Vegas Brings In The Cooler

Las Vegas starter Jacob deGrom tossed seven stellar innings and shut down Tacoma on Saturday night, 4-1.

After allowing a run in the second inning, deGrom led 2-1. He gave up a leadoff double to Abraham Almonte in the third inning – and then stranded him, setting off a run of 15 straight batters retired. Only the iron-clad 100-pitch barrier stopped him – he’d probably still be retiring hitters now, well on into the night, if Vegas manager Wally Backman had left him in.

The Rainiers have lost two straight games, scoring a total of one run.

This is a new Tacoma team: gone is the club that routinely scored 6 or 7 or 8 runs per game, and led the PCL in scoring. Yes, Tacoma still leads the league in runs, but the lineup has changed – and that ranking is going to change. Now Tacoma must win with pitching.

Erasmo Ramirez started, and he didn’t have his best command. He wasn’t walking batters, but he was hittable in the strike zone, allowing 10 hits and four runs over six innings. Right now, allowing four runs in six innings at home is not going to win many games (it would’ve been fine a few days ago).

I’m curious to see what the Mariners are going to do with the Tacoma lineup. I don’t get the sense that they are going to prematurely move up hitters from Double-A who might not be ready. Will they sign some free agents? For example, Omaha just released veteran Xavier Nady, who would be a perfect fit for Tacoma right now. Will the Mariners sign a guy like that just to help the Triple-A club? I don’t know; I guess we’ll find out.

In the meantime, let’s get some good pitching.

Today’s game is at 1:35, and you can hear the broadcast on South Sound Sports 850 AM, streaming online right here, or on your iPad or smart phone via the TuneIn app. Tacoma starts RHP Brandon Maurer (2-1, 3.33) against Las Vegas RHP Matt Fox (2-2, 5.32).

Links:

• We start as always with the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune.
• My minor league notebook for the paper looks at some of the prospect-packed Tacoma starting rotations from the past. This was a fun one to research.
• So much for hoping Eric Thames clears waivers. Baltimore claimed him, and the Mariners will get infielder Ty Kelly from the Orioles. Kelly hit .283 with lots of singles, doubles, and walks in the Double-A Eastern League, and he is getting promoted: he’ll join the Rainiers.
• The Mariners lost in 11 innings to the Cubs, 5-3.
• Larry Stone’s Sunday baseball package is online now at the Seattle Times: a column on the status of the Mariners youth movement, a notebook following up on the Oakland A’s sewage disaster, power rankings, and thumbs up-and-down.
• Sad news from Florida: former major league pitcher Justin Miller has passed away. Miller spent about two weeks with the Rainiers in April of 2011.
• Nice piece from Meg Wochnick on Jared Sandberg, the Olympia resident who is managing the Tampa Bay Rays Class-A team.
• How do you win 6,500 feet above sea level? Get 23 ground outs in a nine-inning game, like the Colorado Springs Sky Sox did last night against Tucson.
• Salt Lake rolled to a 7-1 win at Fresno, as former Rainiers pitcher Jarrett Grube tossed seven shutout innings. Meanwhile, Fresno catchers try to figure out how to beat the heat.
• Reno topped Sacramento, 1-0, as Aces starter Tyler Skaggs struck out 13 River Cats. He also struck out five ushers, a group of fans sitting near the third base dugout, the River Cats trainer, and Sacramento mascot Dinger (twice).
• Brad Peacock tossed a gem and Oklahoma City held on for a 6-4 win at Nashville.
• Albuquerque edged Memphis, 3-2.
• Omaha, we feel your pain. The Storm Chasers lost their two best hitters when Johnny Giavotella was called up, and Xavier Nady opted out of his contract. Then they lost the game to Iowa – at least the scored five runs.
• Round Rock picked up a 6-2 win over New Orleans amid some attendance figures funny business.
• Good story from Reno on PCL ballparks, elevation, and their hitting environments.
• This has nothing to do with anything Rainiers-related, but I enjoyed the story of how Cardinals reliever Edward Mujica got his nickname.

Should be a beautiful day, come out to the ballpark!

