Trying To Avoid A Sweep

It’s the Rainiers last day in Sacramento, and Tacoma needs a win today to avoid being swept. This is a situation that I least expected – the team looked good coming into the series, and I expected the Rainiers to win three out of four down here. Instead, they’re relying on ace Luke French to end a four-game losing streak.

Michael Pineda was strong yesterday in his second Triple-A start. He mixed in more sliders and changes this time, and the slider was particularly effective. Many of his 11 strikeouts came on sliders. Both solo home runs he allowed came off of fastballs, as he is learning that you can’t just blow the heat past Triple-A hitters – Matt Carson and Steve Tolleson are good players in this league, and both of them have spent time in the majors this season; they can hit a fastball.

There was definitely some frustration in the clubhouse after the game surrounding the way Tacoma lost. The Rainiers took a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth, and Sacramento’s leadoff man reached first. The next hitter, Matt Watson, hit a would-be double play grounder to shortstop Chris Woodward. Woody fumbled the ball briefly, costing the double play, but he still recovered and flipped it to second for an apparent force-out. But the umpire called the runner safe, and there were no outs recorded on the play. Replay showed a very close play, but it looked to me like the runner was out.

The play led to a four-run inning for Sacramento, and a 7-5 River Cats win. Guys were shaking their heads as they left the clubhouse after the game, wondering what they have to do to win a game here.

They’ll try to take care of it this morning. First pitch is set for 11:35 AM, with LHP Luke French (8-2, 2.27) starting for Tacoma against Sacramento RHP Travis Banwart (1-0, 3.00).

We’ll have the broadcast for you, in some form that hopefully won’t result in dreadful sound quality, on 850 AM. Once again I will call the game with my longtime friend Johnny Doskow, who is the Sacramento RG. We’ll do one broadcast that will go to both cities. AT&T fixed the ISDN connection so we are back to a normal broadcast situation today. Pre-game starts at 11:25.

Now for a couple of links:

• The Rainiers game story from The News Tribune. Here’s the summary from the Sacramento Bee.
• Larry Larue wrote a feature on Michael Saunders. Nit-picking time: there is no such thing as a Double-A Wisconsin team.
• Geoff Baker gets into the nuts and bolts of why the Mariners struggled this year, and how Russell Branyan is part of the fix.
• The Cliff Lee rumor mill is just beginning to warm up – here’s Larry Stone with the latest.
• Any time Tim Lincecum pitches and doesn’t dominate, people wonder what’s wrong.
• In the PCL, Salt Lake tied Tacoma in first place by defeating Reno, 5-3. Salt Lake has won four in a row – their longest streak of the season.
• Sky Sox starter Chaz Roe was beat up by Portland last night. Dexter Fowler got called up.
• Fresno is having bullpen problems, they took another beat-down from Las Vegas, and their lead over Sacramento – once 12.5 games – is down to seven.
• Gonzaga product Kevin Richardson hit a walk-off homer for Oklahoma City.
• Here’s another link only Dale Phelps will click on: another Omaha World-Herald feature on a rapidly rising Kansas City Royals relief prospect.

As some of you know, I cover local prep basketball for the TNT during the winter months. I’ve seen Davonte Lacy play a lot the last two years, and I think he is an excellent sign for Ken Bone and WSU.

Broadcast Update

Well, the necessary repairs have not been made (although AT&T falsely claimed they “fixed it”), but it looks like the hard-working folks at Clear Channel have come up with an alternative solution.

South Sound Sports 850 AM will pick up the feed of the Sacramento River Cats broadcast featuring their outstanding RG, Johnny Doskow. In turn, I’ll sit in with him on the air to make sure he keeps the broadcast fair and balanced*. There might be a few hiccups technically, but we should be able to get it done. Looks like we’ll be doing the same thing for tomorrow’s 11:35 aM game, too.

* actually, I intend to slip in some anti-River Cats propaganda.

Stealing Money

Yesterday was as frustrating as a day can get for a radio guy. I was all ready to go in Sacramento, everything appeared to be in working order – and we were unable to get a connection from Raley Field in Sacramento to the Clear Channel studios in Seattle.

After scrambling for a while, the Clear Channel chief engineer diagnosed the problem as a phone company issue at the central office near the ballpark. We are still trying to get this fixed as I type this – but it’s really frustrating. There is nothing I can do, there is nothing the people at the radio station in Seattle can do, there is nothing the people at Raley Field can do – we are at the mercy of the AT&T unit that repairs their ISDN connections.

