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Curto, Tacoma Rainiers

Two Week Road Trip Begins Tonight At Las Vegas

The Rainiers have left the cold, yet friendly confines of Cheney Stadium and the Pacific Northwest, embarking on a two-week road trip which starts tonight at Las Vegas. There will be six games here in Vegas, and the it’s on to Salt Lake City for six games next week.

Home was very good to the Rainiers. Tacoma just won five-of-six against El Paso, and the Rainiers are a whopping 9-2 in home games so far this season. Seems like its been a long time since the team has picked up so many home wins early in the season – usually the cold weather has the team languishing around .500 at home in April and May, before getting better as the summer arrives.

Despite the success at home, many Rainiers players were relieved to step out of the doors of the Las Vegas airport last night and feel warm air. Baseball players are warm weather people, for the most part, and our guys are feeling good for this series.

Las Vegas is the Oakland A’s affiliate, they have one of the league’s most experienced managers in Fran Riordan, and they have recently started winning after a tough first two weeks. The Aviators had some key players who opened the season in the injured list but are now active and playing.

Today will be the Aviators first home game since news broke publicly that the A’s are planning to move to town. I expect there will be a media zoo at the Las Vegas Ballpark tonight, as the future of the A’s and the Aviators is bantered about. Lots of possibilities are in play, but nothing is for certain until the A’s secure their stadium funding – which is no sure thing.

RAINIERS DAILY

YESTERDAY: The whole league was off yesterday. On Sunday the Rainiers completed a great homestand by beating the El Paso Chihuahuas, 9-2. Easton McGee went 6.1 innings and allowed two runs, earning the win to improve to 3-0, 3.14. Mason McCoy and Taylor Trammell homered, and Mike Ford hit a two-run double.

TODAY: Tacoma Rainiers (12-8) at Las Vegas Aviators (9-12), 7:05.

OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Oakland A’s.

OPPOSING MANAGER: Fran Riordan.

SEASON SERIES: 0-0.

PITCHERS: LHP Tommy Milone (1-0, 0.00) at RHP Colin Peluse (0-0, 4.76)

This is Milone’s first start since returning from his brief stint with the Mariners. Peluse played at Wake Forest, not Washington State – unfortunately.

ROSTER MOVES: None as of posting time.

HOT HITTERS: Mike Ford has 12 RBI over the past three games… Zach DeLoach has reached base safely in 15 of his 16 games played… Cesar Hernandez has reached base safely in 16 of his 17 games, and in the El Paso series he was 4-for-11 with 12 walks… Taylor Trammell has a five-game hitting streak… Kean Wong has a four-game hitting streak… Brian O’Keefe is sitting on 99 career minor league home runs.

OPPONENT NEWS: After opening the season 2-10, Las Vegas has started playing better recently. They just won four-of-six on the road at Sugar Land… J.J. Belday has reached base in nine straight games, and he homered on Sunday… Tyler Soderstrom is the top prospect on the team, he was the A’s first round pick in 2020 and is just 21-years-old. His father Steve pitched in the PCL for Fresno in 1998 and 1999… the Aviators have one former Rainiers player, and it’s a blast from the past: pitcher Joe Wieland, the last Tacoma pitcher to win 14 games when he went 14-6 for the 2016 Rainiers.

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.

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