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Rainiers Lose Liddi, Game

Tacoma’s four-game winning streak got snapped yesterday, 9-0, by the Las Vegas 51s. More importantly in the big picture, the Rainiers lost third baseman Alex Liddi.

When the Mariners called up Brad Miller yesterday, they needed to add him to the 40-man roster. That meant designating someone for assignment, and that someone was Alex Liddi. Liddi is currently on waivers and can be claimed by any other team as long as they place him on their own 40-man roster.

I think Liddi will be claimed, and perhaps already has. He’s simply too young and talented to slip past 29 other big league clubs.

That being understood, it makes total sense from the Mariners perspective to let him go. While he has been tried at other positions, Liddi has shown us that he is a third baseman first and foremost. Much of his value as a player comes from his strong defensive skills at third. The Mariners don’t have an opening at that position, and don’t figure to for several years.

Some team that needs a third baseman in the majors or at Triple-A will claim Liddi on waivers, and that will end his time with Tacoma.

This creates a huge hole in the Tacoma lineup. Yes, the Rainiers received Carlos Triunfel back from Seattle when Miller was called up, so they got a quality player back in that exchange. But Liddi leaves without anyone filling the slot – and he was Tacoma’s cleanup or No. 3 hitter in the lineup all season.

Compounding the problem is the continued injury woes of Stefen Romero, who missed his fourth straight game with wrist soreness yesterday.

The Rainiers don’t have much thunder in the lineup right now. There isn’t anyone knocking on the door from Double-A, except possibly outfielder Julio Morban, who would not be counted on to provide much in his first taste of Triple-A.

There is still a chance that Eric Thames and/or Liddi might clear waivers. In Thames case, he’s still injured and probably won’t be playing until late July or August.

One bat that could help soon is Jesus Montero. He was injured May 29, with the torn meniscus in his knee, and was said to be out for 4-to-6 weeks. We’re four weeks into that period, so he should be coming back soon. Tacoma can play him at first base, and move Rich Poythress to DH, and that should help the offense.

Tacoma did activate Scott Savastano from the disabled list yesterday, and he went 1-for-4 in his return to the lineup. It was his first game since suffering an elbow injury on June 2.

It’s a good thing that the Rainiers have this prospect-laden starting rotation right now. We could be in for a stretch of low-scoring games.

Now that I’ve typed the previous sentence, get ready for a 13-11 slugfest tonight.

Tonight’s game is at 7:05, and as always it can be heard on 850 AM, streamed online right here, or picked up on an iPad or smart phone via the TuneIn app. Tacoma starts RHP Erasmo Ramirez (2-2, 2.23) against Las Vegas RHP Jacob deGrom (0-0, 0.77).

Links:

• We start with the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune, in which manager John Stearns talks about dealing with the losses to the lineup.
• Ryan Divish has more on the Mariners roster moves.
• The Mariners beat the Cubs on Mike Zunino‘s RBI single in the bottom of the tenth inning.
• Colorado Springs picked up a game on the Rainiers by beating Tucson, 4-2. Ben Paulsen had the go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning.
• Fresno tallied 19 hits in a 9-6 win over Salt Lake. Former Rainiers pitcher Yusmeiro Petit returned from the disabled list for Fresno.
• Reno crushed Sacramento, 8-1. Alfredo Marte had a big game at the plate.
• Former Royals closer Joakim Soria made his Round Rock debut last night. Not sure if he changed the spelling of his first name, or if that’s a bad typo in the Austin Statesman.
• Justin Sellers had the big hit as Albuquerque topped Memphis, 4-3.
• The Iowa Cubs mashed 16 hits in a 5-1 win at Omaha.
• Oklahoma City swept a doubleheader from Nashville.

This should be an interesting one tonight – I’m very curious to see how the Rainiers offense does. Furthermore, Erasmo tossed eight scoreless innings the last time he faced Vegas. Can he do it again?

Hultzen Shines; Miller Moves On

It was a funny sight in the Rainiers locker room, 45 minutes after Tacoma’s 2-0 win over Las Vegas on Thursday night.

Winning pitcher Danny Hultzen – fresh off an impressive six-inning stint in his first appearance since April 19 – playing the part of a bell hop, carrying Brad Miller‘s bags out to his car.

