The Rainiers lost their sixth in a row on Wednesday afternoon, and today we received news of more changes to the roster.
The club is slowly molding the pitching staff, which has been the easy-to-identify culprit during the team’s 11-22 start to the season.
Right-handed starter Andrew Carraway was promoted from Double-A Jackson today. He was 4-0 with a 2.61 ERA in seven starts for Jackson. He notched 32 strikeouts and walked only seven over 38 innings, and he gave up only one home run.
Carraway will start Friday’s game against Albuquerque.
He replaces pitcher Brian Sweeney, who was placed on the 7-day disabled list with a sprained neck. Sweeney suffered a concussion and the neck injury in a collision with a baserunner during his last start in Reno, and there is currently no timetable for his return.
Carraway and Stephen Pryor are the first two pitchers of several we will probably see promoted from Jackson over the course of this season. Fans should welcome the change – Tacoma’s team ERA of 6.26 is the worst in the PCL, by a significant margin.
Here’s how the starting rotation stacks up for the remainder of the homestand:
- Thursday: Jarrett Grube
- Friday: Andrew Carraway
- Saturday: Erasmo Ramirez
- Sunday: Anthony Vasquez
- Monday: Jeff Marquez
- Tuesday: Forrest Snow
Then the Rainiers have an off-day before hitting the road to Omaha, and I’m sure we’ll see that rotation pared down to five.
Tonight’s game is at 7:05 against Albuquerque, and the Rainiers look to end the skid. RHP Jarrett Grube (0-1, 12.00) faces RHP John Ely (2-2, 4.64). Catch the broadcast on South Sound Sports 850 AM and streaming online right here.
Also, check out the Gas and Elise show on KJR 950 from 3:00 to 7:00 today – they are broadcasting live from Cheney Stadium and will have several Rainiers players as guests.
Links:
- In the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune, Daren Brown makes it sound like they are going to let Chance Ruffin pitch through his struggles.
- The Rainiers video page has footage of Carlos Triunfel‘s homer yesterday – check it out, somebody walks out a door and nearly gets clocked by the ball!
- Brendan Ryan played great defense, John Jaso came through in the clutch, and Ichiro cracked the top 100 on the all-time hit list as the Mariners beat Detroit yesterday.
- It looks like the rules committee is poised to eliminate the fake-to-third, throw-to-first pickoff move. It’s the play that never works - although I’ve seen it work twice.
- Kyle Seager’s little brother Corey might be a first round draft pick (Baseball America subscribers only).
- In the PCL, Salt Lake – who had lost 11 of the last 12 games – scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to stun Round Rock.
- Fresno also made a big comeback, down 7-2 in the eighth to Iowa before rallying for an 8-7 win. Brock Bond is on a 15-for-19 tear.
- Sacramento walked off Omaha on a game-ending home run by Derek Norris. In this notebook, we learn that Sacramento RG Johnny Doskow is allergic to the minor leagues. Get healthy, Johnny!
- Nashville beat Colorado Springs in front of “a season-high 9,180 screaming kids,” reports the Nashville newspaper. That’s a lot of screaming kids!
- When you’re hot, you’re hot: Oklahoma City made three errors in the final two innings, handing Las Vegas its eighth consecutive win. Heard today that Toronto signed Vladimir Guerrero to a minor league deal, so he might play some games for Vegas to get in shape for the majors.
- Alexi Amarista hit a grand slam, helping Tucson to a 9-1 win at New Orleans.
Make plans to come out to Cheney Stadium the weekend – even the National Weather Service says that it’s going to be beautiful.
