Roenis Elias melts down in Tacoma Rainiers loss to Las Vegas

The bottom of the first inning for the Tacoma Rainiers against Las Vegas on Saturday night was not only bad — it was bizarre.

And Tacoma starting pitcher Roenis Elias played a huge part.

Elias issued a balk and allowed six runs on five hits in just two-thirds of an inning, then was ejected after being pulled by manager Pat Listach.

It led to an 8-4 loss to the Las Vegas 51s in front of a crowd of 6,567 at Cashman Field.

“He had a bad first inning,” said Listach, whose team led 2-0 going into bottom of the first. “We came out swinging the bats well. We lost the momentum in the bottom half of the first inning.”

Chris Taylor’s 4-for-5 night with three doubles, an RBI and two runs was not enough for Tacoma (52-56). Taylor returned from the Seattle Mariners roster recently.

Taylor is now 7 for 9 against Las Vegas (60-48) this year.

“I’m just trying to keep it simple. It felt good to get some hits,” Taylor said. “I’ve been scuffling a little bit. They were mainly throwing fastballs, but one hit was on a slider. It is definitely good to build upon.”

With one out and runners on second and third and a run already in, Elias was called for a balk on a pitch that Jayce Boyd hit back to the mound. Elias thought he threw out Boyd at first, but the umpire by rule had to wait to call a balk until the play was completed in case Las Vegas benefited from a hit.

Six of the first seven 51s hitters reached base and scored. Elias threw 35 pitches and struck out his final batter.

ON TAP

The Rainiers and 51s play again at 7 p.m. Sunday. Tacoma is scheduled to start RHP Adrian Sampson (0-0, 0.00 ERA) against Las Vegas RHP Matthew Bowman (7-10, 5.32).

This story was originally published August 1, 2015 at 11:12 PM with the headline "Roenis Elias melts down in Tacoma Rainiers loss to Las Vegas."