Tacoma will live to see another day as they knocked off Sacramento in extras, 5-4 (10). After falling behind 0-2 in the series, the Rainiers have managed to force the pressure-packed game five by winning this thriller. Tacoma went down early as Francisco Cruceta allowed a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. It didn't stay like that for long however as Wiki Gonzalez homered to lead off the second and a T.J. Bohn double to drive in Ryan Christianson knotted things at two. Tacoma took the lead in the fourth but a combination of Jeff Heaverlo and Masao Kida coughed it up in the eighth. Trailing 4-3, the Rainiers quickly put two on base with Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-soo Choo walking and Justin Leone laid down a sacrifice to move both runners ahead. Chris Mabeus then intentionally walked Abraham Nunez and then allowed a sac fly to Wiki Gonzalez to score Cabrera and tie it at four. Aaron Rifkin struck out to end the chance to take the lead. Cabrera ended up winning it in the top of the tenth with a single that scored T.J. Bohn and the Rainiers get to see Game 5 light.
Notables:
Francisco Cruceta: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 HR.
Bullpen (Bumstead, Lorraine, Heaverlo, Moss, Kida, Fruto): 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 3 K.
Shin-soo Choo: 1-3, 3 BB.
Justin Leone: 0-4.
Wiki Gonzalez: 1-2, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 RBI.
Ryan Christianson: 2-4, 1 BB.
T.J. Bohn: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 RBI.
Asdrubal Cabrera: 2-3, 1 BB, 2 RBI.
San Antonio's season is over as they lose Game 5 to Midland 12-2. It was never close, there was never hope. Juan Sandoval got hammered, Chris Key was smashed, Ryan Rowland-Smith was lit up and Justin Thomas threw meatballs. When the dust settled, the Missions found themselves in a huge hole and the season's end just a few outs away. It's a disappointing way to go out, but kudos to San Antonio on a nice regular season and taking this thing for five games.
Notables:
Juan Sandoval: 2.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K.
Everyone else: 6.1 IP, 11 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 5 K.
Jamie Bubela: 3-4.
Adam Jones: 3-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI.
Nate Espy: 1-4.
Jon Nelson: 0-3, 1 BB.
Eriberto Menchaca: 1-4.
Wisconsin takes Game One from Clinton, 8-7 (10). Shawn Nottingham got smoked during his 6.1 innings of work giving up seven runs (four earned) on six hits while walking three, fanning two and giving up two bomb. Unbelievably, Wisconsin turned to Justin Jordan to help go the rest of the way and even more inexplicably, he was good. Jordan gave up only one hit and a walk over the final 3.2 innings and struck out four. This was, without a doubt, his best performance since joining the organization. Still down 7-4 going into the eighth, the T-Rats began the comeback with a three run inning capped by a two-run single by Jeff Clement. Wisconsin scored another run in the ninth on a solo shot from Chris Colton and finally won it in the top of the tenth on a Jeff Clement homer to right, his second of the night. Man, don't you just love this kid?
Notables:
Shawn Nottingham: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 2 HR.
Justin Jordan: 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.
Brent Johnson: 2-3, 2 BB.
Oswaldo Navarro: 1-5, 1 RBI.
Jeff Clement: 3-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI. Man...
Chris Colton: 1-5, 1 HR, 1 RBI.
Jack Arroyo: 2-4.
Josh Womack: 2-4.
On the docket:
Tacoma: GAME FIVE Chris Buglovsky at Sacramento. Game time is 7:05pm PDT. Series is tied, 2-2.
San Antonio: Season over. Midland wins series, 3-2.
Wisconsin: GAME TWO Cibney Bello vs. Clinton. Game time is 4:35pm PDT. Wisconsin leads series, 1-0.