So yesterday I just sat and watched the game – which was a strange sensation for me, as I felt like I was supposed to be doing something. I did fill in on the Sacramento broadcast in the 5th and 6th innings, allowing me to call Daren Brown’s first ejection and subsequent hat toss of the season – so that was fun. The Rainiers lost, 8-3, and the controversial play led directly to three runs and changed the course of the game. I detailed the play in my story for The News Tribune (link below).

Tonight Michael Pineda takes the mound, and I really hope we can get on the air. Game time is 7:05 and I’ll keep you updated on the situation via this blog.

Here are some links:

• The aforementioned Rainiers game story which details the controversial play. The Sacramento Bee’s story ignored all controversy.
• David Pauley pitched two scoreless innings in his Mariners debut, but they got shut out in Milwaukee on Sunday.
• John McGrath is ready for the M’s to deal Cliff Lee.
• Larry Stone says that not only can the M’s trade Lee, but they can also trade Erik Bedard if he proves he is healthy. Bedard is reportedly making a rehab start for Tacoma on Thursday at Cheney Stadium.
• In the PCL, Salt Lake closed the Rainiers lead in the division down to one game with an 8-7 win over Reno yesterday. Salt Lake won it with its extremely youthful infield. The kids are way too young for Triple-A – but they held their own yesterday.
• Colorado Springs beat Portland and Jorge De La Rosa was very sharp.
• Sacramento has won four straight and narrowed Fresno’s lead down to eight games. Fresno allowed 17 runs and 23 hits yesterday.
• Oklahoma City had a travel disaster. I didn’t read the story because I live this stuff, but you guys might find it interesting. Not fun. Meanwhile, the young Chad Tracy (Jim’s son) did something he has never done before in his life.
• Elsewhere, former Rainiers outfielder Shin Soo Choo had a huge game for the Indians.
• Mike… Off-Mic’s newest correspondent – my mother – suggests this link to a story Eric Byrnes’s softball team. Former PCL player John Gall is his teammate. And I’m surprised that my man Ryan Divish isn’t the beat writer – he would love the one-hour time limit!

Now, more sitting around hoping for AT&T to fix the ISDN broadcast connection. I’ll update the blog when we get some information!

Technical Problems

Hey guys – they’re having technical problems at Clear Channel in Seattle, and we are not able to get on the air in time for today’s game. People are trying to fix it right now.

UPDATE: It will not be fixed today, and the game will not be broadcast today. We hope to have it repaired for Monday night’s game. My apologies but it’s out of my hands – I’m ready to work. I’m actually going to join Johnny Doskow on the Sacramento broadcast in the 5th and 6th innings. I’m sure its streaming through www.rivercats.com.

In the meantime, you can follow live with the Gameday feature at www.tacomarainiers.com.

Transactions Overshadow Game

In Triple-A baseball there is a constant churning of the roster. This is a fact of life for all 16 teams in the PCL, and the play on the field is pretty much unaffected by it.

But yesterday the moves grew bigger than the game – at least from my seat in the press box.

It started two hours before the game, when scheduled starter David Pauley was scratched. Rainiers manager Daren Brown was unable to say exactly why, but it’s pretty clear that Pauley is being whisked away to a place that rhymes with “pig teegs,” where he will join a team named after seafarers. Thank goodness we kept that a secret!

So Andy Baldwin made the emergency start for Tacoma, working on three days rest. He allowed a two-out, three-run homer in the second inning, but settled down and got the team into the sixth inning when disaster hit. With the team trailing 3-2, Rainiers fielders lost not one, but two catchable fly balls in the twilight sky. They led to three runs scoring, and Sacramento ended up with the 6-2 win.

I didn’t hear about it until the 7th inning when Shannon Drayer broke the story on Twitter*, but apparently the Rainiers knew around the fifth inning that outfielder Ezequiel Carrera had been traded to the Cleveland Indians, along with Class-A shortstop Juan Diaz, for Russell Branyan. 

Carrera found out about the trade the old-fashioned way: a phone call in the dugout. Trainer Tom Newberg carries what they jokingly call “The Bat Phone” which pretty much only rings if something big is going on with the Mariners, and they need to make a move during a Rainiers game.

