Storm Chasers Go West and Win Road Trip Opener
July 31, 2013 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release
Tacoma, WA - In a pitching matchup of youth versus experience, it was the sage veteran Brian Sanches who spun six scoreless innings to lead Omaha to a 4-1 victory over Tacoma Tuesday night in the first of four meetings at Cheyney Stadium. The Storm Chasers improved to 54-57 and maintained their one-game lead over Memphis in the American Conference North Division, while the Rainiers dropped two games behind Salt Lake in the Pacific Conference North. Omaha has won seven games in a row in Tacoma dating back to the 2009 season.
Ben Broussard opened the second inning with a double, moved to third base on a Brian Fletcher single and scored the game's first run on a Brett Hayes fielder's choice grounder. Hayes then advanced to third on a Quintin Berry single and scored on a base hit by Gorkys Hernandez, who knocked in his first run since joining the Storm Chasers last week. The visitors added to their lead in the fourth when Berry, Hernandez and Falu strung together consecutive singles to produce one run before Christian Colon doubled to plate Hernandez and move Falu to third. Max Ramirez then flied out deep enough to center field to score Falu but before he could cross the plate, Colon was thrown out trying to advance to third.
The RBI single for Falu was his 600th hit in an Omaha uniform, as he joined Jed Hansen as the only two players in franchise history to reach that plateau. The fan favorite added two more singles to push his Triple-A hit total to 602, 60 behind Hansen's long-standing record.
Highly-regarded Seattle pitching prospect Taijuan Walker, who will turn 23 in two weeks, suffered the defeat after he allowed a season-high nine hits and walked a pair, while striking out four, over six innings in his longest start at the Triple-A level. The 34-year-old Sanches yielded five hits, walked three, struck out five and permitted just two runners to reach third base to notch his team-leading eighth win. Buddy Baumann gave up a leadoff long ball to Jesus Montero in the seventh that accounted for the hosts lone marker but settled down and wound up finishing off the frame without any further damage before closing his two-inning stint by striking out the side in the eighth. Will Smith fanned two as he retired all three hitters he faced in the ninth to earn his third save.
The series continues Wednesday night with Omaha left-hander Chris Dwyer taking the mound against Tacoma right-hander Blake Beavan. Coverage of the game gets underway at 8:45 pm and can be heard locally on 1180 Zone 2 The Deuce and online at omahastormchasers.com.
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