Mizzou Baseball in the Minors

■ Tacoma blasts way past Fresno (thenewstribune.com)

Rainiers starter Charlie Haeger looked like the second-coming of Hall of Fame knuckleballer Phil Niekro in the first three innings while protecting a 5-0 lead, but his 8.83 ERA reared its ugly head in the fourth inning.

Grizzlies’ slugger Brett Pill led off with his 16th home run, followed by two walks, two wild pitches and one hit batter. All of that drama was capped off with a Max Ramirez three-run triple. Ramirez scored later on a fielder’s choice.

Haeger finished the night with five earned runs on one home run, seven hits and six walks. He also added three strikeouts on the way to improving his record to 2-2 despite raising his ERA to 8.85.

Although it was his first appearance since being elevated from Class A ball, catcher Trevor Coleman was given the difficult task of calling Haeger.

Rainiers manager Daren Brown said he was pleased with how Coleman did behind the plate.

“It’s tough,” Brown said. “It’s a tough spot. I thought he did a nice job. It’s not easy catching a ball game here, and I thought he did a nice job with him (Haeger).”
After the Grizzlies tied the game at 5 in the fourth inning, the Rainiers responded with a Coleman RBI single in the fifth and a run-scoring single from Mangini in the eighth.