The first game of the showdown for first place in Reno did not go well for our boys.
The Aces won, 16-7. It was 12-1 in the fifth inning and even in Reno’s launching pad that’s a hard deficit to come back from.
Tacoma fell one game behind Reno in the chase for the regular season title, with 17 games to play including five more head-to-head in this series.
Additionally, Sugar Land pulled into a tie with Tacoma for second place by beating Las Vegas last night out in Texas, 3-1. The Skeeters and the Rainiers have identical records of 60-43.
Last night’s game had a 15 minute delay due to an umpire injury. A wayward pitch struck home plate umpire Nate Tomlinson in the facemask and he went down. Trainers for both teams checked on him, and decided he should not continue behind the plate. Tomlinson eventually walked off the field under his own power, and the game resumed with a two-man umpire crew. Hopefully he’s ok – I’m sure there is some form of concussion protocol that umpires go through in situations like this.
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Tacoma’s Ryan Weber was named the Triple-A West Pitcher of the Month for August. He made four starts and allowed just three runs in 26 innings, with no walks and 25 strikeouts.
Weber had his first rough outing with the Rainiers last night. Hopefully his August form returns for the remainder of September!
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Reno won the series opener, 16-7, and took sole possession of first place in the Triple-A West. Henry Ramos went 5-for-6, and both Cooper Hummel and Juniel Querecuto had four RBI. Tacoma’s Jantzen Witte hit a three-run homer and also pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth inning to help save the bullpen for tonight.
TODAY: Tacoma (60-43) at Reno (60-41), 6:35.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Arizona Diamondbacks.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Blake Lalli.
SEASON SERIES: Tacoma leads, 10-9.
PITCHERS: RHP Asher Wojciechowski (0-0, 0.00) at RHP Humberto Mejia (5-4, 5.93)
This is Wojciechowski’s second start since coming off the injured list. He was limited to two innings in his first game back, so look for maybe three or four tonight.
ROSTER MOVES: Yesterday the Mariners outrighted Jimmy Yacabonis to Tacoma, and he reported immediately.
HOT HITTERS: Jantzen Witte has reached base safely in 21 straight games, and he has gone 60-for-181 (.331) over his last 45 games… Donovan Walton has a four-game hitting streak… Sam Travis has gone 36-for-112 (.321) over his last 28 games… Jack Reinheimer has a nine-game hitting streak, and he has reached base in 22 straight games… Jose Godoy has a six-game hitting streak… Marcus Wilson has gone 10-for-27 with three homers and eight walks over his last eight games.
OPPONENT NEWS: Reno just lost three of four games in a series against Sacramento in which two games were cancelled due to poor air quality… Henry Ramos leads the league with a .373 batting average, boosting it by 11 points with a 5-for-6 game last night… Juniel Querecuto has a five-game hitting streak… Jamie Ritchie has hit safely in seven of his last eight games… the Diamondbacks recently promoted top prospect Alek Thomas to Reno, and he had back-to-back four-hit games on Sunday and Monday… Seth Beer has been hit by pitch a whopping 26 times this year… Ildemaro Vargas is Reno’s all-time hits leader with 496.
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.
TRIPLE-A WEST SCOREBOARD: Follow all league games in real-time with links to Gameday screens right here.
STORIES YOU MIGHT LIKE:
- Congrats to the M’s Double-A Arkansas team that pitched a no-hitter last night against Wichita. Matt Brash started and was perfect for the first six innings, with 11 strikeouts.
- The Mariners were off yesterday, so Larry Stone has a column on what he thinks is the most important part of the team’s rebuild: the top prospects have to start performing in the majors.
- On that note, Fangraphs took a deep dive into Jarred Kelenic‘s struggles.
Listen to every home and away Tacoma Rainiers game for free HERE. You can also download the MiLB First Pitch app for a free and easy one-click listening experience at home, work or in your car. Watch an HD video broadcast of every game with an MiLB.TV subscription. Use code: RAINIERS to save $10 on an annual subscription.
About the Tacoma Rainiers
The Tacoma Rainiers are the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The Rainiers are a member of the Triple-A West. Tacoma has been a Mariners affiliate since establishing the Rainiers moniker in 1995.
Find more information and purchase single game tickets here. Questions regarding season tickets can be directed to Tickets@WeRTacoma.com.
The most up-to-date news and notes about the Tacoma Rainiers and Cheney Stadium can be found at WeRTacoma.com, or by following the Rainiers on Twitter (@RainiersLand), Instagram (@tacomarainiers) and liking the team on Facebook.
March 16, 2023