The Rainiers announced – with authority – that their team-wide hitting slump is over yesterday in Salt Lake City.
Tacoma hit six home runs and had 18 hits in a 14-10 win over the Bees. The Rainiers took the series, two games to one.
That makes 21 runs and 29 hits in the last two games, after nine straight games being held under ten hits.
Yesterday Luis Rodriguez and Mike Wilson each hit two home runs, and Vinnie Catricala and Luis Jimenez went deep once.
It was the first career two-homer game for Rodriguez, who has played in 1,492 career games in the Majors and Minors.
Wilson has had a handful of two-homer games – his most recent one was July 6, 2011 at Colorado Springs, which also happened to be the last time Tacoma hit six homers in a game.
The Rainiers have hit 66 home runs this season, which ties them for sixth place in the 16-team Pacific Coast League.
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The Rainiers made a bundle of transactions today. Here we go:
- Casper Wells, Steve Delabar, Erasmo Ramirez, and Franklin Gutierrez all joined Seattle yesterday.
- INF/OF Alex Liddi and RHP Blake Beavan report to Tacoma from Seattle.
- LHP Bobby LaFromboise and RHP Steven Hensley promoted to Tacoma from AA-Jackson. Both are relievers.
- OF Darren Ford activated from Tacoma disabled list – he’s been out all year.
- RHP Forrest Snow and RHP Jandy Sena have been sent to AA-Jackson.
The big surprise here is the lack of a promotion for Danny Hultzen and Carter Capps.
Hultzen has now pitched 29.2 consecutive scoreless innings and has a 1.19 ERA. It’s reached a point where national media members and scouts for other teams are wondering why he wasn’t moved up a month ago.
I have no inside information about why he is still in AA – Director of Player Development Chris Gwynn hasn’t been around lately (he routinely makes rounds to all of the affiliates; I’m sure he’ll be here again soon), and the Rainiers coaching staff is not commenting on this.
Hultzen is the starting pitcher in the Southern League All-Star game on Tuesday, and then I suppose he’ll resume his pursuit of all of the Southern League pitching records.
The other, smaller surprise is the move of Forrest Snow to Double-A. Snow has never pitched in an AA game before, and it’s starting to look – with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight of course – like having him start 2012 in the Triple-A rotation was a mistake.
He earned a shot at it, with his strong showing for Tacoma as an emergency fill-in last year, and then his stellar performance in the Arizona Fall League. But he was struggling big-time here this season. Hopefully some time in Jackson will help get his control ironed out, and he’ll be back soon.
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Tonight’s game in Sacramento is at 7:05, and you can hear it on South Sound Sports 850 AM and streaming online right here. Tacoma starts RHP Andrew Carraway (2-2, 3.41) against Sacramento RHP Travis Banwart (4-2, 4.57). Banwart is replacing Tyson Ross, who was scratched this afternoon.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot: Manny Ramirez has been playing lately, and he’s been hot at the plate. Manny has gone 10-for-24 over his last six games, and he has at least one RBI in five straight games.
Links:
- Here is my Rainiers game story from The News Tribune. The subject matter: dingers. Mike Wilson has a good quote.
- Trayvon Robinson was ejected yesterday, and from the awesome photo in the Deseret News it appears that Trayvon is an outstanding frisbee golf prospect, too. <<< click on this one!
- This is a re-link, but in my Minor League Notebook on Sunday I wrote a little about Bobby LaFromboise, among others. I was considering adding Steven Hensley but decided not to – whoops!
- The Mariners lost to the Padres, 1-0.
- Franklin Gutierrez is excited to be back in the major leagues.
- San Francisco Giants starter Matt Cain pitched a perfect game yesterday, with 14 strikeouts. He pitched twice at Cheney Stadium on his way to the big leagues: this comeplete game victory, and his final minor league start.
- PCL umpire Mike Muchlinski – who is from the Moses Lake area – was on a swing-shift in the majors and had the final out call of the perfect game (ESPN Insider required).
- The broadcasters didn’t jinx it.
- Jeff Sullivan, while pausing to take a shot at my tweeting, writes that Danny Hultzen is not being challenged in Double-A.
- Larry Stone writes that Hultzen has “absolutely no reason for staying in Double-A.”
- Don’t forget to vote for your favorite Rainiers for the Triple-A All-Star Game!
- In the PCL, rehabilitating Troy Tulowitzki homered and re-injured his groin in Colorado Springs’ 13-5 loss to Reno yesterday.
- Sacramento beat Fresno 6-1 last night, avoiding a sweep. A.J. Griffin pitched his second consecutive complete game for the River Cats.
- Discarded by Toronto, Adam Lind is thriving in Las Vegas.
- Albuquerque infielder Aaron Miles retired, and then the ‘Topes lost to Round Rock.
- The Iowa Cubs lost to Omaha, 5-2. Anthony Rizzo is out with an injury, and former Rainiers infielder Luis Valbuena was called up by Chicago.
- Alex Sanabia and three New Orleans relievers combined on a two-hit shutout of Oklahoma City.
It’s hot here in Sacramento. Hopefully the Rainiers will keep on swinging it!
