The Rainiers hitters lead the PCL in drawing walks by a huge margin, but the walks were put to a stop by the oldest player in the league.
Utilizing an ancient forgotten baseball strategy called “throwing strikes,” 38-year-old Cesar Valdez pitched the Salt Lake Bees to a 7-2 win over the Rainiers on Wednesday afternoon.
Valdez lasted seven innings, giving up two runs and earning the win. He walked just one and struck out five.
Today’s starting pitcher Tacoma, Darren McCaughan, has been known to occasionally dabble in the same old-school baseball philosophies that Valdez utilizes. Hopefully he can limit Salt Lake’s walks and the Rainiers can rebound with a win.
He’ll need to try to keep PCL home run leader Jo Adell in the ballpark. Adell hit a three-run blast yesterday, and has homered in each of the first two games of this series while raising his season total to 12.
McCaughan is looking to bounce back from his roughest start in a calendar year, when he got knocked around in Las Vegas last week. In 2022 McCaughan had a similar game at Albuquerque in April, and he was able to put it in the past and ended up having a very strong remainder of the season.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: The Rainiers dropped a day game at Salt Lake on Wednesday, 7-2. It was a well-pitched 3-2 ballgame until the Bees erupted for four runs in the bottom of the seventh. PCL home run leader Jo Adell hit a 470-foot three-run homer, and Kentwood High School product Taylor Jones belted a two-run shot.
TODAY: Tacoma Rainiers (15-13) at Salt Lake Bees (12-17), 5:35 (Pacific).
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Keith Johnson.
SEASON SERIES: Tied, 1-1.
PITCHERS: RHP Darren McCaughan (1-1, 6.65) at RHP Jake Lee (0-0, 3.05)
ROSTER MOVES: None yet today as of blog posting time, but there is a chance Mariners reliever Andres Munoz could appear for Tacoma on a rehabilitation assignment any day now.
HOT HITTERS: Cade Marlowe has an eight-game hitting streak, and he has at least one hit in 12 of his 13 games played… Mike Ford has reached base safely in 11 straight games, and he has 12 RBI through the first eight games of the current road trip… Kean Wong has a seven-game hitting streak, going 9-for-22… Jake Scheiner went 8-for-22 with two home runs and ten RBI during the Las Vegas series… Pat Valaika has a four-game hitting streak… Jacob Nottingham has hit four home runs over his last six games… Zach DeLoach has reached base safely in 23 of his 25 games.
OPPONENT NEWS: Salt Lake just won the last two games of a series at El Paso, ending a miserable stretch in which the Bees lost 12 of 13… Michael Stefanic has reached base in all 26 games he has played in this season… Mickey Moniak enjoyed his first-ever trip to El Paso, ripping five home runs, and he now has a seven-game hitting streak… Jo Adell leads the PCL with 12 home runs… his teammate Trey Cabbage (that’s a real name) has hit nine homers… Kentwood High School product Taylor Jones is with Salt Lake this season… former Rainiers Zack Weiss and Kevin Padlo are with the Bees.
BROADCAST: All games will be broadcast free on a live audio stream which is available right here.
Unfortunately, there is no traditional terrestrial radio station carrying the games at this time.
PCL SCOREBOARD: Follow all league games in real-time with links to broadcasts and Gameday screens right here.
Links:
- For the second game in a row, AJ Pollock saved the Mariners in Oakland.
- In his debut on Tuesday, Bryce Miller showed that his fastball moves differently than most.
- Robbie Ray had his Tommy John surgery. I suppose he could rehab with Tacoma next April or May.
- In the PCL, El Paso has added the veteran big league shortstop Jose Iglesias.
- A veteran move: knowing where the hits are, Astros star Michael Brantley is doing a rehabilitation assignment with Sugar Land while the team is on a road trip to Albuquerque.
June 9, 2023