Pitching matchup and opponent TBA. Game coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on 600 ESPN El Paso and www.epchihuahuas.com

El Paso 5 Tacoma 4 – Saturday

WP: Baumann (1-0)

LP: Alburquerque (1-1)

S: Maton (1)

Time: 2:55

Attn: 1,918

The El Paso Chihuahuas beat the Tacoma Rainiers 7-0 Friday night at Cheney Stadium to take a two games to one lead in the best of five series.

El Paso would clinch a berth in the Pacific Coast League Championship Series with a win in either of the next two games in Tacoma. Friday’s win was the first shutout in Chihuahuas’ postseason history.

Austin Hedges hit a two-out RBI double in the top of the first inning, giving El Paso the first run of the game for the second consecutive contest. Hedges went 3-for-4 Friday after starting the series 1-for-10. One inning later, Jose Rondon belted a two-run home run, his first of the playoffs, and Nick Noonan scored on a Tacoma error to put El Paso ahead 4-0.

El Paso’s late insurance runs came on a solo home run by Noonan and two RBI singles by designated hitter Carlos Asuaje. Chihuahuas’ starter Bryan Rodriguez tossed five shutout innings. El Paso starters have allowed only one run in 11.1 innings over the last two games.

The Chihuahuas won Games 2 and 3 by a combined score of 14-1.

The Chihuahuas’ leadoff batter reached base in five of the first six innings Friday.

Gameday Box Score: http://www.milb.com/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_09_09_elpaaa_tacaaa_1&mode=gameday

Team Records: El Paso (2-1), Tacoma (1-2)

Next Game: Saturday at 8:05 p.m. Pacific Coast League playoffs at Cheney Stadium. El Paso RHP Dinelson Lamet (0-0, -.–) vs. Tacoma RHP Joe Wieland (0-0, -.–). Game coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. on 600 ESPN El Paso and www.epchihuahuas.com.

El Paso 7 Tacoma 0 – Friday

WP: Rodriguez (1-0)

LP: LeBlanc (0-1)

S: None

Time: 2:52

Attn: 3,224

The El Paso Chihuahuas had a two-run ninth-inning comeback to tie the Tacoma Rainiers but eventually lost 6-5 in 12 innings in Game 1 of the Pacific Coast League playoffs Wednesday night.

It was the first extra-inning postseason game in Chihuahuas’ team history.

The Rainiers scored three times on five hits against Frank Garces in the second, but the Chihuahuas got within one over the next three innings on an RBI single by Diego Goris and a solo home run by Manuel Margot. Trailing 5-2 in the sixth inning, the Chihuahuas got back within two when Tacoma shortstop Tyler Smith dropped a pop up with two runners on.

The Chihuahuas were down 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth when Nick Noonan and Manuel Margot hit doubles on back-to-back pitches to get within one and put the tying run on second base with no outs. After Hunter Renfroe walked, Austin Hedges hit a hard ground ball to Tacoma second baseman Mike Freeman, who flipped to second base for the inning’s second out.

As the shortstop Smith tried to turn a game-ending double play, Renfroe’s hard slide forced a high throw and caused the tying run to score with two outs in the ninth inning.

El Paso had opportunities in extra innings, including having the winning run at second with one out in the bottom of the 11^th, but Tacoma reliever Al Alburquerque retired Renfroe and Hedges to end the inning.

The Rainiers strung together three straight singles in the 12th, including an RBI single to left field by Zach Shank, the eventual game-winning hit.

Margot went 4-for-6 with all four hits coming after the fourth inning. The Chihuahuas went 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position in the loss.

Gameday Box Score: http://www.milb.com/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_09_07_tacaaa_elpaaa_1&mode=gameday

Team Records: Tacoma (1-0), El Paso (0-1)

Next Game: Thursday at 6:35 p.m. Pacific Coast League playoffs at Southwest University Park. Tacoma RHP Cody Martin (0-0, -.–) vs. El Paso RHP Walker Lockett (0-0, -.–). Game coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on 600 ESPN El Paso and www.epchihuahuas.com

Tacoma 6 El Paso 5 – Wednesday – 12 Innings

WP: Alburquerque (1-0)

LP: Jester (0-1)

S: None

Time: 4:04

Attn: 4,113

Photos by Andres Acosta

Former San Diego Padre and El Paso Chihuahua Joe Wieland put together his third strong start of the year against El Paso on Saturday, as the Rainiers beat the Chihuahuas 7-5.

Wieland has thrown 18.2 innings versus El Paso this season and allowed only four runs, striking out 24 and walking two.

