Welp, our hopes and dreams of a perfect 150-0 season have died, you guys.
The Tacoma Rainiers suffered their first loss of the season on Wednesday night, falling 9-5 to Salt Lake. It was a case of too many walks: Rainiers pitchers issued eight of them, and that will lead to trouble every time. Add in the fact that Salt Lake was also swinging it well – the Bees had ten hits – and you can see that we had ourselves a problem.
On the positive side, Taylor Trammell has hit the ball hard in both games so far. He pulled a two-run homer to right field in the first inning, after blasting a double off the center field wall in the opener on Tuesday. He also drew a walk last night, which is good to see.
Donovan Walton and Mike Ford both reported to the club and were in the starting lineup. Walton looked like his usual self, hitting a pair of singles and scoring a run. Ford didn’t do anything last night, but he’s a menacing-looking figure in the batter’s box and his time will come.
It was also good to see Marcus Wilson connect for his first two hits of the season, with a pair of singles.
Tacoma stole two more bases last night, giving the team five steals in the first two games of the season. What if this becomes a season-long thing? That would be a lot of fun.
Game three is tonight, our first 7:05 start time of the season. The pivotal third game of the season! Let’s see if the Rainiers can get back over .500.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Salt Lake brought the series even 1-1, by beating the Rainiers in the second game of the season on Wednesday night, 9-5. The Bees connected for ten hits and drew eight walks, and Monte Harrison hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning. For the Rainiers, Taylor Trammell hit a two-run homer in the first inning and finished with three RBI. Up-from-Everett relievers Jarod Bayless and Kyle Hill each made their Triple-A debuts with stints of scoreless relief.
TODAY: Salt Lake Bees (1-1) at Tacoma Rainiers (1-1), 7:05 PT.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Lou Marson.
SEASON SERIES: Tied, 1-1.
PITCHERS: LHP Jhonathan Diaz (0-0, 0.00) at RHP Asher Wojciechowski (0-0, 0.00)
Wojciechowski made five starts for Tacoma last year. He was a mid-season acquisition who was shut down with arm soreness. The veteran could be a big lift for the Rainiers rotation and serve as Mariners starting pitching depth if he is healthy this year.
ROSTER MOVES: Yesterday Mike Ford, Donovan Walton, and Wyatt Mills all reported to Tacoma and were added to the active roster. We may see Steven Souza Jr. arrive today.
HOT HITTERS: Taylor Trammell, Forrest Wall and Zach Green each have hit safely in the first two games of the season.
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 announced their opening day roster, one day ahead of tomorrow’s game. Congratulations to 2021 Rainiers reliever Matt Festa, fully recovered from Tommy John surgery, on winning a spot despite not being on the 40-man.
- Cool feature from the Seattle Times design team: an interactive look at the Mariners starting lineup. Hover over the player cards and they turn over.
- Former Rainiers reliever Emilio Pagan was involved in a rare Opening Day trade.
March 24, 2023