Game 16 Recap: Rats
“I think it's just having a loss like that kind of rips your heart out, you know?”
By Roberto Santiago, additional reporting from Joe Horton
GREAT FALLS, MT—When I was a young boy, my mother hated kids’ music. Instead, she bought me musicals on vinyl. Not because she was a hipster; because it was 1979, and that’s what we had. One of my favorites, along with West Side Story and The Sound of Music, was 1967’s You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. If you’re somewhere near my age, the image of Charlie Brown spinning around, glove, hat and shoes flying off him as he gets walloped by a line drive was a familiar and enduring sight in the daily comics. The musical version of the Peanuts crew includes a song called “T-E-A-M (The Baseball Song)” in which Charlie Brown recounts the events of a game to his pen pal. The game goes about how you would expect. Charles Schulz, who lived in Northern California for 36 years, might have devoted a three-week arc to the woes of the Ballers pitching staff. Like Brown, the Ballers staff have found themselves in positive circumstances the last couple of days, only to suffer Peanuts-like tragedies.
“Dear Pen Pal,
You'll never guess what happened today
At the baseball game
It's hard to believe, what happened today
At the baseball game.
Aaron was manager, Nick Poss was catcher*
And all of the team was the same, as always…”
After a picturesque ride from Kalispell to Great Falls though Glacier National Park, the team arrived ready for their first win of the road trip. In a reversal of the season trend, Oakland had a clean first inning and led 3-0 heading to the bottom of the second. That inning would portend what was to come much of the way, as the Voyagers put up four runs with two out in the inning. It was a familiar sight, Oakland trailing early in a game in 2026. In all, Great Falls would score six two-out runs in the game.
“Yes, we had fortitude
No one could argue with that…”
As has been the case, the offense stepped up to give the team a chance. The Ballers responded with five runs in the top of the third, capped by a three-run home run from Nick Poss. Gabe Tanner (2-1) only needed seven pitches to retire Great Falls in the bottom of the inning, breaking two bats along the way. Tanner kept the opposition off the board again in fourth. For their part, the Ballers put up another two runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth for a commanding 13-4 lead.
“But somehow or other disaster struck
At the baseball game.”
In the bottom of the fifth, the Voyagers got a two-out RBI from Anthony Swenda in an inning that saw Tanner’s pitch count start to rise rapidly. Tanner was relieved in the bottom of the sixth by Matt Lozovoy who allowed two runs (one earned) to cut Oakland’s lead to 13-7. In a reversal of the first home stand, it was the bullpen who couldn’t hold up after the starter held the line early. Great Falls scored two in the seventh and one in the eighth, entering the bottom of the ninth down just three runs after Oakland failed to score again after notching their ominous 13th run.
Jake Tirk (0-1) came in relief of Langston Burkett to try to lock things down for the Ballers. Tirk surrendered a single to Tommy Spect ahead of a walk to Ethan Ott. Great Falls pinch ran P/OF Jordan Hamburg for Ott. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. After a strike out of Antonio Barranca, Will Rogers (who also pitches and acts a utility man) doubled, scoring both runners and leaving the Oakland lead at just one. The next batter was hit by a pitch, spurring a number of moves, including a pinch hitter, a pinch runner, and reliever Campbell Spradling replacing Tirk for Oakland. The runners pulled off a double steal on Spradling’s first pitch, prompting an intentional walk to pinch hitter Anthony Manisero to set up a possible game-ending double play. That brought Swenda to the plate in a big spot.
“One ball, one strike
The bases were loaded, with one man out
I pitched my curve, but somehow he hit it
A good strong clout
"Noah," I hollered, "It's comin' right to you—"
He caught it as easy as pie—then dropped it”
To be fair, it was far from an easy chance for Noah Blythe in right field, who made a tremendous effort to try and make the play. The result still hurt as the winning run crossed the plate, handing the Ballers another hard loss.
