Las Vegas got off to a 3-0 start but Tacoma, behind three home runs, ran off seven unanswered runs and came away with an 11-6 win. Justin Orenduff (2-6), making his 18th start, was tagged with two of the homers and allowed seven hits and five runs and his ERA moved up to 6.78.
B.J. LaMura and Brian Akin were also treated roughly, allowing six more runs over the next 4.2 innings.
John Lindsey doubled to open the third for the 51s and Mitch Jones walked. A.J. Ellis drove in one with a ground ball and Wilson Ruan and Jason Repko each added an RBI single.
Las Vegas wouldn't score again until the eighth when Lindsey singled and Jones doubled, both coming in on a ground ball and a wild pitch. Lindsey's sac fly scored Terry Tiffee after he had collected his 34th double in the ninth inning.
Lindsey was 2-for-2 with a double and a run batted in. Repko and Tiffee each added a single and a double.
Las Vegas slid to 50-46 with the loss and trail Sacramento by 5 1/2 games in the South Division. Heath Totten will face the Rainers' Sean White tonight.
Score by Innings
Tacoma 003 220 004-11
Las Vegas 030 000 021- 6
Las Vegas ab r h bi ave
Repko cf 5 0 2 1 .278
Martinez 2b 5 0 1 0 .298
Tiffee 3b 5 1 2 0 .393
Sweeney dh 5 0 1 0 .333
Lindsey 1b 2 2 2 1 .315
MJones rf 3 2 1 0 .243
Chavez ss 4 1 1 1 .293
Ellis c 3 0 0 1 .289
Ruan lf 3 0 1 1 .348
Griffin ph-lf 1 0 1 0 .300
Totals 36 6 12 5
Tacoma 43 11 16 11
2B- Repko (18), Lindsey (25),
MJones (7), Tiffee (34). RBI- Ellis
(39), Ruan (14), Repko (31), Chavez
(52), Lindsey (71). SF- Lindsey.
LOB- Las Vegas 11, Tacoma 11.
Las Vegas in h r-er bb so era
Orenduff (2-6) 4.0 7 2-2 1 4 6.78
LaMura 3.1 6 2-2 1 1 8.10
Akin 1.1 3 4-4 4 0 13.89
Felix 0.1 0 0-0 0 1 0.00
T- 3:32 (:04 delay). Att- 6,083.
Jacksonville Suspended by rain in the first inning. The game will be resumed as part of a doubleheader today.
Inland Empire Falls 2-1
In the final game of the series and the season with Modesto, the 66ers got a strong pitching performance from Tim Sexton (3-9) but dropped a 2-1 decision.
Sexton worked eight strong innings, allowing only two runs on six hits and struck out five. Branden Tuten added a scoreless ninth.
Inland Empire managed only four hits and two of them came in the second inning when Drew Locke doubled and scored on Matt Bereazy's single to left that tied he game 1-1.
Carlos Santana singled in the sixth and Austin Gallagher followed with the final 66er hit of the game but both were left on base.
The 66ers take to the road for three-game series with Lancaster and Lake Elsinore.
Score by Innings
Modesto 101 000 000-2
Inland Empire 010 000 000-1
Inland Empire ab r h bi ave
Robinson cf 4 0 0 0 .262
Fuller 2b 4 0 0 0 .245
Santana c 4 0 1 0 .318
Gallagher 3b 4 0 1 0 .298
Locke dh 4 1 1 0 .300
Giles rf 3 0 0 0 .282
Berezay lf 3 0 1 1 .270
Perez 1b 2 0 0 0 .267
Pedroza ss 2 0 0 0 .291
Totals 35 1 4 1
Modesto 32 2 6 2
Error- Santana (15), Fuller (5).
2B- Locke (23). RBI- Berezay (32).
LOB- Inland Empire 5, Modesto 4.
DP- Gallagher, Fuller and Perez.
Inland Empire in h r-er bb so era
Sexton (3-9) 8.0 6 2-2 0 5 5.21
Tuten 1.0 0 0-0 1 2 4.76
T- 2:24. Att- 3,027.
Loons Homer Twice in Victory
Great Lakes had not scored in their last 15.1 innings entering the sixth inning trailing by three runs. But they scored four and added two more in the eighth to stop Burlington 6-3.
Trailing 3-0 in the sixth, outfielder Andrew Lambo lined a two-run double to right-center and catcher Alex Garabedian belted a two-run homer. It was the most runs score by the Loons in an inning since June 7.
In the eighth, leading 4-3, first baseman Jaime Ortiz tucked a two-run home run just inside the right-field foul pole to give the Loons a pair of insurance runs.
Starting pitcher Victor Garate allowed only three hits in his five innings and although he allowed three runs, only one of them was earned. Garrett White (1-0) allowed only a single hit and no runs over the next three innings to pick up the victory, his first since April 24, 2007.
Miguel Ramirez nailed the game down with his 15th save of the season. It was the first save for Ramirez since June 11th, and it puts him a save behind the Midwest League lead.
The Loons continue their homestand with a three-game series against the Cedar Rapids tonight at Dow Diamond.
Sartor Promoted to Cal League
Right-handed pitcher Matt Sartor has been promoted from Great Lakes Inland Empire. Right-hander Anthony Tomey, a Detroit native and former Tigers’ minor league player, has been activated by the Loons.
Sartor, a non-drafted free agent signee by the Dodgers in 2007, was a key member of the Loons’ bullpen. In 25 relief appearances, the Irving, TX native was 4-2 with a 3.83 ERA and four saves. In 51.2 innings, Sartor struck out 66 batters and held Midwest League opponents to a .215 average against.
Tomey becomes the second Michigan native to play for the Loons (Doug Brooks was the other). Tomey was drafted in the 30th round of the 2003 amateur draft by the Tigers out of Eastern Michigan University. The 26-year-old right-hander spent two seasons --2004 and 2005-- in the Midwest League for West Michigan, earning a trip to the 2005 Midwest League All-Star Game.
Last season, Tomey split the season between Lakeland (High-A), Erie (Double-A) and Toledo (Triple-A). He was 3-4 with a 4.94 this season with Erie.
The Loons will meet Burlington again tonight.
Score by Innings
Burlington 201 000 000-3
Great Lakes 000 004 02x-6
Great Lakes ab r h bi ave
Rosario cf 4 0 1 0 .260
Kanaby dh 3 1 0 0 .272
Silverio rf 4 1 1 0 .270
Lambo lf 4 2 3 2 .295
Taylor 3b 3 0 0 0 .161
Ortiz 1b 4 1 1 2 .200
Garabedian c 4 1 1 2 .281
Mattingly 2b 4 0 1 0 .228
Lizarraga ss 3 0 1 0 .171
Totals 33 6 9 6
Burlington 29 3 5 1
Errors- Silverio (4), Taylor (2).
2B- Mattingly (11), Lambo (24).
HR- Garabedian (2), Ortiz (11).
RBI- Lambo 2 (56), Garabedian 2 (16),
Ortiz 2 (29). LOB- Great Lakes 5,
Burlington 5. SB- Rosario (21).
Great Lakes in h r-er bb so era
Garate 5.0 3 3-1 2 3 2.04
White (1-0) 3.0 1 0-0 0 3 0.00
Ramirez (sv 15) 1.0 1 0-0 2 0 3.22
HBP- by Garate. T- 2:30. Att- 4,741.