Two nights after a five-hit game, Manuel Margot went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Margot entered Saturday with the second most outfield assists in the Pacific Coast League and added another one in the top of the fourth inning, throwing out Tacoma’s Jesus Sucre on a play at the plate. Hector Sanchez and Nick Noonan both hit late home runs for El Paso.

El Paso is now on a rare stretch where the club has lost three of its last four series. The Rainiers won 10 of the 16 meetings between the two teams during the 2016 regular season. Tacoma had an excellent offensive series, piling up 58 hits in the four games.

Gameday Box Score: http://www.milb.com/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_08_06_tacaaa_elpaaa_1&mode=gameday

Team Records: Tacoma (67-47), El Paso (63-52)

Next Game: Sunday at 6:05 pm vs. Fresno at Southwest University Park. Fresno RHP Mike Hauschild (8-9, 3.12) vs. El Paso RHP Bryan Rodriguez (4-5, 5.23). Game coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. on 600 ESPN El Paso and www.epchihuahuas.com.

Tacoma 7 El Paso 5 – Saturday

WP: Wieland (11-5)

LP: McCutchen (9-8)

S: Rollins (1)

Time: 3:03

Attn: 8,860

Photos by Andres Acosta

The El Paso Chihuahuas won a back-and-forth game 7-5 Friday at Southwest University Park against the Tacoma Rainiers and in the process avoided their first five-game losing streak of the season. The game featured six different lead changes.

Austin Hedges went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, with two of those RBI hits putting El Paso ahead at the time they occurred. Nick Torres, Diego Goris and Nick Noonan all had two hits for the Chihuahuas. Kevin Quackenbush threw two shutout innings of relief to get his first Triple-A win of the season.

Goris made a quick play on a ground ball that hit third base to end the game and give Keith Hessler his second save of the year.

Patrick Kivlehan went 0-for-3 with a run scored in his first game with the Chihuahuas after being claimed on waivers by San Diego earlier in the week. The win put El Paso in first place by 6.5 games with 30 games remaining in the regular season and the results of tonight’s Las Vegas 51s game still pending.

Gameday Box Score: http://www.milb.com/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_08_05_tacaaa_elpaaa_1&mode=gameday

Team Records: Tacoma (66-47), El Paso (63-51)

Next Game: Saturday at 7:05 pm vs. Tacoma at Southwest University Park. Tacoma TBA vs. El Paso RHP Daniel McCutchen (9-7, 6.35). Game coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. on 600 ESPN El Paso andwww.epchihuahuas.com

El Paso 7 Tacoma 5 – Friday

WP: Quackenbush (1-0)

LP: Roach (6-6)

S: Hessler (2)

Time: 2:44

Attn: 8,625

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

Sam Gaviglio shut down the El Paso Chihuahuas’ offense Wednesday for the second time in six days, as the Tacoma Rainiers won at Southwest University Park 9-2.

Gaviglio allowed one run in six innings, after pitching 7.2 scoreless innings against the Chihuahuas on July 29 at Cheney Stadium.

Rainiers’ first baseman D.J. Peterson went 5-for-5 with an inside-the-park home run to lead off the seventh inning. El Paso center fielder Auston Bousfield nearly made a leaping catch on the play, but the ball bounced sharply to the right field corner and Peterson rounded the bases without a play at the plate.

It was the second inside-the-park home run in Southwest University Park history, with the first coming on April 29, 2014 off the bat of Fresno’s Gary Brown.

Nick Torres went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in the second inning on his first at bat in El Paso. Carlos Asuaje and Nick Noonan also collected two hits in the loss. Infielder Taylor Lindsey came in to pitch and threw knuckleballs in a perfect ninth inning, his third pitching appearance of the season.

Gameday Box Score: http://www.milb.com/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_08_03_tacaaa_elpaaa_1&mode=gameday

Team Records: Tacoma (65-46), El Paso (62-50)

Next Game: Thursday at 7:05 pm vs. Tacoma at Southwest University Park. Tacoma TBA vs. El Paso RHP Aaron Northcraft (5-1, 4.70). Game coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. on 600 ESPN El Paso andwww.epchihuahuas.com

Tacoma 9 El Paso 2 – Wednesday

WP: Gaviglio (1-0)

LP: Garces (4-6)

S: None

Time: 3:06

Attn: 7,663

The Tacoma Rainiers scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a late scoreless tie and then beat the El Paso Chihuahuas 2-1.

Tacoma’s runs came on a solo home run by Patrick Kivlehan and a two-out, two-strike RBI double by former Chihuahua Daniel Robertson.

The Rainiers’ insurance run proved valuable when the Chihuahuas scored once in the top of the ninth on Austin Hedges’ sacrifice fly.