Apparently Carrera is going to the Indians extended spring training camp in Arizona, where he will continue to rehabilitate his hip pointer before eventually joining the Indians Triple-A team.

While all this was going on, it was Polynesian Culture Night at Raley Field, complete with hula dancers and dancing men dressed in loincloth between innings – all of which resulted in American-with-Samoan-name Matt Tuiasosopo receiving a ton of grief from his teammates.

So a lot happened last night – oh yeah, the Rainiers also lost a game on their lead. Salt Lake nipped Reno 6-5 so Tacoma’s lead in the division got trimmed to two games.

Today it’s a 1:05 start – the radio pre-game begins at 12:50, and we’ll have our weekly interview with manager Daren Brown. Tacoma starts RHP Ian Snell (1-0, 0.00) against former Mariners and Rainiers LHP John Halama (2-1, 5.94).

Now for the Sunday links:

• Here is my Rainiers game story from The News Tribune, with quotes from Brown on the moves. Here’s the River Cats run-down from the Sacramento Bee – they’re hot right now.
• And my Minor League Notebook leads with Jaime Navarro on Michael Pineda, among other things.
• Ryan Divish put down his half-empty glass and tried to figure out who is the Least Valuable Mariner.
• Geoff Baker got Jack Z to explain the Branyan trade.
• Larry Stone looks to the future and has quotes from Pedro Grifol on several different Mariners prospects.
• Always fun: Stone’s Power Rankings, and his notebook.
• The Mariners won yesterday, and Brian Sweeney picked up the victory. Coincidentally, his old pal Scott Atchison got the win in relief for the Red Sox yesterday.
• In the PCL, the Fresno Grizzlies had “Twilight Night.” Check out the description of the special jerseys. Matt Yourkin tossed a gem and the Grizzlies won.
• Here’s the story on Salt Lake’s win. Cory Aldridge doubled home the winning run, and catcher Hank Conger threw out three base stealers.
• This is sad – the Bees always have the banner flying around the park on game days.
• Now this is baseball in Colorado Springs: 36 hits, 19 runs, and a 12-7 Portland win. In this story: former Rainiers pitcher Damian Moss was released – that alone will shorten Sky Sox game times by an average of 15 minutes.
• The Reno paper runs down the Aces potential all-stars. I believe the all-star teams are announced later this week.
• In this Sunday notebook from Marlon Morgan of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, there was a bench-clearing incident in Memphis this week that resulted in suspensions. Sweet!
• In other baseball news, here’s an amazing add-on to the Daniel Nava story. The Red Sox are going to have to play a long time without Dustin Pedroia.
• Here’s a pretty good piece out of Des Moines about throwing out base stealers.

OK let’s see who gets traded who wins today!

Salt Lake Takes Final Game – On To Sacramento

The Rainiers lost the final game of the Salt Lake series, 8-1. But it was a successful series – Tacoma won four of the six games, and expanded its lead to three games in the Northern Division.

Now the Rainiers will dart up and down the West Coast for the four series leading into the all-star break: four games in Sacramento, three games at home against Portland, four games in Salt Lake City, four games at home against Fresno.

Today the team arrived in Sacramento at about 12:30 – just in time to watch the USA’s tough overtime loss to Ghana*. There are a handful of soccer fans among the Rainiers players, and they gathered to watch it in the hotel restaurant before heading over to Raley Field.

Tonight at 7:05 the Rainiers send RHP David Pauley (1-6, 3.68) Andy Baldwin (4-3, 4.73) to the mound against Sacramento RHP Kyle Middleton (4-5, 2.69). The Rainiers are 4-4 against Sacramento this season, with reverse-results: Tacoma lost 3 of 4 at home to Sacramento in April, and won 3 of 4 at Sacramento in early June.

The broadcast will be in the usual spots: 850 AM in the South Sound, and streaming via www.tacomarainiers.com.