Miller was going to the big leagues, and Hultzen took a big step in that direction, himself.

Miller got the news from manager John Stearns immediately after going 2-for-4 with a homer, extending his hitting streak to 22 straight games.

Miller meteoric rise through the system (he was drafted in June 2011) brought to mind Kyle Seager‘s brief stay in Tacoma in 2011. Seager came up from Double-A in late June, played in just 12 games for Tacoma and hit .455, and was called up by a Seattle team struggling to find some offense.

Miller was promoted from AA on May 25th, played in 26 games and hit .356, and was called up by a Seattle team struggling to find some offense.

Personally, I would have preferred to wait five days – for my own entertainment, if nothing else. Miller’s 22-game hitting streak is just four away from tying the franchise record, set in 1965 (Rex Johnston) and tied in 1999 (Chad Akers). Miller’s streak is still alive if he gets sent down this year – it happened to Seager in 2011, and of course it could happen to Miller, too. For Miller’s sake (and the Mariners), here’s hoping it doesn’t happen.

As for Hultzen, he was terrific. Limited to 75-80 pitches by a pregame decree, Hultzen managed to make it through six economical, shutout innings of two-hit ball. He walked one and struck out six, threw 52 of his 78 pitches for strikes, had excellent fastball command, and baffled many hitters with his change-up.

It was a terrific outing for Hultzen, who missed a little more than two months with a rotator cuff strain. There is still plenty of time left for Hultzen to have a very successful 2013 season.

The victory was Tacoma’s fourth in a row, and second place Colorado Springs was swept (at home!) in a doubleheader by Tucson. Tacoma now has a four-game lead over both the Sky Sox and Salt Lake.

Tonight’s game is at 7:05, and there will be Friday Night Fireworks right afterwards. The broadcast airs on 850 AM, streams online, and is available on iPads and smart phones via the TuneIn app. Tacoma starts LHP James Paxton (4-5, 4.75) against Las Vegas RHP Giancarlo Alvarado (first appearance of season).

Links:

• We start with the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune, which has reaction from Danny Hultzen after his excellent start.
• Hanging out at Cheney Stadium on his day off, Mariners beat writer Ryan Divish stumbled into the Brad Miller call-up story.
• Larry Stone has an article on Brad Miller’s Triple-A accomplishments and his connections with his fellow Mariners infielders.
• Alex Carson of Prospect Insider caught up with Miller before yesterday’s game – and before the call-up. Some good stuff in this one.
• John Sickels tries to answer the question, why wasn’t Miller hyped as a prospect?
• Holy smokes – two Rainiers made this week’s Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet.
• The Mariners are counting on Dustin Ackley to produce some offense.
• Just in (no link): Mariners activate Josh Kinney and outright him to Tacoma. Because of his MLB experience, he is allowed to become a free agent if he chooses. He needs to pitch; I wouldn’t be surprised to see him accept the assignment to Tacoma.
• The Cubs-Mariners series is a battle between miserable franchises, Larry Stone writes.
• Logan Bawcom‘s hometown newspaper did a feature on the Rainiers closer.
• Here’s the story from The Springs on Tucson’s doubleheader sweep of the Sky Sox.
• Fresno had a bullpen meltdown and lost to Salt Lake, 9-4. It was 4-4 after seven innings.
• Grant Green homered twice and Sacramento defeated Reno, 7-4.
• Taijuan Walker is going to the Futures Game – and so is his high school teammate, Matt Davidson of Reno.
• Iowa beat Omaha yesterday, 4-2. The Storm Chasers threw some pitches clocked at 00 mph.
• Hiram Burgos had an excellent rehabilitation start for Nashville.
• Centralia’s Brock Peterson hit his PCL-leading 19th home run – and it was a walk-off shot in the tenth inning, giving Memphis a 5-3 win over Albuquerque.
• Round Rock outfielder Joey Butler keeps hitting, and the Express beat New Orleans, 6-1.
• We have our Triple-A All-Star Game broadcast team. Have fun, guys – I’ll be enjoying my three days of peace and solitude.

