TACOMA, WA (September 11, 2026) — An eight-run outburst in the fourth inning propelled the Tacoma Rainiers (36-31/69-73) to a 9-4 win over the El Paso Chihuahuas (22-45/57-85) Friday night at Cheney Stadium. Nolan Jones capped off the fourth with a grand slam, Tacoma’s sixth of the season. Miles Mastrobouni led the team in hits with three singles out of the ninth spot in the order while Leo Rivas and Andy Ibáñez both drove in a pair of runs. Jhonathan Díaz turned in his fourth quality start of the season, allowing three runs on eight hits and no walks while striking out seven.
Tacoma got the offense going in the opening frame on Friday night. Ryan Bliss walked to lead off the bottom of the first inning, stealing second base with a throwing error sending him to third base. Leo Rivas followed with an eight-pitch battle against El Paso starter Sean Boyle that resulted in a bloop single to right field. Bliss scored without a throw, giving Tacoma a 1-0 lead.
Rainiers starter Jhonathan Díaz worked his way out of trouble in the top of the second inning, giving up a leadoff single, followed by a double to put two in scoring position with no outs. The lefty struck out Gage Workman and then Anthony Vilar lined out to Díaz, who threw to second base to double off Rodolfo Durán and end the threat.
The Chihuahuas plated three runs in the top of the fourth inning as the first four hitters of the frame all tallied hits. Marcos Castañon, Nick Pratto and Rodolfo Durán each hit doubles, bringing in the first two runs. Workman hit an RBI single to give the Chihuahuas a 3-1 lead. Díaz retired the next three hitters to get out of the inning.
Tacoma did not trail for long, though, scoring eight runs in the bottom of the fourth, the most runs the Rainiers have scored in a single inning this season. After Connor Joe singled and Victor Labrada walked with one out, the Rainiers did all of the scoring with two outs, kickstarted by a two-out, RBI single from Miles Mastrobuoni. Ryan Bliss reached on an error by the shortstop Workman, loading the bases for Rivas, who worked a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at three, and chasing Boyle from the game. Andy Ibáñez greeted the new pitcher Daison Acosta with a two-run single to right field to give Tacoma a 5-3 lead, and after Patrick Wisdom loaded the bases on a single, Nolan Jones (5) crushed a grand slam to left-center field, breaking the game open and giving Tacoma a 9-3 lead.
Both teams traded scoreless frames before El Paso produced another run in the top of the eighth inning. The first three batters reached as Castañon doubled, Pratto walked and Durán walked to load the bases. Workman drove in his second run of the night on a groundout to first base, but that was the only run that scored as Robinson Ortiz left the bases loaded, allowing Tacoma to take a 9-4 lead into the ninth inning.
Ortiz stayed out for the ninth inning to finish the game. He navigated around a pair of baserunners in the frame while striking out the side to close out the game and earn his second save of the season. The Rainiers took the fourth game of the series 9-4 and now hold a 3-1 series lead.
Tacoma looks to take their third straight series win Saturday afternoon. RHP Gabe Mosser will be making his 25th start of the season with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 PM.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- The Rainiers scored eight runs in the fourth inning Friday, their most runs in a frame this season…the last time Tacoma scored at least eight runs in an inning came on September 18, 2025, when the Rainiers plated 10 runs in the sixth inning against Oklahoma City.
- OF Nolan Jones hit Tacoma’s sixth grand slam of the season in the fourth inning of Friday’s win…Tacoma’s six grand slams are tied for the second-most in the PCL and the eighth-most in Triple-A…the Rainiers are 5-1 this year when hitting a grand slam, and 28-2 since the 2021 season.
- LHP Jhonathan Díaz recorded his fourth quality start of the season and Tacoma’s 35th of the season, tied for the most in the minor leagues with Double-A Hartford…Díaz threw 101 pitches, marking his second consecutive start with at least 100 pitches…he’s the second Rainiers pitcher to throw 100 pitches in consecutive starts this season, joining RHP Carson Fulmer who threw 102 and then 100 pitches on September 3 and September 9, respectively.
- INF Miles Mastrobuoni recorded a three-hit game out of the ninth spot in the order on Friday, Tacoma’s 10, three-hit games out of the ninth spot in the order are the most in Triple-A.
- Tacoma struck out 14 batters for the second straight game Friday, becoming the fifth team in the Pacific Coast League to accomplish the feat this season…the last time the Rainiers recorded 14 strikeouts in consecutive games came on September 14-16, 2021.