Rainiers’ rally falls short in 5-4 loss to Comets in opener

Tacoma spent the rest of the night trying to erase an opening-inning hole it never should have faced, and that was the cost in a 5-4 loss to Oklahoma City on April 21 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

The Comets punched first in the opener of the six-game Pacific Coast League series, scoring four runs in the first inning on three extra-base hits. James Tibbs III and Jack Suwinski opened the damage with consecutive RBI doubles, and Austin Gauthier finished the burst with a two-run homer that made it 4-0 before Tacoma had settled into the game. That fast start proved decisive.

Tacoma answered in the second when Jhonny Pereda singled and later scored on Brian O’Keefe’s line-drive hit. The Rainiers kept cutting into the margin in the fourth, stringing together contact from Carson Taylor, Pereda and Victor Labrada to pull within two. Oklahoma City added a run in the third on another Gauthier RBI, but Tacoma kept making it uncomfortable, with O’Keefe and others piecing together enough offense to keep the game alive into the late innings.

The Rainiers’ best chance came in the eighth. Brock Rodden opened the frame with a walk, Brennen Davis followed with a single, and Taylor delivered another line-drive RBI to bring Rodden home and make it a one-run game. Tacoma then loaded the bases, but Oklahoma City answered with a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning and preserve the lead. In the ninth, the Rainiers went down in order after hard contact failed to find open grass.

That final missed opportunity underscored the bigger problem: Tacoma was forced to manufacture a comeback because the first inning got away from Casey Lawrence and the defense could never fully reset the game’s terms. The Rainiers’ bullpen did its job, covering 3.0 scoreless innings and allowing only two hits and three walks while striking out two, but the offense had already been pushed into must-score mode.

Ryan Bliss, Taylor and Pereda combined to go 6-for-13, and Tacoma’s lineup kept grinding until the final out. Still, the early deficit held up. Oklahoma City turned three double plays on the night, including the one that broke Tacoma’s eighth-inning push, and Keynan Middleton retired all three batters he faced in the ninth for his first save of the season.

Gauthier’s two-hit, three-RBI night stretched his hitting streak to nine games, the longest by any Comets hitter this season. Oklahoma City also won its fourth straight home game and fourth straight series opener, improving to 11-11 while Tacoma fell to 10-12.