The Rainiers beat Reno last night, 9-3, clinching a series win on the road. Tacoma leads the six-game series 4-1 with one game remaining tonight.
It’s the fourth straight series win for Tacoma. The Rainiers won two seven-game series on the last homestand against Salt Lake and Sacramento, each 4-3. Then the team went 4-2 at Las Vegas, and is now 4-1 in Reno. Tacoma is 8-3 on the current road trip that ends tonight.
The series win at Reno is a true rarity in Tacoma franchise history. Since Reno joined the league and opened up Greater Nevada Field (originally known as Aces Ballpark) in 2009, the Reno road trip has been nothing but bad news for the Rainiers. Until this year, anyway.
Prior to now, Tacoma had played 23 series all-time at Reno, with just one series win: a 2-1 series victory in a rare scheduled three-gamer in 2015. The Rainiers returned to Reno three weeks later and lost four of five.
The Rainiers once lost 13 straight games at Reno, a streak that spanned three seasons from 2011-2013. That included the 2012 season, when Tacoma went 0-8 at Reno.
This year the Rainiers came into town for a six-game series in late May and dropped three of the first four games. It seemed like a case of the same old stuff, but then something unusual happened: the Rainiers won the final two games and escaped town with a split. That ended a streak of nine straight series losses at Reno, dating back to 2015.
Now the team has won four of the first five games in this series, and has won six of the last seven games in this ballpark.
Yesterday’s win pulled Tacoma back within two games of first place. Tonight’s game is a big “swing game” in the standings: if the Rainiers win they will be just one game out of first, but if they lose they will be three games back.
Tacoma still has another six-game series at Reno on the schedule in September. Perhaps that doesn’t appear as daunting now.
—
Our two weeks of casino living comes to an end tomorrow. The team will stay in Reno tonight after the game, and fly home tomorrow morning. Tacoma starts a six-game homestand on Thursday night at Cheney Stadium, when the Las Vegas Aviators visit the Pacific Northwest for the first time this season. See you at the park!
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Tacoma scored four runs with two outs in the top of the first inning, and Logan Verrett tossed six strong innings as the Rainiers beat Reno on Monday night, 9-3. Jose Marmolejos went 3-for-5 with a double and his 20th home run of the season, while Jose Godoy was 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI. Verrett picked up his seventh win of the season and improved his career record against Reno to 8-0.
TODAY: Tacoma (47-36) at Reno (49-34), 6:35.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Arizona Diamondbacks.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Blake Lalli.
SEASON SERIES: Tacoma leads, 9-8.
PITCHERS: RHP Darren McCaughan (5-3, 3.88) at RHP Riley Smith (0-0, 0.00)
Smith has spent the entire season until now in the majors with Arizona, posting a 1-4 record with a 6.01 ERA primarily as a multiple-inning reliever.
HOT HITTERS: Jose Godoy is 13-for-24 with 12 RBI during a five-game hitting streak… Jantzen Witte has gone 37-for-105 (.352) over his last 28 games… Luis Liberato has a nine-game hitting streak… Sam Travis has gone 19-for-57 (.333) over his last 14 games… Jack Reinheimer has a nine-game hitting streak… Jose Marmolejos is 19-for-35 over his last nine games, and he leads the league with a .377 batting average.
OPPONENT NEWS: Reno lost the final two games of its six-game series at Sacramento, settling for a split, and have lost six of the last seven games… Henry Ramos is 7-for-9 with two home runs over the last two games… Ildemaro Vargas has a seven-game hitting streak… newly acquired Cooper Hummel hit for the cycle in his second game after being traded to Arizona/Reno, Saturday at Sacramento.
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:
- Low-A Modesto shortstop Noelvi Marte has the No. 1 spot 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.
March 16, 2023