Heat wave starts today! Try telling that to the Las Vegas 51s; it was 110 degrees during their last homestand.

The Future Is Now

Three members of the Tacoma Rainiers have been named to the MLB All-Star Futures Game, which will be played as part of the all-star festivities at Citi Field in New York on Sunday, July 14.

Each major league organization send two players to the game, with a chance for a third via a fan ballot. Usually these players come from lower in the farm system, but this year both Mariners representatives will be from Tacoma: Taijuan Walker and Brad Miller will play for the USA team at the event.

Furthermore, Rainiers hitting coach Howard Johnson has been named a coach for the USA team. This will be a big weekend for HoJo, who is a former Mets all-star.

In recent years, Alex Liddi has been a regular participant in the All-Star Futures Game, playing for the World team. As a native of Italy, it was a natural fit for him – he made the World team three times (which may be a record), most recently in 2011. He has too much MLB time to be eligible anymore.

The game is always televised – probably on the MLB Network. I’m sure Taijuan, Brad, and HoJo will have a blast.

—

The Rainiers enjoyed the off-day yesterday, with several of the players and coaches participating in the annual Tacoma Rainiers Golf Tournament. This year the event raised roughly $30,000 for Mary Bridge Tree House.

Tonight the Rainiers are back in action, welcoming the Las Vegas 51s to town. Vegas just split a four-game series with Salt Lake, and the 51s are 6-6 since the end of the Eight Game Mega Series on June 13.

If it seems like the Rainiers are playing Las Vegas nearly all of the time, it’s because they are. When this series ends on Sunday, Tacoma will have played 12 of its last 24 games against Las Vegas. However, this is the final series of the year between the two teams. Tacoma is 9-3 against Las Vegas so far.

Tonight’s game is at 7:05, and you can hear it on South Sound Sports 850 AM, and streaming online right here. Use the TuneIn app for iPads and smart phones. Tacoma starts LHP Danny Hultzen (3-1, 2.78) in his much-anticipated return from the disabled list. He’ll be opposed by Las Vegas RHP Chris Schwinden (3-7, 6.37).

Links:

• Lots of stories from Wednesday on Taijuan Walker’s Triple-A debut. Here is a selection: Ryan Divish from The News Tribune, Larry Stone from the Seattle Times, a national piece from MiLB.com, a write-up from Lookout Landing, and Jason Churchill from Prospect Insider.
• Danny Hultzen told Larry Stone exactly what he went through while on the disabled list.
• Divish also has a piece on Hultzen.
• The Mariners called up Dustin Ackley on Tuesday (and placed Franklin Gutierrez back on the disabled list), but he hasn’t played yet.
• The Mariners were swept by Pittsburgh, and it seems like manager Eric Wedge is getting frustrated.
• John McGrath has a column on the amazing Raul Ibanez.
• Apparently possessing oodles of free time, Stone listed the 23 Mariners catchers from Dan Wilson to Mike Zunino.
• Former Rainiers star Michael Pineda hit 94 mph during his latest rehab start.
• Here are the full rosters for the Futures Game. There are seven PCL players.
• The entire PCL was off yesterday. Tacoma leads the Pac-North by 2.5 games over Colorado Springs. The Sky Sox open a five-game series at home against Tucson tonight.

Tickets are still available for the July 3rd Fireworks Extravaganza, but that game always sells out. We advise you to act soon if you don’t have tickets and are planning to attend.

Walker Shines In Rainiers Win

Taijuan Walker was terrific in his Triple-A debut on Tuesday night, earning the victory in the Rainiers 1-0 win over Fresno.

Walker went six innings, allowing three singles and two walks. Only one runner reached second base against him, no one made it to third. He recorded four strikeouts.

Josh Kinney and Bobby LaFromboise closed out the win. Tacoma’s only run came on Abraham Almonte’s solo homer in the fifth inning.

Wednesday is an off day for Tacoma and the blog. We’ll be back with a full post on Thursday, and all of the links to the stories on Walker’s debut.

Offense Breaks Out

After a three-and-a-half game stretch in which scoring runs wasn’t so easy for the Tacoma Rainiers, the team broke out in a big way on Monday night.

