The Tacoma Rainiers are playing good baseball these days, but unfortunately the fans at home have not seen it.
After last night’s 6-5 win at Reno, Tacoma has won seven of the last nine away games, and after a tough start to the season has nearly reached a .500 record in road games at 12-14.
Unfortunately, the home field hasn’t been an advantage. At all. Like, it’s actually been a disadvantage. The Rainiers are just 6-17 at Cheney Stadium this year, including losses in six of the last seven home games. The age-old goal of playing .500 ball on the road and piling up the wins at home is not currently panning out for this squad.
Maybe the weather has something to do with it. It seems silly, since both teams playing in a game have to deal with the same weather, but professional baseball players tend to come from warmer climates and enjoy playing in the heat. Perhaps the Rainiers will feel more comfortable in their home ballpark when it starts to warm up this summer.
The team won’t be back at home for awhile. Tonight’s contest is the third of a nine-game road trip, and Tacoma does not return home until Friday, June 10. We’ll see if they can keep the strong road results going for another week.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Tacoma hit four home runs and the bullpen held on in the late innings for a 6-5 win at Reno. Jarred Kelenic opened the game with a homer, and later Forrest Wall, Andrew Knapp, and Mason McCoy all went deep. Darren McCaughan started and survived a rocky first two innings to make it through five, allowing two runs and earning the win. Matt Koch pitched the ninth inning against his former team and picked up his first minor league save.
TODAY: Tacoma Rainiers (18-31) at Reno Aces (26-24), 6:35.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Arizona Diamondbacks.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Gil Velazquez.
SEASON SERIES: Tied, 4-4.
PITCHERS: LHP Justus Sheffield (0-4, 8.47) at LHP Tyler Gilbert (2-2, 10.17)
ROSTER MOVES: Yesterday outfielder Justin Upton joined the Rainiers, and fellow outfielder Billy Hamilton exercised a June 1 opt-out and became a free agent. Today the Mariners announced that reliever Riley O’Brien cleared waivers and was outrighted to Tacoma, so he’ll be re-joining the team shortly.
HOT HITTERS: Brian O’Keefe has reached base with a hit or a walk in 18 of the 19 games he has played in this season… Jarred Kelenic has a seven-game hitting streak, going 12-for-29.
HOT RELIEVERS: Hot relievers? A new feature – we have some hot relievers. Danny Young has nine straight scoreless appearances in Triple-A… Nick Ramirez has not allowed a run in his last seven games, spanning 8.1 innings, and he has not walked anyone in his last ten games… Patrick Weigel has permitted just two earned runs over his last 13.2 innings, covering 12 outings.
OPPONENT NEWS: Reno just went 4-2 on a road trip to Oklahoma City, and has gone 13-8 over the last 21 games… Dominic Fletcher was promoted from Double-A Amarillo on May 19, when he had a 19-game hitting streak going. He hit safely in his first eight Triple-A games (27 straight overall) before finally going hitless on Saturday… former Rainiers and Mariners outfielder Braden Bishop is currently playing for Reno.
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:
- A day after beating Baltimore 10-0, the tables were turned on the Mariners in a 9-2 defeat.
- Kyle Lewis is out with a concussion.
- Baseball America updated their Top 100 Prospects list. Notably, Mariners infielder Noelvi Marte dropped from No. 15 to No. 53, I guess due to his slow start at Class-A Everett. Rainiers reliever Matt Brash checks in at No. 75.
- The El Paso Times has an update on the robot umpire, and also reminds us that second base moved and literally nobody noticed.
June 8, 2023