Now for some linkage:

• Ryan Divish focused on the Rainiers series win in his game story.
• The Mariners dropped their first game in Milwaukee. Jonathan Lucroy, who the Rainiers faced in Nashville earlier this season, hit his first major league HR off Ryan Rowland-Smith.
• Here’s the latest version of Rainiers Insider, in which I talk to team goofball Chris Seddon and team ticket sales guru Chip Maxson.
• Jason Churchill, who always has an interesting take, plays the always entertaining “let’s concoct Cliff Lee trades” game.
• In the PCL, Memphis had an unbelievable comeback: trailing 6-1, the Redbirds scored six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 7-6 win over Nashville.
• Sacramento split a series in Las Vegas.
• Here’s a feature on new Las Vegas third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, who just cleared waivers.
• It’s all but official: the Oklahoma City RedHawks are being sold to minor league conglomerate Mandalay Sports.
• Not only has Round Rock traded for ex-Rainier Tommy Everidge, but they also signed Ramon Vazquez. Add him in with ex-Rainiers Chris Shelton, Roy Corcoran, Oswaldo Navarro, and Michael Garciaparra. They also have two former Tacoma groundskeepers, an ex-Rainiers marketing intern, several former Cheney Stadium parking attendants, and the 1989 Tacoma Tigers beer vendor.
• The youngest player on an opening day roster in the PCL was Fresno’s Madison Bumgarner. Today, he’ll be the youngest player in the major leagues.
• Former Rainiers catcher Miguel Olivo is bidding for a spot in the major league all-star game.

Sorry for the short blog today – I’ve got to bang out my Minor League Notebook for tomorrow’s News Tribune, and then head to Raley. I’ll try to wake up early (by my standards) tomorrow and get to all of the good Sunday baseball links.

* Goodbye, soccer fad. See you in 2014!

SWEEP – Rainiers Win Two, Lead Division By Four Games

Tacoma swept the doubleheader from Salt Lake last night, winning the opening game 3-2 in dramatic fashion, and then taking the second game, 7-4. The wins increased Tacoma’s lead over second-place Salt Lake to four games, with one game left between the two teams tonight at 7:05.

The Rainiers trailed the opener 2-1 going into the bottom of the seventh (and final) inning. David Winfree led off with a single, and with one out Greg Halman tripled him home. Salt Lake then intentionally walked the bases loaded to set up a forceout at home, and they got the second out. But Matt Tuiasosopo worked a full count before drawing ball four, forcing in the winning run for the rarely seen walk-off walk.

In game two, the Rainiers scored six runs in the bottom of the second inning, which was more than enough for starter Luke French. French allowed two runs over six innings to raise his record to 8-2 on the year. Matt Mangini had three hits and three RBI in the second game.

So the Rainiers have won four of the first five games of the six-game series, with the final game coming up tonight at 7:00. Tacoma starts LHP Chris Seddon (8-3, 3.43), who is the reigning PCL Pitcher of the Week after his 14 scoreless innings last week. Salt Lake will start LHP Daniel Davidson (6-1, 5.38). It’s another game that will result in a big swing in the standings: if Tacoma wins, they lead by five games. A loss and the lead is down to three.

Tonight’s game will be televised on Comcast Sportsnet – channel 179 on most Comcast Digital systems. We’ll have the simulcast running on 850 AM and www.tacomarainiers.com. Joining me in the booth is former Tacoma Rainiers pitcher Jeff Heaverlo in his TV debut. Heaverlo pitched for Tacoma from 2003-05, and he also pitched for Salt Lake in 2006 – so he might be conflicted (just kidding!). Heaverlo was the Mariners first round draft pick in 1999 out of the University of Washington.

Now for some links:

• Here’s Gail Wood’s story on the doubleheader sweep.
• The Mariners six-game win streak ended in extra innings. Josh Wilson played first base.
• Larry Stone wrote about the fan who caught a foul ball with his beer. Yes, with his beer.
• For espn.com Insiders, here’s another piece on Michael Pineda. Pineda ranks high on this week’s Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet. And a Salt Lake Bee made the Not-So-Hot Sheet – aaaaaaahhhhh ha ha ha ha!!!!!!
• Here’s something I never expected: former Rainiers outfielder Prentice Redman has been suspended 50 games for failing a drug test. Amphetamines, they say.
• For Baseball America subscribers, here’s the latest on the Portland situation. Cliff’s Notes: they’re moving, and they’re not coming back.
• It was kind of a quiet day in the PCL, but Brad Eldred made some noise: he homered twice, taking the league-lead with 18, as the Sky Sox downed Reno, 10-5. Colorado Springs is set to keep Jorge De La Rosa for another rehab start.
• Sacramento added a new pitcher up from Double-A and he pitched well in Las Vegas.
• Here’s an update on New Orleans outfielder Cameron Maybin, whom I was certain was going to be a star by now.
• Former Rainiers reliever Justin Thomas was called up to the majors by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• The Everett Aqua Sox have opened the short-season Northwest League with seven consecutive wins. Here’s the low-down from Jay at the USS Mariner.
• You can never go wrong when Vin Scully starts telling stories.