Tacoma pounded out nine extra-base hits and added six more singles in a 14-4 win over Fresno. It was the second straight win for the Rainiers, who will now try to claim a series victory with a win tonight.

Carlos Peguero led the way, going 4-for-4 with two doubles, three runs, and three RBI. Nate Tenbrink had two hits and four RBI, and Rich Poythress had two hits, two walks, and two RBI.

Brad Miller extended his hitting streak to 20 straight games with a pair of doubles. He’s six games away from tying the franchise record of 26 (Rex Johnston, 1965, and Chad Akers, 1999).

Tonight should be a good one: Mariners top prospect Taijuan Walker makes his Triple-A debut. He was dealing in the Southern League, posting a 2.46 ERA while leading the league with 96 strikeouts (in 84 innings).

Hopefully Walker will do well. Yes, expectations are high, but remember that he will be facing better hitters than he has ever faced before. This is a challenging assignment for him (just like any other Triple-A rookie).

Good note from Rainiers PR wizard Ben Spradling: at age 20, Walker will be the youngest Tacoma Rainiers starting pitcher since Felix Hernandez was in the rotation at age 19 in 2005.

Tonight’s game is at 7:05, and you can hear it on South Sound Sports 850 AM and streaming online. The TuneIn app works on iPads and smart phones. Tacoma starts RHP Taijuan Walker (Triple-A debut) against Fresno RHP Austin Fleet (0-1, 4.43).

I checked with our ticket guys and there are still plenty of good seats available for tonight’s game. Come see the kid pitch, this should be fun.

Links:

• We start with Meg Wochnick’s Rainiers game story from The News Tribune.
• Taijuan Walker ranks No. 9 on Baseball Prospectus’s Mid-Season Top 50 Prospects list (subscription required).
• James Paxton was named PCL Pitcher of the Week. Nice work, James!
• Larry Stone has a blog post on the Rainiers impressive starting rotation.
• Make sure you read Ryan Divish’s guest piece at Baseball Prospectus on Mariners shortstop Brendan Ryan‘s greatest play (it’s free).
• Apparently Nick Franklin absconded with his Rainiers batting helmet and continues to use it in Seattle. Hey Nick, if you keep hitting, you can keep the helmet. But if you go into a slump, you gotta ship that thing back to 2502 S Tyler.
• The Mariners were off yesterday, but that didn’t stop Jerry Brewer from writing this fun column about Raul Ibanez’s “old pop.”*
• Buster Olney’s MLB column is available on a free preview today. Usually you have to be an ESPN Insider to read it – this near-daily column is the main reason I pay for their service.
• In the PCL, Las Vegas slowed down the Salt Lake Bees win train. The Bees are now four games behind Tacoma. Thank you, Las Vegas!
• Colorado Springs remains 2.5 games behind Tacoma – the Sky Sox bullpen starred in a 5-3 win at Sacramento. It’s starting to look like Sacramento’s Hiroyuki Nakajima might be ready for the big leagues.
• Tucson ace Sean O’Sullivan pitched the Padres to a 4-2 win at Reno.
• The Des Moines Register has an interesting, thorough story on what starting pitchers go through when the manager calls ’em in and says, “Son, we’re moving you to the bullpen.” Meanwhile, Brooks Raley tossed seven scoreless innings in Iowa’s 6-1 win at Memphis.
• The Oklahoma City RedHawks would lose to the Omaha Storm Chasers. Wouldn’t they?
• New Orleans was in command all the way during a 7-2 win over Nashville.
• Scott Van Slyke is rehabilitating with Albuquerque, and the ‘Topes topped Round Rock on Monday night, 10-9.
• I think we’re going to have a nice crowd in Tacoma tonight to see Taijuan Walker – which is not the case in other cities. For example, the Las Vegas 51s didn’t get a boost when Zack Wheeler pitched, according to this column.

This could be one of those fun nights of the season which we’ll remember for years to come. Who knows, maybe someday you’ll be able to brag to your friends or kids, “I saw that guy when he was in the minors!”

* Initially I accidentally typed a second ‘o’ in pop, and upon discovering it I spent quite some time sitting in my office, laughing. Yes, I’m 12.

