The Tacoma Rainiers are back in action at Cheney Stadium tonight and Tuesday for the final two games of the 12-game homestand. It’s a good time to catch a game, if you can, because the Rainiers hit the road for two weeks after this. The next home game won’t be until July 1 – the Rainiers have lots of home games in July, twenty of them to be exact.
I wrote last week about how the new MLB Covid guidelines encourage teams and umpires to make quick decisions in rain situations, to prevent the players from sitting together indoors for long periods of time. The Rainiers front office responded with an early call of yesterday’s game, rescheduling it as a split doubleheader on July 25th.
At about 12:30 I was wondering if maybe we had jumped the gun and made a bad decision. It was dry where I live (about ten minutes of city streets from Cheney) and the sky didn’t look that threatening. One hour later, at the scheduled start time of 1:35, it was pouring rain and did not stop for the entire afternoon. Good decision, Rainiers!
It’s supposed to be dry this evening, with a chance that the sun might even make an appearance. The Rainiers have won their last two games, and Cal Raleigh has the 20-game hitting streak going and should be back in the lineup. Should be a fun one!
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: We were rained out, there will be a makeup doubleheader on July 25. On Saturday the Rainiers prevailed, 4-3, in a battle of solo homers in the late innings. With the score tied 2-2 since the fourth inning, Luis Torrens homered in the bottom of the eighth to give Tacoma a lead. But with two outs and two strikes in the top of the ninth, Arismendy Alcantara dramatically homered for Sacramento to make it 3-3. Displeased by the idea of extra innings, Ty Kelly homered with one out in the bottom of the ninth to win the game, 4-3.
TODAY: Sacramento (14-19) at Tacoma (17-15), 6:05 PT.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: San Francisco Giants.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Dave Brundage.
SEASON SERIES: Tacoma leads, 2-1.
PITCHERS: RHP John Brebbia (1-0, 3.00) at RHP Logan Verrett (2-1, 3.06)
The rainout allowed the Rainiers to skip a bullpen day, which is nice. Brebbia is an opener for Sacramento; he’ll be followed by Gerson Garabito (1-2, 4.56).
ROSTER MOVES: A lot has happened lately, a slew of moves that look like they will really help Tacoma. On Saturday the Mariners reinstated Dylan Moore from the injured list and called up reliever Yohan Ramirez – and they optioned to Tacoma outfielder Dillon Thomas and infielder Donovan Walton. Catcher Jacob Nottingham was outrighted to Tacoma. These players, along with recently optioned pitchers Robert Dugger, Daniel Zamora, and Keynan Middleton are expected to start arriving today. Pitcher Bernie Martinez was promoted from Everett to start Sunday’s game that was rained out – not sure if he’ll still be here today. The Mariners announced that recently designated infielder Jack Mayfield was claimed by the Angels.
HOT HITTERS: Cal Raleigh has a 20-game hitting streak, going 34-for-85 during the streak… Raleigh has reached base safely in 24 straight games… Jose Marmolejos has hit safely in nine of his last 11 games, batting .333 during that stretch… the Rainiers have homered in each of the last 19 games, clubbing 42 home runs during that time with 19 different players going deep.
OPPONENT NEWS: Sacramento just split a six-game series at Reno… catcher Joey Bart is one of the top prospects in the league; he’s 10-for-28 with three homers in his last six games… Joe McCarthy is on a 15-game hitting streak… Jaylin Davis homered in each of the first two games of the series… Sacramento skipper Dave Brundage managed the Rainiers in 2006, and was a Tacoma hitting coach prior to that. He played outfield in the Mariners farm system.
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:
- Don’t look now, but Logan Gilbert has strung together a couple of strong starts for the Mariners. He easily out-dueled Shane Bieber yesterday in Cleveland as the Mariners ended a ten-game road trip with a win.
- However, outfielder Mitch Haniger left the game after fouling a pitch off his knee, and he may land on the injured list – I guess we’ll find out later today.
- The News Tribune has its weekly Mariners round-up.
- For subscribers to The Athletic, Corey Brock’s Mariners update has a real Tacoma focus to it this week.
- According to Baseball America’s Minor League Transactions, the Mariners have signed infielder Zach Vincej to a minor league contract. Vincej was the Rainiers regular shortstop for much of the 2018 season.
- While we’re there, the Mariners Noelvi Marte checks in at No. 9 in this week’s edition of the Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet.
- The Rainiers head to Las Vegas on Thursday (in the middle of a heat wave – yikes!). Here’s a fun weekly round-up the Las Vegas Review-Journal does on the Aviators.
- Entertaining and true article from Jake Mintz on Fox: How To Cope When Your Favorite Team Stinks. We’ve all been there before.
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.
We R Tacoma Team Store
The We R Tacoma Team Store is currently open Monday-Friday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. (non-game days) or until the end of the game on home game days. Team Store purchases can also be made online 24/7. Grab your Rainiers gear, your Defiance ‘fit, and follow the team store on Instagram and Twitter.
May 28, 2023