Rainiers rally from six down, fall to Chihuahuas in 10 innings

Tacoma spent Tuesday night in El Paso showing exactly why Triple-A can feel like a casino with spikes. The Rainiers trailed by six runs, clawed all the way back, then watched the Chihuahuas end it 10-9 in the 10th when Jase Bowen scored on a wild pitch at Southwest University Park.

The opening blast came from Brennen Davis, who jumped on the first real chance Tacoma got and launched a 410-foot solo homer at 110.8 mph in the second inning. It was his sixth homer of the season and the start of a huge night for the outfielder, who finished 4-for-5 and matched his career high with four hits. But El Paso answered fast and seized control with a big third inning that pushed the home side ahead 7-1, forcing Tacoma into chase mode before the game settled into a back-and-forth slugfest.

What followed showed why the Rainiers are dangerous when the lineup keeps turning over. Down five heading into the eighth, Tacoma erupted for five runs to tie it, with Brock Rodden and Axel Sanchez both going deep in the inning. Patrick Wisdom, Victor Labrada, Colt Emerson and Colin Davis all helped extend at-bats and pressure the El Paso bullpen as Tacoma kept stacking traffic and refusing to let the deficit stand. By the end, the Rainiers had turned a game that looked out of reach into one they were a pitch away from stealing.

They never quite finished the job. Tacoma’s late-inning pitching could not hold after the comeback, and the 10th-inning miscue sent the Rainiers to 1-3 in extra-inning games. El Paso improved to 3-4 in extras, snapped a three-game losing streak and earned its third walk-off win of the season, while also going to 5-2 against Tacoma on the year. The Chihuahuas got major nights from Rodolfo Duran, who went 4-for-4 with a double, a homer, a walk and four RBIs, and Pablo Reyes, who finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs and has reached base in all 23 games he has played.

The game also carried several side stories that fit the Triple-A pulse. Mason McCoy extended a career-long hitting streak to 13 games, Will Wagner was in the lineup on an MLB rehab assignment, and El Paso manager Pete Zamora was ejected in the 10th for the first time this season. The series continued Wednesday at 11:05 a.m. Mountain Time, with Jhonathan Diaz set to face Marco Gonzales.