Rainiers End Skid

The top of the lineup and the bullpen led the way as Tacoma ended a three-game losing streak with a 5-4 victory over the Fresno Grizzlies on Sunday afternoon.

Top three Abraham Almonte, Brad Miller, and Dustin Ackley combined for five hits, four runs, and four RBI.

Miller extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a two-run homer in the first inning, and added a game-tying sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Ackley went 2-for-4, with a line drive double to left-center and the go-ahead RBI single through the drawn-in infield.

Almonte reached base twice with a pair of hits, scoring two runs.

Tacoma starter Erasmo Ramirez struck out ten batters, but allowed four runs (three earned) over 5.2 innings. Most of the damage came in the third inning, when Fresno scored three runs on four hits. The rest of the game, Erasmo looked pretty sharp.

With James Paxton striking out 11 on Saturday, and Ramirez punching out ten yesterday, Tacoma’s starting pitcher struck out ten-or-more batters in back-to-back games for the first time since August 14-15, 2001. Back then it was Brett Tomko and Denny Stark who pulled off the trick, doing it at home against Colorado Springs.

The Rainiers bullpen had struggled the previous three games, but on Sunday Bobby LaFromboise, Jonathan Arias, and Brian Moran combined to deliver 3.1 shutout innings.

Tonight’s game is at 7:05, and you can hear it on South Sound Sports 850 AM, streaming online, and via the TuneIn app for your iPad or smart phone. Pacific Northwest broadcast legend and College Football Hall of Famer Bob Robertson joins me in the booth. Tacoma starts RHP Brandon Maurer (1-1, 2.41) against Fresno RHP Fabio Castillo (0-4, 6.55).

Links:

• We start with the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune.
• John McGrath caught up with Taijuan Walker, who makes his Triple-A debut on Tuesday.
• The Mariners beat the A’s on a walk-off home run by Kendrys Morales.
• Ryan Divish dropped a “Father Time” on Raul Ibanez.
• Franklin Gutierrez had more hamstring trouble. He might set a record with three rehabilitation assignments in Tacoma in one season.
• A pair of Mariners farmhands (including one Rainiers player) are noted in this Baseball America Prospect Notebook.
• Former Rainiers outfielder Mike Wilson had a huge game for the Tucson Padres last night, going 3-for-5 with two homers and six RBI in an 8-2 win at Reno.
• Colorado Springs rather emphatically fell 2.5 games behind Tacoma, losing at Sacramento, 20-4. Sacramento’s Bruce Billings became the PCL’s first nine-game winner.
• Salt Lake rallied in the eighth inning to win in Las Vegas, 6-3. The Bees remain three games behind Tacoma.
• Top prospect Carlos Martinez was dealing as Memphis shut out Iowa, 6-0.
• Albuquerque collapsed in the ninth inning and lost to Round Rock, 10-7.
• New Orleans topped Nashville, 2-1, in a game that had a two-hour rain delay.
• Oklahoma City split a long doubleheader with Omaha.
• Remember former Mariners slugger Danny Tartabull? His son Quentin just committed to play football at my alma mater.

Rainiers Drop Opener To Fresno

The Rainiers returned home on Saturday night, but the team continued to struggle. Tacoma wasted a brilliant outing by James Paxton and lost to Fresno, 2-1.

The offense struggle mightily, getting no-hit by Fresno starter Mitch Lively for the first six innings. Brad Miller broke it up with a single to lead off the seventh, extending his hitting streak to 18 games.

As it turned out, Miller had the only two hits. Tacoma could not muster any offense for the second game in a row – and Lively came into the game with a 7.16 ERA, so it’s not like he is dominating the PCL or anything. He had only two strikeouts in 6.1 innings – he got a lot of soft contact from Tacoma hitters.

Paxton went six innings for the Rainiers, striking out a season-high 11 batters. He got ahead of hitters and had a wicked fastball last night – he was working in the mid-90s on the gun, and throwing it where he wanted it to go.

Paxton left the game with the score at 0-0 after six innings.

Fresno won the game with a pair of runs in the eighth inning against Tacoma reliever Logan Bawcom. The last three days, Tacoma has had trouble in the bullpen.

