The Rainiers had a gutsy win on Monday night in Sacramento, pulling off a comeback 6-4 victory when the team’s starting pitcher never actually threw a pitch.
Tacoma was scheduled to start Logan Verrett, the club’s winningest pitcher with a 7-3 record on the year. But Verrett’s back tightened up on him while he was warming up in the bullpen, causing a bit of a scramble in the middle of the first inning.
The decision to scratch Verrett was made while the Rainiers were batting in the top of the first inning. When Tacoma took the field defensively in the bottom of the first, Bryan Pall was rushed to the mound and made the start instead.
Pall, who has been a one-inning reliever at Advanced-A Everett and joined the Rainiers yesterday a few hours before the game, did a fine job. He got a big strikeout to escape a jam in the first inning, and ended up going 1.2 innings allowing one run while leaving the game with a 3-1 lead. Tacoma’s experienced relievers took it from there.
Tacoma fell behind but eventually came back to tie the game in the eighth inning and win it in the ninth.
As for Verrett, the hope is that by scratching him yesterday he’ll be able to recover quickly this week.
On that note, the Rainiers have a couple of injured players who are progressing and could return to action in the coming days. Outfielder Luis Liberato and infielder Alen Hanson are both eligible to be activated from the IL and are close to being ready.
Tacoma leads the series at Sacramento three games to two going into the final tonight. Then the Rainiers (and this blog) are off on Wednesday before opening a six-game homestand on Thursday against Salt Lake at Cheney Stadium.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Forced into an unexpected bullpen game, the Rainiers put together a well-pitched game and scored late runs to beat Sacramento on Monday night, 6-4. Eric Filia singled home the tying run in the eighth inning, and Taylor Trammell homered for the lead in the ninth. Jimmy Yacabonis and Aaron Fletcher each pitched two scoreless innings of relief, with Fletcher inducing a key double play grounder in the eighth inning.
TODAY: Tacoma (54-41) at Sacramento (40-54), 7:05.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: San Francisco Giants.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Dave Brundage.
SEASON SERIES: Tacoma leads, 11-6.
PITCHERS: RHP Darren McCaughan (5-4, 4.72) at LHP Conner Menez (1-1, 7.20)
Scheduled Sacramento starting pitcher Sammy Long was recalled by the Giants, so this will be a bullpen game for the Cats.
ROSTER MOVES: The Rainiers have added reliever Ray Kerr from Double-A Arkansas, which should be fun – the lefty recently hit 102 mph on the radar gun. Pitcher Robert Dugger was outrighted to Tacoma and will likely rejoin the starting rotation.
HOT HITTERS: Jantzen Witte has gone 54-for-151 (.358) over his last 38 games… Sam Travis has gone 32-for-94 (.340) over his last 23 games… Jack Reinheimer has a six-game hitting streak, and he has reached base in 19 straight games… Jose Marmolejos has a four-game hitting streak, and he leads the league with a .372 batting average… Eric Filia has hit safely in four straight games.
OPPONENT NEWS: Sacramento ended a six-game losing streak on Saturday night… former Rainiers and Mariners outfielder Braden Bishop has hit safely in seven straight games, with three home runs… Bryce Johnson has reached base in 12 straight games, and he has a five-game hitting streak… highly ranked prospect Heliot Ramos is 8-for-22 (.364) in this series… catching prospect Joey Bart has been out with a quad injury.
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:
- The Mariners had a stirring comeback win at Oakland, knocking the A’s out of the last wild card spot for the moment.
- Injured outfielder Kyle Lewis may go out on a rehabilitation assignment soon. The Mariners may start him at a lower level than Triple-A to ease him back.
- Two Mariners appear on this week’s edition of the Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet.
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.
June 7, 2023