I guess we’re going to call this one The Kevin Padlo Game.
The former Rainiers third baseman, now with the Salt Lake Bees, did everything in a tight 8-7 Salt Lake win over Tacoma on Thursday night.
At the plate he was 3-for-3 with two homers and a double. All of those hits came against Darren McCaughan, who was his teammate in Tacoma in both 2021 and 2022. The homers were both solo shots to left field, and the double drove in a run.
Then came the ninth inning.
Trailing 8-7 heading to the top of the ninth, Tacoma’s Brian O’Keefe drew a leadoff walk and Mike Ford doubled him to third. There were no outs, the tying runner at third, the go-ahead runner at second, and the Rainiers No. 2 RBI man Jake Scheiner coming to the plate.
Facing Bees reliever Jimmy Herget with the infield drawn in, Scheiner ripped a liner to the left side. On pure reaction alone, Padlo jumped in the air and speared the ball for the first out of the inning, saving two runs and (as it turned out) the game for the Bees. The ball was scorched at 107 mph off Scheiner’s bat, and Padlo caught it with half the ball sticking out of the tip of his glove.
The Rainiers proceeded to strand the baserunners and lose a tough one-run decision on the road. Nice game, Padlo. Why don’t you take a few days off now.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Salt Lake edged the Rainiers, 8-7, escaping a second-and-third no outs situation in the ninth inning to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Tacoma had home runs from Cade Marlowe, Jake Scheiner, and Zach DeLoach. Scheiner was 3-for-5 and had three RBI. Reliever Diego Castillo made his Tacoma debut, delivering a scoreless seventh inning with a walk and three strikeouts. There was a 37-minute rain delay in the middle of the sixth inning.
TODAY: Tacoma Rainiers (15-14) at Salt Lake Bees (13-17), 5:35 (Pacific).
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Keith Johnson.
SEASON SERIES: Salt Lake leads, 2-1.
PITCHERS: RHP Nick Davila (0-0, 0.00) at LHP Jake Kalish (1-3, 9.23)
Davila is up from Class-A Modesto to make the fill-in start, as the Rainiers continue to have a hole in the rotation (due to the Easton McGee call-up and subsequent injury, as well as Taylor Dollard‘s injury). Davila is 0-1 with a 4.58 ERA in the California League.
ROSTER MOVES: To make room for starter Nick Davila on the roster, Jarod Bayless has been transferred to Modesto.
HOT HITTERS: Cade Marlowe has a nine-game hitting streak, and he has at least one hit in 13 of his 14 games played… Mike Ford has reached base safely in 12 straight games, and he has 12 RBI through the first nine games of the current road trip… Kean Wong has a seven-game hitting streak, going 9-for-22… Jake Scheiner has gone 13-for-33 (.393) with three HRs and 14 RBI in nine games on this road trip… 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 24 of his 26 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 an eight-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:
- Former Rainiers outfielder Taylor Trammell had a big game as the Mariners completed a road sweep of the Oakland A’s. The M’s went 5-4 on the road trip, thanks to the sweep of the A’s.
- The four-game winning streak doesn’t mask the Mariners early-season struggles, according to Larry Stone.
- Young starting pitchers led the M’s in Oakland.
- Baseball America has a really good article up explaining the two ways that the Automated Ball-Strike System is being used in Triple-A games this season. Included is an explanation why walks are up 26% in the PCL: the width of the automated strike zone shrunk from 19 inches to 17 inches this year. Rainiers fans will see the Challenge System in person next weekend.
June 9, 2023