The Rainiers have dropped six of the last eight games, yet still lead the division by 1.5 games over Colorado Springs, and three games over Salt Lake.

I fully expect this to turn around quickly. The team is simply too talented for a skid like this to last very long.

Today’s game is at 1:35, and you can hear it on South Sound Sports 850 AM, streaming online, or via the TuneIn app for iPads and smart phones. Tacoma starts RHP Erasmo Ramirez (2-2, 1.69) against Fresno RHP Chris Heston (6-5, 5.43).

Links:

• We start with the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune.
• My minor league notebook for the paper looks at several Mariners farmhands who received mid-season promotions this past week.
• It’s nice to see Nick Franklin make an impact as the Mariners beat the A’s last night.
• Franklin Gutierrez returned to the Mariners yesterday and homered in his first at-bat. He detailed his injury woes.
• The Mariners had to make room for Guti on the 40-man roster (he was on the 60-day disabled list which doesn’t count against the 40-man) so they designated Eric Thames for assignment. Thames is out another 3-5 weeks with a hairline fracture in his left hand; it remains to be seen if anyone will claim him off waivers.
• The Larry Stone Sunday baseball package is here: a depressing look at the Mariners at the mid-way point, a notebook with an item on Matt Tuiasosopo, power rankings, and thumbs up-and-down.
• The Salt Lake Bees six-game win streak ended in Las Vegas. The 51s got ’em, 4-1, as D.J. Mitchell tossed a gem. It looks like slugger Ike Davis is going to stay with Las Vegas for a while longer – they visit Tacoma on Thursday.
• River Cat For Life Michael Taylor homered and hit a bases-loaded double – driving in five runs – as Sacramento defeated Colorado Springs, 9-5.
• Rehabbing Aaron Hill helped Reno beat Tucson, 7-3. Hill had three hits.
• Dodgers slugger Matt Kemp is on a rehabilitation assignment with Albuquerque.
• Jake Elmore had four hits as Oklahoma City wiped out Omaha, 11-2.
• Reno flash Tony Campana talked about speed and stealing bases with skipper Brett Butler, who was no slow poke himself.

It’s K-9 Innings today – listen for barking dogs in the background of the broadcast.

Rainiers Receive Boost For Homestand

The Rainiers return home to start an 11-game homestand tonight at Cheney Stadium, and they are getting a boost to the starting rotation.

Yesterday the Mariners announced that top prospect Taijuan Walker is being promoted to Tacoma from Double-A Jackson. Walker is set to make his Triple-A debut as the starting pitcher on Tuesday night, at home against Fresno.

Walker didn’t get much run support at Jackson, posting a won-loss record of 4-7. Look deeper, however, and the numbers jump off the page: he had a 2.46 ERA, he pitched 84 innings and allowed only 58 hits, the league batting average against him was .195. He led the Southern League with 96 strikeouts, while walking 30.

Walker had a 12-strikeout masterpiece on Thursday night in his final Double-A start. If nothing else, he should be fun to watch.

Furthermore, News Tribune reporter Ryan Divish learned that Danny Hultzen is set to throw five innings in a rehab start in Arizona today, and if all goes well he will return to Tacoma and start Thursday’s game against Las Vegas.

These moves lead to a Tacoma starting rotation of James Paxton, Erasmo Ramirez, Brandon Maurer, Walker, and Hultzen. I would assume that Hector Noesi and Brian Sweeney are going to the bullpen, which could definitely use some right-handed help.

It will be interesting to see what happens when Andrew Carraway is ready to go again. Carraway is not on the disabled list, but he did not pitch on this road trip because of some muscular trouble in his back. It’s not thought to be serious. Carraway has been the Rainiers most consistent and successful starter since opening day.

—

The Rainiers lost the final game in Colorado Springs, 8-3, and dropped the series to the Sky Sox, three games to one. Game details are in the first link down below.

It was the first series loss for Tacoma since the team was swept in Oklahoma City, May 7-10. That was a nice run of successful series.

Tacoma went 6-6 on the marathon road trip – not bad in my opinion, although manager John Stearns wasn’t satisfied with that result (as he says in the game story).

