TACOMA, Wash. — The Tacoma Rainiers rode a solid performance on the mound to a 3-1 win over the Sacramento River Cats in front of a sellout crowd of 7,412 fans at Cheney Stadium on Wednesday.
The Rainiers pitching staff combined to hold the River Cats to six hits and struck out 12 en route to ending the club’s losing skid at four games.
Left-hander Anthony Vasquez (3-2) turned in his fourth consecutive quality start in a winning effort. Vasquez held the River Cats to one run on five hits with six strikeouts and five walks over six innings.
Reliever Shawn Kelley tossed one hitless, scoreless inning in the seventh in the first game of the right-hander’s rehab stint with the Rainiers.
Tacoma, trailing the River Cats 1-0, pulled ahead with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. First baseman Matt Mangini reached base on a fielding error with two outs and then scored on Ralph Henriquez’s double in the Rainiers’ next at-bat. Infielder Kyle Seager plated Henriquez with another double one batter later.
The Rainiers added some insurance in the bottom of the seventh, with Mangini scoring on a single hit by second baseman Sean Kazmar with two outs.
Sacramento struck first in the contest after designated hitter Chris Carter led off the top of the second inning with a solo home run, his eighth with the River Cats this season.
The Rainiers (52-53) take the field for the third game of their four-game series with the River Cats at 7:05 p.m. Thursday night. Left-hander Nate Robertson (3-3, 7.68) is scheduled to get the start for Tacoma against left-hander Carlos Hernandez (5-3, 4.55) for Sacramento.