That’s all for today – make sure you check out your first place Rainiers tonight, and stay for the post-game fireworks show.

Pineda As Advertised – Now Let’s Play Two!

That was fun.

Michael Pineda came out throwing gas in his Triple-A debut, working six shutout innings of one-hit ball and earning the win in Tacoma’s 6-2 victory over Salt Lake last night.

The first thing you notice about Pineda is his size – the dude is huge. On a standard grounder to Brad Nelson at first base, Pineda ran over to cover the bag – and he absolutely dwarfed Nelson, who is a rather large human himself.

Pineda hit 98 mph on the Cheney Stadium radar gun, and he showed a slider and a change. His fastball has tremendous movement, and the heater is clearly his out pitch. He did go a stretch in the fourth and fifth innings where he struggled to locate it, but Pineda was still able to work out of trouble and keep the Bees off the scoreboard.

Talking to manager Daren Brown after the game, he said that Pineda’s stuff was “electric.” He also said that Pineda will pitch every fifth day, so even though the Rainiers have (by my count) seven starting pitchers right now, Pineda will make his second start on Monday night in Sacramento.

If Brown is true to his word, Pineda is currently lined up to start the Rainiers big July 3rd game – the annual fireworks show which always sells out. However, there is an off-day next Wednesday which could change things.

Today is a doubleheader, to make up for the April 27 rain out. Two seven-inning games, beginning at 6:00 – and it’s a Miller Lite Tasty Thursday, so you beer drinkers can really get after it tonight. The Rainiers are going to start LHP Ryan Feierabend (0-2, 6.27) and LHP Luke French (7-2, 2.21). Salt Lake will pitch LHP Will Smith (2-4, 5.98) and someone else.

The Rainiers enter the doubleheader with a two-game lead over Salt Lake, so this is a big one – we’ll either have a split, and maintain the two-game lead; or one team will sweep and make a big move in the standings. As always, the broadcast will be live on 850 AM and streaming via www.tacomarainiers.com.

Also, the Rainiers officially add reliever Joe Nelson to the roster tonight. Nelson had a great year with the Florida Marlins in 2008, and he spent most of 2009 in the Tampa Bay Rays bullpen. This season he excelled for Pawtucket, posting a 2.49 ERA in 16 games; got called up to the Red Sox, appeared in nine games there and was doing fine until a rough outing in Cleveland, and then was designated for assignment. The Mariners signed him after he cleared waivers and elected free agency.

To make room for Nelson, teenage catcher Carlton Tanabe was sent out (to either Everett, Pulaski, or Arizona – I’m not sure which High Desert). Tanabe was serving as insurance, in case either Josh Bard or Adam Moore had a setback while rehabbing, but that didn’t happen. Along with Guillermo Quiroz, the Rainiers have plenty of catchers.

Now for some links:

• The News Tribune’s game story has quotes from Michael Pineda, and catcher Adam Moore – who pointed out that Pineda didn’t “freak out.”
• On his Mariners blog, Ryan Divish has more on Pineda, including some outstanding photos and some Blair Witch-style video.
• More Pineda: from the highly knowledgable Marc Webster of USS Mariner, and Jeff Sullivan at Lookout Landing.
• Pineda gets a mention among others in this Baseball America blog post.
• Larry LaRue reports that Eric Bedard will start for Tacoma on July 1.
• In all of the Pineda Mania, it was easy to miss the fact that the Mariners won their sixth in a row. That Cliff Lee fella is pretty good, you know. Geoff Baker thinks that the Twins and Mets are the most likely trade partners. Rob Neyer also likes the Mets as a match.
• In the PCL, Portland swept a doubleheader from Fresno, winning both games in their last at-bat.
• Las Vegas lefty Marc Rzepczynski seems to have found his mojo.
• Reno seems to be playing a bit better – Kevin Mulvey tossed seven shutout innings.
• Congrats to New Orleans RG Tim Grubbs, who gets the nod from the PCL to participate in the national radio broadcast of the Triple-A All-Star Game. The game will be televised on the MLB Network, and we’ll have the radio on 850 AM.
• Here’s one for the baseball card collectors. Better get your Rojo Johnson card!
• In his blog – which requires a subscription my man Buster Olney uses the words “RA Dickey” and “Cy Young” in the same sentence.

