The bats broke out for the Tacoma Rainiers last night, with the team collecting ten hits to go with seven walks drawn in a 7-2 win over the Reno Aces at Cheney Stadium.
Brian O’Keefe got things started, ripping a deep RBI double in the bottom of the first inning to immediately end any concerns that the Rainiers scoring difficulties might linger for another day.
Then, in the second inning, came something we hadn’t seen in several days: back-to-back two-out run-scoring hits by Kean Wong and Cade Marlowe, giving the Rainiers a 3-1 lead. The two-out RBI hits have been infrequent recently, and these were very nice to see.
The game was close going to the bottom of the fifth inning, with Tacoma holding a 3-2 lead. Mike Ford blasted a solo homer to right field, his tenth of the season, making it 4-2. Then the Rainiers loaded the bases for Jack Larsen, who singled up the middle to drive in a pair. Later in the frame Marlowe added a sacrifice fly to finish a four-run rally.
Tacoma coasted to the win from there, although both teams consistently had baserunners in the late innings. Each team’s pitching staff walked seven last night, which is something that neither team had been doing through the first four games of the series.
Tonight the Rainiers have the opportunity get back to .500 both for the year, and in this series, with a win.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Tacoma broke out with ten hits and beat Reno on Friday night, 7-2. Kean Wong reached base four times, Jack Larsen had two hits and two RBI, and Mike Ford belted his tenth homer of the season as the Rainiers earned their second win of the seven-game series. Tommy Milone started and pitched five innings to earn the win. Tacoma looks to even-up the series with another win tonight.
TODAY: Reno Aces (21-16) at Tacoma Rainiers (18-19), 6:05.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Arizona Diamondbacks.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Blake Lalli.
SEASON SERIES: Tacoma leads, 6-4.
PITCHERS: LHP Konnor Pilkington (0-0, 3.86) at RHP Konner Wade (0-0, 6.62)
It’s Konnor vs. Konner in a battle to determine the proper way to spell Connor.
ROSTER MOVES: None today as of blog posting time.
HOT HITTERS: Jake Scheiner has hit safely in nine of his last ten games, and he ranks second in the PCL with 11 homers. Jo Adell of Salt Lake leads the league with 13… Kean Wong has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games… Mike Ford has 46 RBI, which leads all of professional baseball… Jacob Nottingham has hit four home runs over his last nine games.
OPPONENT NEWS: Reno just split a six-game series at home against Round Rock, but prior to that they won 10 of 12 games against Sugar Land and at Salt Lake, going 5-1 against each… Philip Evans has arguably been the best hitter in the league to date. He leads the league in batting average (.419), on-base percentage (.550), and runs scored (35)… Diego Castillo has a five-game hitting streak, and he is 14-for-34 against Tacoma this season… Reno has former Rainiers pitcher Austin Adams, as well as infielder Jake Hager.
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 opened a nine-game road trip with a 9-2 win over Detroit on Friday night. Julio Rodriguez had three hits and a homer.
- Jose Caballero is helping the Mariners while annoying opponents.
June 9, 2023