Tacoma scored 14 runs in the final two innings, turning a tight game into a 19-3 blowout of the Fresno Grizzlies on Friday night.
The Rainiers scored five runs in the eighth, opening up a game that was 5-3 after seven innings. That was nothing: a nine-run ninth followed, as the blowout got out of hand – the Rainiers didn’t make an out until the 11th batter came to the plate in the ninth.
The victory gave Tacoma a winning record in August: 16-14. It was Tacoma’s first winning month of the season, and despite Friday’s score, the main reason was the pitching. Tacoma posted a 3.65 staff ERA in August.
We had two surprise call-ups today: the Mariners recalled Carlos Peguero and Erasmo Ramirez. My understanding is that Ramirez will work out of the Mariners bullpen.
Peguero went from the dog house to the big leagues – his last act of the year as a Rainiers player was getting yanked from the game by manager Daren Brown for not running out a ground ball on Thursday in Las Vegas. Lesson learned?
I assume there are going to be more call-ups after Tacoma’s season-ending game on Monday.
Tonight’s game 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 (5-7, 4.75) against Fresno LHP Jason Stevenson (5-7, 6.32).
Links:
- I wrote the Rainiers game story for The News Tribune, and here is the report from the Fresno Bee.
- The Mariners got wiped out by the Angels last night. It was a tough day for Kevin Millwood.
- Here is the Seattle Times report on Peguero and Ramirez getting called up.
- In the PCL, Albuquerque maintained a 1.5 game lead over Oklahoma City in the league’s lone pennant race, as both teams won last night.
- Mike Hessman hit his PCL-leading 34th home run in Oklahoma City’s 11-5 blowout of Round Rock. RedHawks manager Tom Lawless has been involved in a number of interesting moments in baseball history.
- Salt Lake had a big game offensively and crushed Sacramento.
- Reno has the division title in the bag, but they went out and beat Tucson anyway.
- Shelby Miller had another excellent start for Memphis in a 5-1 win at Nashville.
- As expected, New Orleans extended its Player Development Contract with the Miami Marlins through the 2014 season.
That’s it for today; I’ll have the full complement of Sunday links tomorrow.