A sad day in the homeland – my people lost.

Pineda To Debut Tonight

The Rainiers and Salt Lake Bees split their series-opening doubleheader last night, and now we get to see 21-year-old Michael Pineda make his Triple-A debut at 7:00 tonight at Cheney Stadium.

Yesterday the Rainiers won the opening game, 8-0. Ian Snell pitched five shutout innings and struck out nine. He gave up four hits and three walks, with most of the base runners reaching during the first two innings. Snell threw primarily fastballs and consistently hit 94 mph on the scoreboard radar gun.

The Rainiers had 12 hits in the opener, including home runs by Matt Tuiasosopo and Greg Halman. Tuiasosopo homered on his first swing after being sent to Triple-A by the Mariners; he went 3-for-3 in the game.

Tacoma needed to save some offense for game two. The Rainiers stranded 11 runners in a 5-1 defeat. Salt Lake’s Paul McAnulty hit a two-run homer in the third inning, and Terry Evans hit a three-run shot in the fifth off Tacoma starter Andy Baldwin.

So the doubleheader split means that the Rainiers are still in first place with a one-game lead over Salt Lake going into tonight’s contest.

So that brings us to Pineda. The big kid is listed at 6-foot-5, and he’s 240 pounds. Pineda reportedly throws between 92 and 98 miles per hour with his fastball, he has a good change, and an improving slider. At Class-AA West Tennessee he went 8-1 with a 2.22 ERA, with 78 strikeouts and only 17 walks in 77 innings pitched – and he gave up only one home run. He won his final five starts there, allowing exactly one run in three of them.

The only glitch I can find on Pineda’s stat sheet is his left-right splits. He held right-handed batters to a .162 average and only four extra-base hits in 154 at-bats, but lefties managed to hit .300 against him with 10 extra-base hits in 140 at-bats. Salt Lake has some good veteran left-handed batters in Cory Aldridge and Michael Ryan, plus switch-hitting prospect Hank Conger is a much better hitter from the left side. This is going to be interesting.

The M’s have been taking it easy with Pineda, and that will surely continue due to his youth. Pineda typically threw around 95 pitches per start at Class-AA, and he only crossed 100 pitches one time. Look for Tacoma manager Daren Brown to use him with similar care.

We’ll have the broadcast live on South Sound Sports 850 AM, and we’ll be streaming it live via www.tacomarainiers.com. After the game, Ryan Divish from The News Tribune will join me, along with regular hosts Ian Furness, Jason Puckett and Bucky Jacobsen, to break it down on KJR-950 AM during “Baseball’s Best Post-Game Show.”

Let’s hit the links:

• Here is Ryan Divish’s story from last night’s doubleheader. And here is his Michael Pineda preview.
• The Rainiers won a business award. Horn, consider yourself tooted.
• The Mariners have won five straight, and they have allowed one run in the last four games. Larry LaRue revisits the trade.
• M’s reliever Mark Lowe had his back surgery. Geoff Baker had a nice post on Jason Vargas.
• Larry Stone is thinking about the Mariners all-stars. I’m thinking about PCL All-Stars – I got my ballot last night*.
• Here’s a piece on one-time Tacoma Tigers pitcher Bronswell Patrick.
• And here’s a feature on former Rainiers and Mariners outfielder Jeremy Reed.
• Class-AA West Tennessee prospects Carlos Peguero and Alex Liddi will play for the World Team in the MLB All-Star Futures Game in Anaheim.
• The Oregonian doesn’t cover the Portland Beavers – probably one of the factors in the team’s demise – but they printed a feature on Oregon State hero Mitch Canham’s promotion to the Beavers.
• Lots of big news out of New Orleans: Zephyrs manager Edwin Rodriguez has been promoted to manage the Florida Marlins, who fired Fredi Gonzalez. This is cool; I’ve heard nothing but positive things about Rodriguez. And he got promoted right after losing a game because light-hitting Oklahoma City infielder Gregorio Petit hit two grand slams in one game. Petit has 39 career home runs in nine years, he’s aptly named, and he launched two salamis. How does that happen?
• The Pittsburgh Pirates are definitely cursed.
• Here’s an interview with former Portland Beavers manager Rick Sweet, about managing in Triple-A.
• I’m no soccer fan, but I’ll enjoy any sport that generates headlines like this.

