The Tacoma Rainiers first winning streak of 2021 continued on Monday night, with a 7-3 victory over the Round Rock Express. That’s four straight wins, and a guaranteed series victory.
The series win is nice. Tacoma leads the six-game series, 4-1, with one game left tonight. Now that the series win is locked up, let’s go ahead and mention a stat that I had kept quiet for fear of the ol’ jinx.
Since Round Rock joined the league in 2005, Tacoma has gone 23-6 against the Express here at Cheney Stadium. Not only has Round Rock never won a series in Tacoma, the Express have never even earned a split at Cheney Stadium.
Pretty crazy, right?
It’s kind of similar to the Rainiers all-time problem at Reno, which has gone on since the Aces joined the league in 2009. Tacoma has played 22 series at Reno, and has just one series win and only two splits. That’s, um, 19 series losses.
Seems obvious that the Rainiers need more home games against Round Rock. Instead, Tacoma is flying to Reno on Thursday for a six-gamer.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Ty Kelly‘s sixth inning grand slam opened up a close game and the Rainiers went on to defeat Round Rock on Monday night, 7-3. New Rainiers starter Logan Verrett delivered in his first appearance, going 5.2 innings and allowing one run on two hits. Verrett recorded 11 outs on pop ups and routine fly balls. Jose Marmolejos and Jantzen Witte contributed solo homers as the Rainiers won their fourth straight game.
TODAY: Round Rock (10-7) at Tacoma (9-8), 6:05 PT.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Texas Rangers.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Kenny Holmberg.
SEASON SERIES: Tacoma leads, 4-1.
PITCHERS: RHP Jharel Cotton (1-0, 5.06) at LHP David Huff (0-0, 0.00)
This will be the Rainiers debut for Huff, a 36-year-old lefty who has pitched in the majors for five different teams – most notably Cleveland. This will be Huff’s first official game in the US since 2016 because he spent four seasons pitching in Korea and Japan. Just typing this is making me miss doing pregame radio interviews, as it would probably be fun to talk to him about his experiences.
ROSTER MOVES: Whoa. As of blog posting time, we don’t have any roster moves today. Can this be possible? They must be coming in late.
HOT HITTERS: Taylor Trammell went 0-for-3 with a HBP last night, ending his ten-game hitting streak. He went 22-for-43 during the streak, for a scorching .512 batting average… Cal Raleigh has a seven-game hitting streak… Raleigh has five two-hit games during his streak, boosting his season average to .310… the Rainiers have hit a grand slam in each of the last two games: Luis Torrens on Sunday and Ty Kelly yesterday.
OPPONENT NEWS: Jason Martin has homered in four of his last six games, including twice in this series… Delino DeShields has a 13-game hitting streak… the Express have three former Rainiers players: pitcher Sam Gaviglio, reliever James Jones who was an outfielder when he played for Tacoma; and catcher John Hicks.
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 ended their six-game losing streak with a 4-2 win at Oakland last night, but it wasn’t all ice cream and butterflies: starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi left the game with a back injury.
- The Times Mariners Notebook looks at Jarred Kelenic.
- In the Triple-A West, both Las Vegas and El Paso have been approved to go to 100% stadium capacity in June.
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.
March 16, 2023