A day late because we absolutely had to write about the Rainiers winning the championship yesterday, we have a special Monday edition of the Week In Review. Here’s a recap of the past week’s blog posts.
The week began in unexpected fashion, as a central Tacoma power outage caused us to have to postpone last Sunday’s game.
On Monday the Rainiers swept the makeup doubleheader from Sacramento, and the idea of clinching the Triple-A West Championship became very real.
The Rainiers won Tuesday’s game on a walk-off home run by Taylor Trammell, and then set eyes on winning the championship on the road in El Paso.
After Thursday’s series-opening win in El Paso we figured out the tiebreaking scenarios and what needed to happen for the Rainiers to clinch.
Saturday’s plan was simple: a win that night, and the Rainiers win the championship.
The Rainiers won the Triple-A West Championship on Saturday night, and Sunday’s post celebrates it.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: The Tacoma Rainiers seven-game win streak ended with a 7-3 loss in El Paso on Sunday evening. Matt Batten and Gosuke Katoh homered in the fourth inning as El Paso took a 4-1 lead and did not give it up. Luis Liberato had three hits for Tacoma.
TODAY: Tacoma (72-46) at El Paso (45-73), 5:35 PT.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: San Diego Padres.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Eric Junge. He’s serving as both pitching coach and interim manager.
SEASON SERIES: Tacoma leads, 6-4.
PITCHERS: RHP Darin Gillies (13-0, 4.08) at RHP Reiss Knehr (0-2, 3.12)
It’s a bullpen day for the Rainiers. This will be the eighth career start for Gillies, and just his second since 2015.
ROSTER MOVES: The Rainiers have added Mariners reliever Andres Munoz on a rehabilitation assignment, and he is expected to pitch an inning on Tuesday. Reliever Brooks Pounders, who has been injured most of the season, was released.
HOT HITTERS: Jantzen Witte has gone 76-for-228 (.333) over his last 58 games… Dillon Thomas has reached base in ten straight games, going 12-for-31 at the plate during that time… Jose Godoy has 12 hits during a six-game hitting streak… Luis Liberato has a five-game hitting streak.
OPPONENT NEWS: It’s been a tumultuous campaign for El Paso, which fired a coach and saw veteran manager Edwin Rodriguez resign mid-season… El Paso just went 2-5 during a series at Albuquerque. The Chihuahuas are struggling, having lost 13 of their last 16 games… Taylor Kohlwey had his 12-game hitting streak end last night… Jose Azocar has a 12-game hitting streak, and he has 11 stolen bases over his last 17 games… El Paso has former Rainiers Patrick Kivlehan, John Andreoli, and Parker Markel… Kivlehan has a seven-game hitting streak.
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:
- Baseball America has a round-up of the playoff situations throughout the minor leagues.
- The Mariners kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 7-1 win at Kansas City on Sunday.
- Jake Bauers launched a tape-measure home run during the win.
- The News Tribune has not yet reported that the Tacoma Rainiers won the league championship, but the local paper does have some Mariners Takeaways.
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