Singles Night In Albuquerque

The current road trip through Reno and now Albuquerque features seven straight games in great hitter’s parks, and the Tacoma Rainiers had a field day on Thursday night.

Tacoma had a season-high 22 hits* (including 20 singles) in a 12-3 win at Albuquerque. Three different players: Shawn O’Malley, Zach Shank, and Steve Baron – had four-hit games.

Shank and Baron are recent call-ups from Double-A Jackson, and they were hitting in the No. 8 and No. 9 spots in the lineup. Shank had his first four Triple-A hits, while Baron moved his Tacoma batting average from .190 to .320.

Tacoma is 3-1 on the current road trip, and is 14-6 over the last twenty games. The Rainiers are just two games under .500 for the first time since early May.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: Tacoma had a season-high 22 hits – twenty of which were singles – and blasted Albuquerque on Thursday night, 12-3. Overlooked in all of that offense was a solid start by Sam Gaviglio, who tossed six scoreless innings.

Today: Tacoma (33-35) at Albuquerque (30-38), 6:05 (Pacific).

Opponent Affiliation: Colorado Rockies.

Season Series: Albuquerque leads, 7-6.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Forrest Snow (4-4, 2.43) at LHP Yohan Flande (2-2, 6.41)

Roster Moves: Today the Rainiers are (finally) expected to add outfielder Justin Ruggiano to the roster. He was designated for assignment on June 4, and outrighted to Tacoma June 13, but somewhere along the line he picked up an injury and has not been with the team. Apparently he’s now able to play and is reporting today.

Hot Rainiers: Franklin Gutierrez had the day off yesterday, so his hitting streak is still 20 games. He’s 30-for-81 during the streak, which is a .370 batting average. Shawn O’Malley is on a tear, too: he’s 17-for-36 over an eight-game hitting streak, and he’s batting .388 in the month of June.

Look Out For: Drew Stubbs might be warming up – he has a six game hitting streak, going 7-for-24 with just four K’s (that’s what he’s trying to work on, cutting down strikeouts).

Broadcast: The pregame show starts at 5:50 (Pacific) on South Sound Sports 850 AM. The broadcast also streams online via the TuneIn app – just click here.

PCL Scoreboard: Follow all Pacific Coast League games in real-time with links to Gameday screens right here.

Links:

• The Rainiers game story has reaction from manager Pat Listach after the big win.
• Playing without Kyle Seager and Robinson Cano, the Mariners were shut out by the Giants last night. Now Seattle starts a big three-game series with first place Houston.
• Bob Dutton’s Mariners Notebook looks at the infield situation.
• Mariners reliever Charlie Furbush is having an excellent season.
• The Everett Aqua Sox had their home opener last night and defeated Eugene, 6-1. Luiz Gohara pitched very well for the Aqua Sox.
• Double-A Jackson starter Edwin Diaz makes an appearance on this week’s edition of the Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet.
• In the PCL, it’s been a whirlwind for new El Paso manager Jamie Quirk. His Chihuahuas walked off Salt Lake on Jedd Gyrko‘s game-winning hit last night.
• The Rainiers can’t gain ground on Fresno, which beat Las Vegas 11-4 last night (ending the 51s seven-game win streak). Fresno is 12-4 in June.
• Reno had a 6-4 come-from-behind victory at Sacramento.
• Albuquerque reliever Rex Brothers once pitched an immaculate inning in the majors.
• Oklahoma City walked off Memphis, 6-5, on Scott Schebler‘s home run. The paper has a story on pricey Cuban import Hector Olivera.
• Dusty Coleman led Omaha to a 4-3 win at Nashville.
• Iowa received a strong start from Carlos Pimentel and beat Round Rock, 7-2.
• New Orleans used a big inning to beat Colorado Springs, 9-2. Sky Sox position players don’t mind pitching in blowouts.

After all of the singles last night, I’m expecting to see some homers tonight.

* early reports had the Rainiers hit total at 21. After the game ended there was a scoring change on a play in the sixth inning, and Shawn O’Malley was credited with a single increasing Tacoma’s total to 22 hits.