Rainiers Ding River Cats

Tacoma hit three home runs – two by new players – on the way to an 11-5 victory over the Sacramento River Cats on Saturday night.

OK, Adam Moore and Alex Liddi aren’t really new players, but they are new for this season: Liddi was playing in just his third game since being sent down by Seattle, and Moore was in his sixth game since coming off the disabled list.

Moore went deep in the fifth inning, going out to center field for his first hit since coming off the DL. Moore went 3-for-5 in the game, adding a pair of doubles and driving in two runs.

After Luis Rodriguez launched the go-ahead two-run homer with two outs in the top of the seventh, Luis Jimenez beat out an infield single and Liddi followed with a two-run drive to center for his first Tacoma home run of 2012. Liddi hit 30 homers for Tacoma last year.

Also a factor in the Rainiers new-look lineup was Darren Ford. Folks, this guy is fast. You are going to enjoy watching him run the bases when the team comes home on Tuesday. Ford went 2-for-6 with a triple, a steal, and two RBI in his second game of the season.

And how about Luis Rodriguez? He went 2-for-4 on Saturday, and that home run was his fourth in the last seven games. He’s crushing it right now!

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Before the game, the Mariners called up left-hander Oliver Perez, and optioned to Tacoma reliever Steve Delabar. To make room for Perez on the 40-man roster, Double-A outfielder Chih-Hsien Chiang was designated for assignment.

Perez was pitching at 94-95 mph for Tacoma, topping out at 97. He has a wipeout slider. As has been the case for his entire career, control is an issue for Oliver – but with his stuff, he has a chance to succeed in Seattle. Perez was leading all PCL relievers in strikeouts per nine innings.

This is Perez’s first taste of the big league since 2010, when he was with the New York Mets.

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Today’s game is at 1:05, and you can hear it on South Sound Sports 850 AM and streaming online right here. Tacoma starts RHP Brian Sweeney (2-1, 3.92) against Sacramento RHP Brad Peacock (6-3, 5.09).

Links:

• Here is the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune – really just a recap, due to the ridiculous 3 hour, 52 minute game time. Great headline by the guys on the desk. They edited my final sentence of the main story, which I submitted as “Both of Buffett’s songs were played…”
• My Minor League Notebook for the TNT leads with an item on the Everett Aqua Sox 17-year-old opening day starter, and includes a Luke French update.
• The Mariners ended their six-game losing streak, beating up on poor Timmy Lincecum.
• Mason Kelley of the Seattle Times has a nice item on the Oliver Perez promotion with some interesting quotes.
• I love Larry Stone’s Sunday baseball package, I really do. But even the great Stoney has stooped to writing a column about moving the fences at Safeco Field. Uuuggghhh. Well, if you are going to read anything about this topic, read this one - as expected, it’s a reasonable article. Back to the good stuff: a notebook with numerous interesting items, power rankings, and thumbs.
• This is why you don’t try to interrupt the food chain.
• There are many reasons why there have been a bunch of no-hitters in recent seasons.
• In the PCL, Reno’s Jake Elmore hit a pair of doubles and the Aces beat Tucson, 9-4. Reno has won 12 of 13, and Tucson has lost 17 of the last 19. As Larry LaRue would tweet, Yikes!
• Angels catcher Bobby Wilson is rehabilitating a concussion with Salt Lake – and he took a foul off the face mask. Fresno beat the Bees, 2-1.
• Las Vegas crushed Colorado Springs, 9-3.
• New Orleans starter Tom Koehler had one-hit stuff in a 7-0 shutout at Memphis.
• Nashville played Omaha in a doubleheader. Obviously, it was a split. All doubleheaders are splits.

That’s it for today – the four-hour game last night really cut into my blogging and sleeping time. The team is off on Monday and there will be no blog – we’ll be back at it with a full entry on Tuesday early in the afternoon.

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