Axel Sanchez watched Round Rock erase Tacoma’s three-run lead in the sixth inning, then supplied the answer in the seventh. He drove Carter Baumler’s 3-1 curveball onto the berm beyond left-center field, a 380-foot solo homer that carried the Rainiers to a 6-5 victory Wednesday night at Dell Diamond.
The lead held because Seth Shuman and Nick Garcia made sure Sanchez’s swing was the last turn in a game full of them. Shuman retired all seven batters he faced over 2 1/3 scoreless innings, and Garcia set down Round Rock in order in the ninth for his fourth save.
Tacoma’s third solo homer of the night was Sanchez’s third of the season. It came one inning after the Rainiers built a 5-2 advantage and lost all of it before recording the final out in the bottom half.
Reid VanScoter entered with one out in the sixth and allowed singles to Aaron Zavala and Jonah Bride. After a soft groundout advanced both runners, Keyber Rodriguez dropped a fly ball near second baseman Sanchez for a double that scored Bride and cut Tacoma’s lead to one. Cam Cauley followed with a two-out liner into left field. Rodriguez rounded third and beat Nolan Jones’ high throw home, tying the game at 5 as Cauley moved to second.
VanScoter was charged with three earned runs in one-third of an inning and his first blown save. Shuman took over and ended the rally by getting Logan O’Hoppe on a grounder to short.
The Rainiers had just reclaimed control in the top of the sixth. Ryan Bliss walked, and Leo Rivas reached on a bunt single, with a throwing error moving Bliss to third. Andy Ibáñez grounded a single into left to break a 2-2 tie, then stole second after Baumler replaced Anthony Veneziano.
Baumler nearly escaped. Patrick Wisdom lined out, and Connor Joe’s flyout moved Rivas to third. Jones kept the inning alive by lining a two-out single through the middle, bringing home Rivas and Ibáñez for a 5-2 lead.
That burst restored an advantage Tacoma had established with two loud swings in the second. Wisdom opened the scoring by ripping a line drive down the left-field line, the ball hooking inside the corner for his 34th homer. Two outs later, Stuart Fairchild sent another drive over the wall and into the Round Rock bullpen in left-center for his seventh.
Fairchild finished 2-for-3 with a walk, while Ibáñez went 2-for-4 with an RBI, a run and two stolen bases. Jones drove in two runs.
Round Rock worked its way back against Simeon Woods Richardson, first on Kyle Higashioka’s fourth-inning homer and then on Rodriguez’s run-scoring single in the fifth. Woods Richardson allowed two earned runs in four innings, with three strikeouts and three walks.
Tacoma’s sixth-inning rally gave the bullpen room, but only briefly. Sanchez made certain the blown lead did not become a lost game. After Nick Raposo struck out to begin the seventh, Sanchez turned on Baumler’s curveball and sent left fielder Trevor Hauver back to the wall, where he could only turn and watch it clear.
From there, Shuman needed no strikeouts to control the game. He retired Round Rock in order in both the seventh and eighth, collecting seven outs on balls in play, and improved to 3-0.
Garcia followed with three more ground-level outs: a lineout to right and two grounders to third baseman Ibáñez. The final one carried across the diamond to Wisdom, sealing a win in which Tacoma finished with nine hits, one error and just enough response after its largest lead disappeared.