It’s time for our first Week In Review of the 2023 season, in which we recap the past week of blog posts. We’re actually adding a couple days in this first edition, because we’ve been playing since March 31.
We’ll start with the season opener at Oklahoma City last Friday, in which the team gave us some foreshadowing by scoring 14 runs in a road win.
The Oklahoma Dodgers got some revenge the next day, making a late-innings comeback to beat the Rainiers on a walk-off. Some questionable umpire decisions impacted the result.
The Rainiers got walked off in Oklahoma City again on Sunday, and after a 1-2 road trip the blog post focused on the Rainiers home opener.
That home opener on Tuesday was a ton of fun as the Rainiers blitzed Reno, 12-5, despite getting only four hits?!?
Another dozen Rainiers runs crossed the plate the next day, as the club took the lead among all Triple-A teams in runs scored.
On Thursday, it rained.
Holy smokes, the Rainiers swept the makeup doubleheader on Friday night and built a four-game win streak.
And then came yesterday, which is best forgotten, and shall be swiftly.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Tacoma lost to Reno, 19-4. How much do you really want to know about this one? Reno scored seven runs in both the fifth and the seventh innings, and the Rainiers four-game winning streak came to an emphatic and definitive end. Today is a new day.
TODAY: Reno Aces (3-5) at Tacoma Rainiers (5-3), 1:35.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Arizona Diamondbacks.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Blake Lalli.
SEASON SERIES: Tacoma leads, 4-1.
PITCHERS: RHP Peter Solomon (0-1, 10.80) at LHP Tommy Milone (1-0, 0.00)
This is a pitching rematch of the home opener on Tuesday, which the Rainiers won 12-5.
ROSTER MOVES: The Mariners need bullpen reinforcements, so they called up Justin Topa and JB Bukauskas from Tacoma. Reliever Matt Festa was optioned to the Rainiers, and they had to place Andres Munoz on the injured list. Needing a spot on the 40-man roster for Bukauskas, the team recalled the injured Evan White and placed him on the 60-day injured list (players on the 60-day IL do not count on the 40-man roster).
HOT HITTERS: Mike Ford has hit safely in all seven games he has played in, has driven in at least one run in all seven, and has three homers…. Brian O’Keefe has a seven-game hitting streak, with four homers and 11 RBI during the streak… Jose Caballero has reached base in 16 of his 24 plate appearances, for a .667 OBP… Mason McCoy has reached base safely in all eight games… Delino DeShields has reached base safely in all six games he has played in… as a team, Tacoma leads Triple-A Baseball with 68 runs scored, and a .448 on-base percentage.
OPPONENT NEWS: The defending PCL Champions opened the season by taking two-of-three from rival Las Vegas in a high-scoring home series… Blake Lalli returns as Reno manager after stepping away last year to work in player development… Diego Castillo went 5-for-5 on opening day Friday and has a seven-game hitting streak… starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt is the highest-rated prospect on the Reno roster… reliever Anthony Misiewicz and infielder Jake Hager are the former Rainiers on the Reno roster.
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 earned a tough 3-2 win at Cleveland yesterday, pulling within one game of .500.
- Ryan Divish’s Mariners Notebook includes a minor league report and some Tacoma Fun Stats.
- The Fangraphs Sunday column has some good stuff on Carlos Santana, who was a key member of the Mariners in the second half last season. And based on the cited poll in the second section, we’ll definitely keep doing out-of-town scores during the broadcasts.
- In an all-time first, today The News Tribune sports tab has a link to a story on the Round Rock – Sugar Land doubleheader last night, but nothing on the local Rainiers. There is definitely a flaw in the algorithm.
- Albuquerque hit three homers – including one by Gig Harbor product Michael Toglia – and beat Salt Lake, 9-6. The Albuquerque Journal has a fun retrospective celebrating the 20th anniversary of Isotopes Park.
- If you haven’t heard about the Angels Double-A team pitching a no-hitter and losing 7-3, here you go.
June 9, 2023