Rainiers Win 24-3

That’s not a typo up there. The Rainiers beat Tucson on Monday night, 24-3.

When he was with the Rainiers, Adam Jones used to always say – heck, he probably still always says – “that’s just stupid.”

I think that’s an apt description of the game.

Too much to put into paragraphs, so let’s go to the bullet points – I can get more in this way.

• The 24 runs is the most Tacoma has scored in a game since affiliating with the Mariners in 1995. Is it a franchise record? We don’t know, but possibly. Team records are really sketchy prior to 1995 – we only have a few categories of single-game records. If any team or PCL historians want to chime in, please do.
• The highest scoring game in the Rainiers era was when Tacoma scored 22 runs at Calgary on May 11, 1998.
• The 21-run margin of victory has got to be a franchise record. I know it’s the biggest blowout I’ve ever seen.
• Tacoma had 22 hits in the game – and 17 were singles.
• The Rainiers only scored in four innings – four big innings. The Rainiers have had eight innings in which they have scored 4+ runs in the last four games, and four of them were on Monday.
• Mike Carp homered in his first at-bat, tying the game at 1-1 and extending his hitting streak to 22 games.
• Carp completed the scoring when he hit a ninth-inning grand slam… off Tucson catcher Guillermo Quiroz. The former Mariners and Rainiers catcher pitched the ninth inning, and let’s just say that his lobs were both wild and juicy.

Carp is ridiculously hot right now, so let’s hit some fun facts.

• Carp Fun Fact #1: his 22-game streak is four shy of the Tacoma record, set by Rex Johnston in 1965 and tied by Chad Akers in 1999.
• Carp Fun Fact #2: he has seven home runs in the last ten games, although two have come off position players.
• Carp Fun Fact #3: he leads the league in homers (19) and is second in RBI (58). He trails only Tucson’s Anthony Rizzo (63) in RBI, and the big rumor at the ballpark last night was that Rizzo is being called up.
• Carp Fun Fact #4: he’s hitting .350. Three-fifty!
• Carp Fun Fact #5: in his last 40 games, Carp is batting .412 (68-for-165).
• Carp Fun Fact #6: he has two grand slams this year. No Tacoma player has hit three salamis in a season – ever, since 1960.
• Carp Fun Fact #7 (fun for us Rainiers fans but not for him): the guy has no business being in Triple-A right now.

Tacoma had a player go 4-for-6 with two doubles, three runs, and six RBI – and I already forgot who it was. Oh, sorry, Josh Bard! Let’s make it up with some Bard Bullets.

• Bard Bullet #1: Josh Bard has played six games against Tucson, in which he is 12-for-25 (.480) with 12 RBI.
• Bard Bullet #2: Bard has four straight multiple-hit games, going 12-for-19 for a .631 average.
• Bard Bullet #3: with runners in scoring position this year, Bard is hitting .424 (25-for-59).

We gotta do a little Dustin Ackley. What should we call them – Ackley Facties? Ackley Acts? No, let’s go with Ack Facts!

• Ack Fact #1: patient Ackley has walked 15 times in the last nine games and he leads the PCL with 50 walks.
• Ack Fact #2: he has hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games, batting .406 (26-for-64) during that time.
• Ack Fact #3: he has played in every inning of every game this season.
• Ack Fact #4: he is batting slightly better against left-handers (.308) than he is against right-handers (.299).
• Ack Fact #5: he has drawn an absolutely Custian three bases-loaded walks this year (and he has an un-Custian grand slam, too).
• Ack Fact #6: he has played 30 straight errorless games at second base.

More hot guys:

• Alex Liddi is batting .349 (22-for-63) over his last 14 games, with 16 RBI. He has just four errors in 54 games at third base.
• Matt Tuiasosopo has 21 RBI in his last 22 games.
• Luis Jimenez walked four times yesterday, and he has reached base via hit or walk in 22 of his 23 games with Tacoma.
• Matt Mangini is 7-for-16 in his three games since coming off the disabled list.

