The Albuquerque Isotopes' playoff chances went on life support after an epic collapse in the ninth inning against the Iowa Cubs on Wednesday night.
Iowa scored nine runs in the final frame to pull out an improbable 15-13 victory in front of 9,823 stunned fans at Isotopes Park.
Albuquerque (69-69) saw a 13-6 lead evaporate in a mix of bad pitching, clutch hitting, defensive blunders, equipment malfunctions and just about everything else that could possibly go wrong.
“I don’t know how (I feel)," manager Tim Wallach said. "That’s as tough as it gets right there."
The loss knocked the Isotopes 3 1/2 games behind Oklahoma City (72-65) in the American South Division.
The RedHawks split a doubleheader with Nashville, losing the opener, 9-5, and winning the second game, 3-2, in 10 innings as Sounds reliever David Johnson loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter, followed by a four-pitch walk to force in the winning run.
Nashville and Oklahoma City will play another doubleheader Thursday.
The win kept the Cubs (80-59) one game up in the American North over Memphis (79-60), which defeated New Orleans, 7-4.
Marquez Smith led off the ninth with a walk and then went to third on Brad Snyder's double to right field.
Jason Dubois followed with a three-run homer to left, his second in as many at-bats, that cut the lead to 13-9.
Bryan LaHair singled up the middle, and that was it for reliever Jesus Rodriguez, who was pulled in favor of Jon Link.
Link got Bobby Scales to ground one to first baseman John Lindsey, who threw to second base to try and start a double play. The only problem was that the ball hit the sliding LaHair and bounced away for an error.
Chris Robinson smacked an RBI double to right to cut the lead to 13-10.
Link struck out Jonathan Mota, but pinch hitter James Adduci hit a liner that ripped through the glove of third baseman Russ Mitchell for another error.
Sam Fuld followed with an RBI single up the middle, making it 13-11. Adduci and Fuld pulled off a double steal to eliminate the chance of a double play.
They shouldn't have bothered, as Smith came up and ripped a line-drive, three-run homer to left field for Iowa's first lead of the game.
A.J. Ellis singled with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Jeff Stevens retired pinch hitter J.D. Closser on a pop-up to shortstop Mota.
“Those were tough breaks, but you have to overcome them," Wallach said.
Link (3-2) was charged with five runs, all unearned, on four hits in his one inning of work.
“We had one more (pitcher) but I can’t use everybody," Wallach said, adding that anyone left would not have been able to pitch for very long.
“That first night kind of set us up in a bad spot for the doubleheader (Tuesday) and then tonight," Wallach added, referring to the Isotopes' 20-9 loss on Monday that saw them use six relievers.
The game had started off in a positive fashion as rehabbing Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal got the Isotopes going with a triple to lead off the first inning. He then scored on Ivan De Jesus Jr.'s groundout to second base.
Furcal had been out since Aug. 3 with a recurring back injury that has sidelined him for 78 of Los Angeles' 134 games this season. He is on a two-game rehab stint with the Isotopes.
After the Cubs tied the game in the second on Mota's RBI single, the Isotopes broke the contest open in their half of the inning.
With one out, Jamie Hoffmann and Michael Restovich hit back-to-back singles before Ellis made it three in a row with a single to right that scored Hoffmann.
With two outs and runners on first and second, Furcal delivered again with a two-run double down the left field line. De Jesus singled to left to drive in Furcal and make it 5-1.
Albuquerque kept on scoring in the third as Lindsey doubled and scored on Trent Oeltjen's RBI single.
With two outs and two on, Furcal hit a liner to center field that bounced off Sam Fuld's glove, allowing both runners to score and putting the Isotopes up, 8-1.
Albuquerque added another run in the fourth before Iowa scored a pair in the fifth to make it 9-3.
Lindsey cranked out a three-run homer in the sixth, but Dubois countered with a three-run shot off reliever Brent Leach in the seventh.
De Jesus' RBI double in the eighth accounted for the Isotopes' final run.
Albuquerque starter Tim Corcoran battled through 6 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and four walks. He struck out four but failed to pick up his fourth consecutive victory in as many starts, ending up with a no-decision as the bullpen faltered.
“Corky gave us a lot tonight," Wallach said. "He pitched a pretty good game."
Albuquerque will look for a series-salvaging victory in its final home of the regular season Thursday at 6:35 p.m.
Notes
- Right-hander Francisco Felix (1-0, 4.50 ERA) will make his second start for the Isotopes against Cubs right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx (5-3, 4.15) on Thursday.
- Entertainer Myron Noodleman will be on hand Thursday. The first 3,000 fans will also receive a Dr. Pepper souvenir cup.
- While no Isotopes were called up by the Dodgers on Wednesday, the first day Major League rosters could expand up to 40 players, Ken Gurnick and Evan Drellich of MLB.com reported that catcher A.J. Ellis and "an unnamed infielder" will be recalled Friday. They also noted that the Dodgers could call up an unspecified number of relief pitchers, such as Albuquerque's Jon Link. Wallach said he had not been informed of any call-ups as of Wednesday night.
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