“I don't think it's good for a team's morale
To see their manager cry”
No tears were detected from manager Aaron Miles, though the hard luck and missed opportunities on the trip do seem to be taking a toll. Most of the Ballers stayed in the dugout at the end of the game to watch the Voyagers celebrate on the field. A half-dozen players stayed well after the game consoling each other.
Dispatches caught up with Nick Poss to ask about his health after such a successful but painful day at and behind the plate. Poss took a bad step receiving a throw and looked like he may have strained his left knee. He stayed in the game and seemed to be moving OK for the next couple innings, though he appeared to be hampered a bit as the game went on. He also took some fouls off the helmet along with the other daily nicks of playing catcher.
“Physically, I feel fine. I think it's just having a loss like that kind of rips your heart out, you know? It's something that is not acceptable as a team and we're kind of looking for that bounce back right now. And we thought today we had it,” Poss said. “It was personal. The guys were hungry today. The guys wanted to come out here and get after it to show that we’re the team that we think that we are. It’s frustrating when you feel like you're letting yourself down and you're letting your team down and you're letting Oakland down.”
What's his personal approach to coming back tomorrow?
“My personal approach is we’ve got to come out and act like we’ve got nothing to lose,” he said. “We've got so much talent on this team. I think guys just really gotta settle in on understanding who they are and not letting the moment get too big for them. I think there's plenty of times you're gonna face adversity in your career, and we gotta be able to accept that. It's tough taking a loss like this, but I'm kind of almost glad that we're taking it early on, just so we can know what it feels like to get hit in the mouth and respond. I think our response is everything.”
Starter Gabe Tanner agreed that the team needs to better know themselves and their strengths. The Ballers walked another 10 batters in this one and were unable to find the strike zone consistently when it mattered most. After having the best pitching in the league in 2025, the Ballers currently have the 9th worst ERA (8.41) and the 3rd most walks allowed (113). After giving up 43 free passes and 46 runs over the last four games, Tanner said, “We string it together, and sometimes we fall apart. The pieces are there. We just gotta hit, we gotta pitch. It's the name of the game, and I think we're getting away from the name of the game, trying to be more than ourselves, and we have to stay within.”
Tanner seemed particularly animated on the mound today; did he feel that?
“Yeah, I mean, these past couple days, our starters really haven't shown that we could throw strikes. I just wanted to dominate the zone. I know these [Great Falls] guys can hit, but with my stuff, I think I was confident in throwing it over the plate. And I think I got too comfortable throwing over the plate at times, gave a couple hits up, and it's a big park. You gotta take into account where you play. They know their park, so it's just baseball.”
And off the mound, how can he help the team turn their fortunes around over the next few days?
“Energy is key. We have to have energy at all times during the games, especially in those crucial moments. Staying positive. I know we can get negative really quick, and I think staying positive through those things, and trusting our guys, and trusting their stuff, and having a plan and trusting that plan—especially with our coaches—trusting that plan and not going astray from that.”
“Dear pen pal, I'm told where you live
Is really quite far
Would you please send directions
On how I can get where you are?
Your friend,
Charlie Brown”
*Lyrics have been adapted for this article
Odds and Ends:
-The PA announcer called Davis Drewek “Davis Derweck” at least three times.
-Play-by-play announcer Gareth Kwok gave a shout out to the B’s fans in attendance, who had gathered right behind home plate.
-The Zack Blaszak Revenge Game: Blaszak was released by Oakland during final cuts and latched on with Great Falls just three days ago on June 2nd. He made sure to show his former club what they missed, going 2-2 at the plate with 3 walks, 2 RBI, 2 runs scored, and a triple.
Photos from Mike Chouinard.
Roberto Santiago is a third generation Berkeley boy currently raising the fourth generation. Roberto’s writing has appeared in Latina, Parents, and various online outlets. A lifelong baseball fan, Roberto worked briefly with the Boston Red Sox and once hit an RBI single off Spaceman Lee on a 2-2 changeup. It was his only at bat ever in a real baseball game. Find him on Instagram.
Joe Horton is the editor of Dispatches from Raimondi.