Let’s do some team stuff – because this is crazy.

• In the last four games, Tacoma has scored 66 runs – that’s 16.5 runs per game.
• The Rainiers have batted .410 as a team in the last four games (69-for-168).
• It’s been a lot of singles the last four days: 69 hits – 52 singles, 8 doubles, a triple, and 8 homers.
• The Rainiers team batting average has increased 11 points in four days, from .276 to .287.
• Tacoma is now 3rd in the PCL in runs scored – which is unheard of. Albuquerque, Salt Lake, Las Vegas, Reno, Tucson, and Colorado Springs have such huge environmental advantages that Tacoma never ranks that high.
• Hitting coach Alonzo Powell is happy.

How many will the boys score tonight? 17? 3? 6? Tune in and find out! Game time is 7:00 on South Sound Sports 850 AM and streaming online right here. Tacoma starts LHP Nate Robertson (0-1, 4.50) against Tucson LHP Wade LeBlanc (4-1, 5.69).

Let’s hit the links:

• I whipped out the Rainiers game story for The News Tribune well after the paper’s “deadline.” It was the best I could do – it takes a long time to score 24 runs!
• Tucson star Anthony Rizzo sat out yesterday amidst rumors of an impending call-up. I like the Tucson newspaper’s style – check out how they just passingly mention that the home team lost 24-3, as if nothing unusual occurred.
• The Mariners shocked the experts by taking a pitcher with the #2 pick in the draft: University of Virginia ace Danny Hultzen. Personally, I’m glad that they selected the player who they thought was the best available, instead of picking based upon position or need. These guys are 2-5 years away from the majors and you don’t know what your needs are going to be at that point in the future, so draft the best available player, sign him, put him in the farm system, and move forward. I like it.
• In his own style, John McGrath writes eloquently about the selection of Hultzen.
• Larry Stone live-blogged day two of the draft and you can read about the Mariners selections. They loaded up on catching talent early – which seems like a good idea.
• Oh yeah – the Mariners played a game, and they lost even though Michael Pineda pitched another terrific game.
• In the PCL, Reno picked up a win to remain nine games ahead of Tacoma, Salt Lake, and Colorado Springs – it’s a three-way tie for second/last place!
• It looks like the Sky Sox are losing outfielder Charlie Blackmon, who had a 20-game hitting streak end over the weekend. The Sky Sox got pummeled by Sacramento, and they are 0-7 against the River Cats this year.
• Adam Loewen homered twice and Las Vegas won at Fresno, 4-3. Check out that notebook – Fresno manager Steve Decker is mysteriously away from the team. Changing subjects, here are some pictures of a Panda in its natural habitat.
• Remember when Tacoma scored a record 18 runs in one game at Zephyr Field three weeks ago? The record has already been broken. Nashville beat New Orleans last night, 19-1. A third baseman pitched. Money quote from Zephyrs manager Greg Norton: “It’s pretty simple. They’re scoring a lot, and we’re not.”
• Memphis lit up Oklahoma City, 14-2, and the RedHawks catcher was pitching. It’s an epidemic!
• There was actually a low-scoring game in the PCL yesterday. Omaha beat Iowa, 3-1, behind fill-in starter Luis Mendoza.
• So Bryce Harper gave the pitcher a little kiss. How sweet.
• The PCL’s hopes of moving into Escondido, California are apparently growing dimmer by the day.
• My Cal Bears scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat Baylor, 8-7, and advance to the Super Regional next weekend  – the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA baseball tournament. Fittingly, they play Dallas Baptist – the only school that is a bigger underdog than Cal. I didn’t even know they were D-I. This scares me.
• While the university failed in its attempt to extinguish the Cal baseball program, the stadium is still a wreck. So the team is “hosting” the regional at Santa Clara University. Yes, Santa Clara has better baseball facilities than Cal.

I’d wouldn’t mind if the Baseball Gods gave us a 1-0 game today. Any chance? Naaaaah.