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On a clear Tuesday evening, the Chihuahuas struck early with two home runs to defeat the Tacoma Rainiers 3-1 in the first of the four-game series.
Leading off the batting rotation, Rafael Ortega started the bottom of the first inning with a booming home run to right field, which is his fourth homer of the season.
In the second inning, Dusty Coleman drove in Diego Goris with a sacrifice fly to put the home team up 2-0.
Then in the fourth inning, Christian Willanueva began the inning with a solo home run, which is his seventh of the season.
Finally at the top of the fifth, Ryan Jackson of the Rainiers drove home Zach Shank for their lone run of the game. Starting pitcher for El Paso Andre Rienzo only allowed one run through six innings.
Relief pitchers and former Rainiers Carter Capps and Logan Bawcom of the Chihuahuas pitched scoreless innings against Tacoma. Closing out the ninth inning, both Keith Hessler and Adam Cimber capped the win for the Chihuahuas with Cimber recording the save.
The game, which was barely over two hours, was the shortest game of the season for the 6,845 Chihuahuas fans in attendance.
The home team improved to 31-34 on the season, while Tacoma fell to 35-28. The teams will continue the series on Wednesday with the first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m.