Frank Garces hadn’t allowed any runs in seven innings before surrendering two in the eighth in the loss. Tacoma starter Sam Gaviglio tossed 7.2 shutout innings in a no-decision for Tacoma.

The Rainiers took three of the five games, handing El Paso its second consecutive series loss, the first time the Chihuahuas have suffered back-to-back series losses since the first road trip of the season.

Neither team had a runner reach third base in the first seven innings of Friday’s pitchers’ duel and neither side issued a walk until the eighth. Friday’s time of game was quicker than both of Thursday’s seven-inning doubleheader games.

Gameday Box Score: http://www.milb.com/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_07_29_elpaaa_tacaaa_1&mode=gameday

Team Records: El Paso (60-47), Tacoma (62-44)

Next Game: Saturday at 8:05 pm vs. Las Vegas at Cashman Field. El Paso RHP Aaron Northcraft (4-1, 4.73) vs. Las Vegas RHP Ricky Knapp (0-0, 2.57). Game coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. on 600 ESPN El Paso andwww.epchihuahuas.com.

Tacoma 2 El Paso 1 – Friday

WP: Furbush (1-0)

LP: Garces (4-5)

S: Parker (19)

Time: 2:21

Attn: 7,182

Former San Diego Padres and El Paso Chihuahuas righty Joe Wieland allowed only one run in seven innings of work in the Tacoma Rainiers’ 11-1 win Wednesdayversus El Paso. Wieland has thrown 12 innings against the Chihuahuas this year and let up only two runs.

One night after the Chihuahuas scored four times in the second inning, the Rainiers did the same thing. Tacoma added two runs each in the third, fourth and fifth innings to build up a 10-1 lead, with El Paso’s lone run coming on a solo home run by Jabari Blash, his 11^th of the season in Triple-A.

Carlos Asuaje went 2-for-4 in the loss, while Leonel Campos and Kevin Quackenbush tossed scoreless outings out of the El Paso bullpen.

Manuel Margot went 0-for-4 to end his career-high 16-game hitting streak. Tacoma advanced to 33-16 at Cheney Stadium this year, the best home record in the Pacific Coast League.

Gameday Box Score: http://www.milb.com/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_07_27_elpaaa_tacaaa_1&mode=gameday

Team Records: El Paso (59-45), Tacoma (60-43)

Next Game: Thursday doubleheader at 7:05 p.m. vs. Tacoma at Cheney Stadium. Game 1: El Paso RHP Michael Kelly (5-1, 4.41) vs. Tacoma RHP Zach Lee (7-7, 5.16). Game 2: El Paso RHP Bryan Rodriguez (4-3, 4.83) vs. Tacoma RHP Donn Roach (6-5, 4.01). Game coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. on 600 ESPN El Paso andwww.epchihuahuas.com.

Tacoma 11 El Paso 1 – Wednesday

WP: Wieland (9-5)

LP: McCutchen (9-7)

S: None

Time: 2:43

Attn: 6,927

Carlos Pimentel pitched six shutout innings and allowed only one hit in the El Paso Chihuahuas’ 6-0 win over the Tacoma Rainiers Tuesday night at Cheney Stadium. It was El Paso’s second straight shutout, after blanking Sacramento 4-0 in Game 2 of Sunday’s doubleheader.

The Rainiers had only two hits, tying a Chihuahuas’ team record for fewest hits allowed in a game. Tacoma did not have a player reach second base Tuesday. Michael Dimock threw the final three innings to record his third save. El Paso has surrendered only five hits in the last two games combined.

The Chihuahuas’ offense produced all six runs on two-out hits, including a two-run home run by Diego Goris in the top of the second and a two-run double by Hector Sanchez in the top of the eighth. El Paso’s win paired with Las Vegas’ loss in Fresno puts the Chihuahuas in first place by 7.5 games, the largest first place lead the team has ever had.

Gameday Box Score: http://www.milb.com/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_07_26_elpaaa_tacaaa_1&mode=gameday

Team Records: El Paso (59-44), Tacoma (59-43)

Next Game: Wednesday at 8:05 pm vs. Tacoma at Cheney Stadium. RHP Daniel McCutchen (9-6, 5.78) vs. Tacoma RHP Joe Wieland (8-5, 6.07). Game coverage begins at 8:00 p.m.on 600 ESPN El Paso and www.epchihuahuas.com.

El Paso 6 Tacoma 0 – Tuesday

WP: Pimentel (10-5)

LP: Grube (1-2)

S: Dimock (3)

Time: 2:28 (:38 delay)

Attn: 4,369