Tacoma pounds Albuquerque again with three home runs in 11-1 win

Tacoma kept turning Cheney Stadium into a home run launchpad and Albuquerque had no answer. The Rainiers piled up 11 runs Wednesday night, rode three more blasts, and followed a 15-3 burst in the series opener with their second straight double-digit scoring outburst.

Spencer Packard, Brian O’Keefe and Hogan Windish each went deep, and the trio accounted for 10 of Tacoma’s 11 runs. That concentration of damage told the story of the night: when Tacoma’s middle-order power is clicking, the lineup can score in a hurry and leave an opponent with no clean inning to escape.

The damage started early enough to keep the Isotopes on the defensive and never really let up. O’Keefe’s homer came with Will Wilson and Packard aboard, while Windish later launched a two-run shot to left-center that brought Axel Sanchez home. Packard also joined the long-ball parade, giving Tacoma multiple lanes to break the game open rather than leaning on one big swing.

Jhonathan Díaz got the win and gave Tacoma the kind of start that lets an offense keep pressing. The left-hander, a 29-year-old from Valencia, Venezuela, moved to 4-4 with a 5.67 ERA after the game, and his line held Albuquerque in check long enough for the bats to take over. That mattered because the Isotopes, now 34-31, never found the kind of inning that could have dragged the game back toward leverage.

For Tacoma, the result pushed the Rainiers to 27-38 and underscored how dangerous this stretch has become. Tuesday’s opener already featured Cal Raleigh’s two-homer, six-RBI performance in a 15-3 win, and Wednesday’s follow-up showed the club did not need the same name to do the damage. Packard, O’Keefe and Windish gave Tacoma a different set of power threats, and that is the kind of depth that can change the shape of a homestand and put a lineup on the radar for Seattle roster-watchers.