Our celebration of the Rainiers amazing offense may have been a little premature. Or perhaps the hitters are just in a little funk and will snap out of it tonight, I don’t know. Either way, the team had a frustrating night at the plate in a 2-1, ten-inning loss at Round Rock on Thursday.
Tacoma wasted a brilliant pitching performance by starter Easton McGee, who did not allow a run until there were two outs in the seventh inning.
The Rainiers missed multiple opportunities to give McGee an early lead, stranding runners in scoring position in each of the first four innings. Tacoma finished the game with 11 left on base.
As it stood, the Rainiers were forced to rally in the ninth inning just to tie the game 1-1 and force extra innings. When we got to the tenth inning and the automatic runner placed at second base, the Rainiers did not score theirs, and Round Rock did, and that was that.
Tacoma finished the game with six hits and one run. The team’s batting average has dropped to .267 – early season stats can fluctuate wildly – and the team has scored 77 runs in 11 games, a still-lofty average of 7.0 runs per contest. However, the team has scored just nine runs in the first three games of the Round Rock series.
Hopefully the bats can come alive tonight, against an opposing pitcher who hasn’t allowed a run yet this season.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Tacoma’s Easton McGee put together a great start, but the Rainiers offense was slumbering and the team lost in ten innings at Round Rock, 2-1. McGee went seven innings and allowed one run, retiring 16 straight batters at one point. The Rainiers tied the game in the ninth when Jose Caballero walked and Jacob Nottingham brought him in with his second double of the game, but lost in the tenth inning when Yoshi Tsutsugo singled home the automatic runner for the Express. New Rainiers reliever A.J. Puckett pitched two perfect innings from the bullpen in his Triple-A debut.
TODAY: Tacoma Rainiers (6-5) at Round Rock Express (7-4), 5:05 (Pacific).
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Texas Rangers.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Doug Davis.
SEASON SERIES: Round Rock leads, 2-1.
PITCHERS: RHP Taylor Dollard (0-1, 5.79) at LHP Cody Bradford (2-0, 0.00)
Bradford has been the hottest pitcher in the PCL to start the season. A Triple-A rookie, he’s pitched 11.1 innings allowing no runs and just three hits.
ROSTER MOVES: Yesterday the Mariners signed veteran left-handed reliever Eric Stout and assigned him to Tacoma. Spot-starter Riley Davis was transferred back to Class-A Modesto. Today infielder Nick Solak, who was designated for assignment on Monday, was claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox.
HOT HITTERS: Brian O’Keefe has a nine-game hitting streak, with five homers and 12 RBI during the streak… Mason McCoy has reached base safely in all 11 games… Delino DeShields has reached base safely in all eight games he has played in.
OPPONENT NEWS: The Express just won four-of-five in a rain-impacted series at Sugar Land, and they have won five of the last six games overall… Justin Foscue has a five-game hitting streak… Elier Hernandez homered in both games of a doubleheader on Saturday… Round Rock has three former Rainiers on its roster, pitchers Jacob Barnes, Robert Dugger and Dominic Leone.
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 were off yesterday, so Larry Stone did a serious breakdown of what has happened to them so far this season.
- In the PCL, Fernando Tatis Jr. hit three home runs with eight RBI last night as he continues his rehabilitation assignment with El Paso. My sources say he will probably not be with the Chihuahuas when they arrive in Tacoma on Tuesday, which I suppose is both good and bad.
June 9, 2023