Tonight’s game is at 7:05, and praise the Baseball Gods for it is being played at Cheney Stadium in lovely Tacoma, WA! We’ll have the broadcast on 850 AM, and streaming online, and via the TuneIn app for smart phones and iPads. Tacoma starts LHP James Paxton (4-5, 5.18) against Fresno RHP Mitch Lively (3-1, 7.16).

Links:

• Here is my Rainiers game story from The News Tribune.
• The moved-in fences at Safeco Field may have been a factor last night, as the Mariners lost a dinger-fest to the Oakland A’s.
• The Mariners signed second-round pick Austin Wilson out of Stanford University. I’ve never seen him, but everything I read about him reminds me of Sacramento’s Michael Taylor.
• John McGrath makes some really good points in his column about bringing back the relevance of the World Series.
• Salt Lake kept up the pressure from third place, beating Sacramento 5-2. The Bees are three games back – they have won 17 of their last 22 games.

That’s all of the links I can get to today, due to the travel day. Make plans to come out and see the team this homestand, this starting rotation right now looks one-of-a-kind for Triple-A.

The End Of The Road

The Rainiers longest road trip of the season comes to a close today, Day 12 here in Colorado Springs.

This journey started in Las Vegas, where the team went 3-1 to win the series. Then we moved on to Sacramento, and split a four-gamer there, 2-2.

After last night’s tough loss in the Springs, Tacoma is 1-2 here – needing a victory today to get a split with the second-place Sky Sox. The Rainiers are 6-5 on this road trip.

Today’s game is a big one – a difference-maker in the standings. Yes, it’s still too early to get all worked up about the standings, but the difference between a 1.5-game lead and a 3.5-game lead is pretty big. A win today moves it up to a 3.5-game lead.

Salt Lake continues to charge from third place. The Bees have gone 16-5 over their last 21 games, pulling within four games of first. Salt Lake has won five straight and is trying to close out a home sweep of a tough Sacramento team tonight.

Last night the Rainiers (just like the Mariners, as fate would have it) blew an early 8-1 lead. Tacoma led 11-4 in the middle of the sixth, only to see it slip away.

These types of things happen in Colorado Springs, where the high elevation and swirling winds cause some crazy baseball. I’d have to go back into my old scorebooks to confirm, but it seems like the Rainiers have a game get away like this once every season in The Springs. Last night was that night.

Still, Tacoma is 4-3 at Security Service Field this season, and tonight is the Rainiers final game of the year in this ballpark. Tacoma still has eight head-to-head match-ups with the Sky Sox at Cheney Stadium.

Tonight’s game is at 6:05 (Pacific), and the broadcast is on South Sound Sports 850 AM, streaming online, or via the TuneIn app for iPads and smart phones. Tacoma starts RHP Brian Sweeney (7-2, 3.81) against Sky Sox ace LHP Drew Pomeranz (7-1, 4.35).

Links:

• We start with the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune, which details last night’s tough loss.
• The Mariners loss in Anaheim last night was just as tough as the Tacoma loss.
• Taijuan Walker was dealing at Double-A Jackson last night. He struck out 12 and walked zero, and has now issued just 12 walks in his last 54.2 innings. I have to think we’ll be seeing him soon.
• Walker ranked No. 1 on this week’s edition of the Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet.
• In the PCL, Barry Enright pitched well and the Salt Lake Bees kept winning. More impressively, the Bees are bringing in Kobayashi to eat a lot of hot dogs.
• Fresno defeated Reno with a late comeback, 4-1. The paper has a story on Brett Butler being named manager of the PCL All-Stars.
• Tucson added outfielder Ben Francisco, but still lost to Ike Davis and the Las Vegas 51s last night. Ike hit his first two PCL home runs.
• Albuquerque has a reliever throwing 101 miles per hour, and the red-hot Isotopes won in Omaha last night.
• Oklahoma City ace Jarred Cosart tossed a gem and beat New Orleans, 4-1.
• The Iowa Cubs moved into first place with a 6-4 win over Nashville.
• The new team in El Paso is going to have a terrible name.