Tacoma has played really well the first two games in Oklahoma City, beating the Dodgers twice with scores of 7-3 and 6-1. Both victories were drama-free in the late innings.
Yesterday the Rainiers got to minor league baseball’s ERA leader Gavin Stone, cobbling together a four-run rally in the top of the third inning to hand him a loss. It was just the third Triple-A start for Stone, who began the season at Class-A and has been promoted twice while fashioning a 1.56 ERA over 22 starts across three levels.
Despite allowing four runs – only two earned due to a bad error by his third baseman – Stone looked every bit the part of a top prospect, and yet another player development success story for the Dodgers organization. A fifth round pick in 2020 out of the University of Central Arkansas, Stone showed four pitches and a fastball that was 95-97. He’s one to watch, for sure.
While unable to match the pure stuff of Stone, Tacoma starter Konner Wade used his superior command and outperformed him in results. Wade tossed six shutout innings and picked up the win as the Rainiers improved to 62-69 on the year, pulling within seven games of .500. This is the closest Tacoma has been to the .500 mark since the team was 7-14 on April 28.
Reaching .500 is in the realm of possibility for this Rainiers squad. It would require the team to go 13-6 over the final 19 games starting today – and the team is already hot, having won four of the last five and seven of the last ten.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma City’s lead in the East is down to one game over both Round Rock and El Paso. The Chihuahuas swept a doubleheader in Albuquerque last night to pull dead-even with Round Rock.
Oklahoma City had been scheduled to start their other touted pitching prospect Bobby Miller tonight, but he has been scratched due to late season fatigue, so we’ll miss seeing him this year.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Tacoma starter Konner Wade tossed six scoreless innings, and the Rainiers used a four-run rally in the third inning to coast to a 6-1 win at Oklahoma City on Wednesday afternoon. Josh Morgan had two hits and scored two runs, Luis Torrens drove in a pair, and Jarred Kelenic had two hits for Tacoma.
TODAY: Tacoma Rainiers (62-69) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (73-58), 5:05 (Pacific).
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Los Angeles Dodgers.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Travis Barbary
SEASON SERIES: Tacoma leads, 5-3.
PITCHERS: LHP Tommy Milone (3-1, 2.15) at RHP Jon Duplantier (4-3, 4.93)
ROSTER MOVES: None today as of posting time.
HOT HITTERS: Mason McCoy has reached base safely in 14 straight games, and he has homered seven times over his last 21 games… Kyle Lewis has reached base in ten straight games… Brian O’Keefe has a six-game hitting streak… Derek Hill has hit safely in four straight games.
OPPONENT NEWS: Oklahoma City has the best record in the league, but the Dodgers lead in the East is just one game over Round Rock and El Paso after dropping four of six to the Express in a series that ended Sunday… James Outman defied all of the laws of physics and nature when he hit for the cycle twice in a span of four games, August 26 vs. El Paso and August 30 at Round Rock… Jason Martin leads the PCL with 30 home runs… reliever Daniel Zamora is the lone former Rainier currently active for Oklahoma City… Chief Sealth (Seattle) High School alum Keone Kela is now with Oklahoma City.
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:
- The Mariners had an uncharacteristic sloppy loss to the White Sox yesterday.
- Despite yesterday’s game, the Mariners are a team no one wants to face in the playoffs according to Larry Stone.
- Eugenio Suarez homered twice yesterday, garnering his 1,000th career hit.
June 6, 2023