The Rainiers moved ahead in the Sacramento series last night with an 8-5 victory, taking a two-to-one lead in the six-gamer.
Tacoma had 13 hits and drew nine walks in the game, totaling 21 baserunners. The 13 hits was the most for the Rainiers in a game since July 7 at Reno, when the squad had it’s biggest hitting game of the season in a 21-hit, 16-run explosion.
Mitch Haniger continued his rehabilitation assignment yesterday, taking five plate appearances and playing most of the game in right field. He was heavily involved in the Rainiers offense: he drove in a runner from third base with less than two outs in the first inning, had a two-out RBI single later, and drew three walks. He was constantly running the bases, which was a good test as he recovers from his ankle injury. It appears that he’ll be back in Seattle any day now.
Taylor Trammell continues his rehabilitation assignment and should be in the Tacoma lineup tonight after a scheduled day off yesterday.
Also, catcher Curt Casali is expected to start a rehab assignment with Tacoma today. Casali strained his oblique muscle playing for San Francisco on the 4th of July and has been on the injured list since then. The Mariners just acquired him at the deadline with pitcher Matthew Boyd for prospects Michael Stryffeler and Andy Thomas.
Speaking of Boyd, he had a 20-pitch live batting practice session before yesterday’s game that reportedly went well. It was his first time doing that since undergoing flexor tendon surgery last September. He may have another of those B.P. sessions before starting a rehabilitation assignment – we’ll see.
The Mariners are going to have some tough roster decisions coming up as these guys get healthy. Haniger will be ready first, and he’s on the 60-day IL so they’ll have to clear spots on both the 40-man and the 26-man rosters to activate him.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Tacoma banged out 13 hits and beat Sacramento on Thursday night, 8-5. Drew Ellis and Kevin Padlo each had three hits, with Padlo including a triple and a two-run homer. After Sacramento scored five runs with one out in the second inning, Tacoma went to the bullpen and the relievers combined to pitch 7.2 shutout innings. Taylor Williams earned the win, pitching two scoreless frames.
TODAY: Tacoma Rainiers (45-56) at Sacramento River Cats (43-59), 6:45.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: San Francisco Giants.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Dave Brundage.
SEASON SERIES: Tacoma leads, 9-6.
PITCHERS: RHP Darren McCaughan (6-5, 4.79) at RHP Sean Hjelle (4-5, 5.22)
ROSTER MOVES: Recently acquired catcher Curt Casali is expected to start a rehabilitation assignment with Tacoma tonight.
HOT HITTERS: Taylor Trammell is 3-for-9 in the first three games of his rehabilitation assignment… not a hitter, but reliever Danny Young has allowed just one earned run in his last 14 appearances, spanning 13.2 innings pitched – we should find out if he cleared waivers shortly.
OPPONENT NEWS: The River Cats completed a nine-game road trip on Sunday, going 0-3 at Oklahoma City and then 2-4 at Round Rock… they have lost 11 of the last 14 games overall… catcher Andrew Knapp signed with Sacramento after the Mariners designated him for assignment, and he homered in four straight games coming into the series, winning the PCL Player of the Week award… former Rainiers and Mariners infielder Donovan Walton is on the Sacramento roster, but he has not played since the all-star break.
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:
- With the Mariners off yesterday, the Seattle Times has a review of what happened at the trade deadline.
March 16, 2023