Friends who know what a Cal hoops fan I am sometimes ask me who my all-time favorite players are. Well, #2 on my list is very nervous this week. Think positive thoughts for Little J!

* First thing I did: write “Luke French” in the starting pitcher slot.

Huge Series Opens Tonight

Yeah, I know, it’s still June – but this is a big series.

The Rainiers host perennial division contender Salt Lake in a six-game, four-day series that begins with a doubleheader tonight at 6:00. The series begins with Tacoma in first place in the division, and Salt Lake is one game back.

It’s a big series because this is the final series at home for Tacoma against Salt Lake. In fact, the two teams will be done with each other early this year: The Rainiers visit Salt Lake from July 4th to 7th, and that’s it. So it would be nice if the Rainiers could create some separation in the standings by winning a bunch of head-to-head games this week.

Tacoma starts RHP Ian Snell (first appearance) in game one, and RHP Andy Baldwin (4-2, 4.42) in game two. Salt Lake counters with LHP Trevor Reckling (4-6, 7.99) in game one, and RHP Marco Albano (2-6, 7.38) in game two. Each game will be seven innings, per minor league baseball rules.

As always, the broadcast will be live on 850 AM in the South Sound, and streaming worldwide via www.tacomarainiers.com.

Last night the Rainiers got shut out by Portland’s Josh Geer, who was having a rough season up until Monday. Geer went the distance, allowing just four hits and one walk. He only struck out three batters, but he got 19 outs on ground balls, which included three double-play grounders. It was his day. Still, the Rainiers took three of four in Portland, and the club went 6-3 on the road trip to pull into first place.

David Pauley took the loss for Tacoma. Pauley is now 1-6 despite a solid 3.68 ERA; the Rainiers have been shut out in four of his six losses. Dude needs some run support.

BREAKING NEWS: I just got word from the Mariners Baseball Information guru (and former Rainiers intern) Jeff Evans that Tommy Everidge has been traded to the Houston Astros for “future considerations.” He will probably report to Triple-A Round Rock or Class-AA Corpus Christi. Everidge really struggled with the Rainiers – he went 4-for-35 on the road trip that concluded yesterday, and he’s hitting .229 with 7 home runs and 36 RBIs as the clean-up batting DH. I believe Everidge is a better hitter than that, but everybody in the league was pitching him the same way and he wasn’t adjusting (first pitch breaking ball strike one; steady diet of low-and-away fastballs). Hopefully he’ll get back on track with Houston.

A few links for you:

• Here’s the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune. Nice headline, desk guys. Ryan Divish is excited about seeing Michael Pineda pitch tomorrow.
• Tacoma Rainiers co-owner Nick Lachey will be attending parts of both the Rainiers doubleheader and the Mariners-Cubs game tonight. Rumor has it that he is bringing his better half.
• John McGrath previews the M’s-Cubs series while lamenting his fate as a fan of two bad baseball teams.
• Larry Stone checks in on Carlos Silva. Brace yourselves before reading this one, M’s fans. Also from Stone, Ron Santo is not making the trip.
• Hey – I agree with Geoff Baker! This is a good piece, but I’m going to nit-pick: Wladimir Balentien isn’t out of baseball; he’s playing for the Reds Triple-A team in Louisville. In fact, he went 0-for-4 yesterday and is mired in a 1-for-23 slump. But he’s playing!
• Ex-Rainiers third baseman and Team of the Decade member Greg Dobbs was designated for assignment by Philadelphia today.
• The Rainiers are in first place by a game thanks to Kyle Middleton’s eight shutout innings for Sacramento.
• I’m not quite ready to yell Call Him Up Already! but Sky Sox outfielder Dexter Fowler is raking. Also, Ubaldo Jimenez caused a commotion by showing up at the Sky Sox game last night. Nooooo Ubaldo stay in your own league we don’t want to face you!!! Seriously, though, if you read the story it sounds like Ubaldo was really cool to the fans.
• Alex Gordon’s 39-game on-base streak ended. Still, Call Him Up Already!
• The ball was jumping out of the state of Iowa last night – Albuquerque hit two grand slams and a three-run shot in a 16-12 win in Des Moines.

I was a teenage metalhead, and if we had the night off tonight I would certainly be at this show with my pal Kevin Kalal.