We had our first postponement of the season on Friday night, and it was one of the more unusual ones I’ve seen at Cheney Stadium.
An extremely heavy rainfall hit the ballpark at about 5:30. The grounds crew was ready and had the infield tarped. That part worked – the infield was saved.
The problem was in the shallow outfield grass, just beyond the dirt infield. This particular downpour put so much water on the field that it could not drain quickly enough for us to play. The umpires and both managers made several walk-throughs of the area, every half-hour or so, testing it out to see if it was improving, and ultimately decided to play it safe and postpone the game.
So we’re playing two seven-inning games today, starting at 2:05. There will be a 30-minute break between games. The start time was moved up to give us a better chance of getting both games played, weather-wise.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Last night’s game was postponed due to unplayable field conditions. It’s a doubleheader today!
TODAY: Salt Lake Bees (2-1) at Tacoma Rainiers (1-2), doubleheader, 2:05 PT.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Lou Marson.
SEASON SERIES: Salt Lake leads, 2-1.
PITCHERS:
- G1: RHP Cesar Valdez (0-0, 0.00) at LHP Nick Margevicius (0-0, 0.00)
- G2: RHP Davis Daniel (0-0, 0.00) at RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon (0-0, 0.00)
This will be the first minor league game for Margevicius since he was with Double-A Amarillo in 2019 – in fact, it’s his Triple-A debut. Margevicius spent most of the 2021 season on the Mariners injured list as a result of shoulder surgery.
Ponce de Leon was in spring training with the Angels and asked for his release at the end. This will be the Mariners organization debut for the former St. Louis Cardinal.
ROSTER MOVES: Tacoma has added infielder Mason McCoy, who the organization just acquired in a minor league trade with the Baltimore Orioles. Additionally, some depth players were added from extended spring training: pitcher Chris Jefferson, outfielder Miguel Perez, and infielder Cesar Izturis Jr. Izturis Jr. has helped the Rainiers several times in the past few seasons.
HOT HITTERS: Zach Green has hit safely in each of the first three games of the season, and both Forrest Wall and Erick Mejia have two-game hitting streaks.
OPPONENT NEWS: Salt Lake has two members of the 2021 league champion Tacoma Rainiers on its roster: outfielder Dillon Thomas, and reliever Zack Weiss. Also, former Rainiers reliever Jonathan Aro is with the Bees. Salt Lake opening night starter Janson Junk attended Decatur High School in Federal Way, and Seattle U.
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 won their season opener at Minnesota, 2-1.
- There was something for everyone in the M’s opener, Larry Stone writes.
- Cool story: Rachel Balkovec is the first full-time female manager in minor league history, and she won her first game as skipper of the Yankees Low-A affiliate in Tampa. Previously she had been a roving instructor in the Yankees farm system.
March 16, 2023