Defense Costs Rainiers In 14-6 Loss

The Rainiers struggles took a new turn on Friday night in Las Vegas, with errors costing Tacoma a game.

Rainiers infielders made four errors in the first two innings, leading to 11 Las Vegas runs, and an eventual 14-6 Rainiers loss.

Starting pitcher Joe Wieland should have escaped the first inning without allowing any runs, but misplays by Ed Lucas and Chris Taylor led to four unearned runs.

Playing second base, Taylor made two more miscues during Las Vegas’s seven-run second inning. It was a very out-of-character night for Taylor, who committed three errors in a game for the first time in his professional career.

Tacoma has now lost seven of the last eight games – yet still sits in first place in the Northern Division standings.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: Defensive problems hurt the Rainiers early in a 14-6 loss in Las Vegas. Mike Baxter had a big game at the plate, going 4-for-5, and Stefen Romero hit a two-run homer.

Today: Tacoma (11-10) at Las Vegas (10-10), 7:05.

Opponent Affiliation: New York Mets.

Season Series: Las Vegas leads, 2-0.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Cody Martin (3-1, 7.58) at RHP Seth Lugo (1-2, 10.66).

Hot Rainiers: Stefen Romero has a 13-game hitting streak… Mike Baxter had four hits; he’s 5-for-7 in the Las Vegas series.

Look Out For: Matt Reynolds has the longest hitting streak for Las Vegas at nine games… Marc Krauss, Gavin Cecchini, and Brandon Nimmo have been tough outs for Tacoma the last two days.

Ex-Rainiers Alert: Former Rainiers infielder Ty Kelly is playing a lot of outfield for Las Vegas, and he’s been getting on base all of the time, as usual.

Broadcast: The pregame show starts at 6:50 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:

• We start with the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune.
• The Mariners pulled off a miracle win, beating Kansas City 1-0 in a game in which they had just one hit. Felix finally got one of these to go his way!
• Bob Dutton’s Mariners Notebook leads off with updates on the team’s injured relief pitchers.
• The recent dust-up between Chris Taylor and Chico the Chihuahua is cited in this story on player-vs-mascot incidents in sports.

PCL Game Reports:

• Salt Lake won a ten-inning thriller against Sacramento, 6-5. Salt Lake is 10-0 against Sacramento this season!
• Fresno left 15 runners on base and lost in the ninth inning to El Paso, 6-5.
• Albuquerque at Reno was rained out, they are hoping to play two today.
• Eric Surkamp pitched Nashville to a 3-2 win at Round Rock. Surkamp struck out ten in seven innings.
• While they weren’t on display in last night’s 1-0 win over Colorado Springs, the Iowa Cubs have some impressive young hitters.
• New Orleans starter Paul Clemens combined with two relievers on a three-hit shutout of Memphis.
• A pair of bases loaded walks in the 12th inning doomed Omaha in a 5-3 loss to Oklahoma City.

We had overnight rain in Las Vegas and today’s forecast is somewhat dreary. Hopefully we can get this one in.

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Rainiers Can’t Escape Rain

Tacoma had its second rain-shortened loss of the week on Thursday night, dropping a four-and-a-half inning game to Las Vegas, 8-1.

Yes, we had a rain-shortened game in Las Vegas.

The 51s do not have an infield tarp at Cashman Field, so once the rain starts it has to stop quickly or the field becomes unplayable.

Last night the final inning was played in a steady downpour and it was clear that the infield was not safe – even after the rain stopped and the grounds crew spent some time trying to dry it.

That’s two rain-shortened losses for Tacoma this week: there was a 10-5 loss to Sacramento on Sunday which was called in the sixth inning due to rain.

The bigger problem remains: Tacoma is not playing well right now. The Rainiers have lost six of the last seven games, and the team’s fast start is a fading memory. Starting pitching, hitting, and defense are all to blame right now. The bullpen has been outstanding since day one.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: Donn Roach‘s homecoming did not go well, as Las Vegas hung eight runs on the board over the first three innings and beat the Rainiers, 8-1, in a five-inning game shortened by rain.

Today: Tacoma (11-9) at Las Vegas (9-10), 7:05.

Opponent Affiliation: New York Mets.

Season Series: Las Vegas leads, 1-0.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Joe Wieland (1-2, 15.00) at RHP Rafael Montero (0-0, 3.00).

Rather than fill this space with depressing stats, let’s just say that Wieland could really, really use a strong start tonight.

Hot Rainiers: Chris Taylor has reached base in 19 straight games… Stefen Romero has a 12-game hitting streak (he went 0-for-0 with two walks last night, which does not end a hitting streak)…Mike Zunino had his second hitless game of the season last night; he’s hit safely in 16 of 18 games overall.

Look Out For: Matt Reynolds has the longest hitting streak for Las Vegas at eight games, but TJ Rivera has been on a mini-tear: he’s 9-for-16 over his last four games.

Ex-Rainiers Alert: Former Rainiers infielder Ty Kelly is playing a lot of outfield for Las Vegas, and he’s been getting on base all of the time, as usual. Kelly has reached via hit or walk in 13 consecutive games.

Broadcast: The pregame show starts at 6:50 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:

• We start with the Rainiers game story. The story from the Las Vegas newspaper blames El Nino – which is not a hotshot young shortstop, it’s a weather condition.
• The Mariners were off yesterday, and both papers ran a story on the suddenly hot Ketel Marte. Pick your poison (or take a double dose): the Seattle Times or The News Tribune.
• Jeff Sullivan wrote about Taijuan Walker.
• No Mariners appear on this week’s Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet, but hey… we always link to it, anyway.

PCL Game Reports:

• There was a PCL classic in Salt Lake City, where the Bees edged Sacramento last night, 14-13. Thirty-eight hits, with 13 players getting multiple knocks. A box score to enjoy.
• A.J. Reed homered and Asher W. pitched a gem in Fresno’s 4-2 win over El Paso.
• After ten innings of a 1-1 tie in Reno, Albuquerque scored a run in the top of the 11th… only to give up two in the bottom of the inning and lose, 3-2. Mike Freeman had the game-winning hit.
• Iowa Cubs catcher Willson Contreras did not get the call he was hoping for – but he did draw four walks in the I-Cubs 10-5 win over Colorado Springs.
• Max Muncy‘s three-run homer spurred Nashville to a 7-3 win at Round Rock.
• Omaha knocked around Oklahoma City ace Zach Lee in a 10-2 win. Jorge Bonifacio had a huge game at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBI, boosting his average to .346.
• Xavier Scruggs drove home the winning run in the bottom of the tenth inning as New Orleans beat Memphis, 2-1.

Two things I’m rooting for tonight, in order of priority: 1) a Rainiers win, and 2) no rain.

Mariners, Rainiers Ownership Ties Strengthen

The Mariners made some surprising news on Wednesday, announcing a sale of the team.

Longtime majority owner Nintendo of America sold its majority stake of the franchise to the previous minority owners, who are part of an ownership group called First Avenue Entertainment.

First Avenue Entertainment is headed by John Stanton, who becomes the Chairman and CEO. Howard Lincoln will retire from this role when the ownership transfer gets approved by Major League Baseball, most likely in August.

Stanton is already a part-owner of the Tacoma Rainiers. He and Rainiers principal owner Mikal Thomsen have been business partners for decades.

This deal is good for baseball in Tacoma. It strengthens the link between the Rainiers and the Mariners, which was already very secure. We certainly don’t need to worry about the Mariners switching their affiliation to Reno or anything like that.

Congratulations to Stanton and his group, and may the Mariners flourish under their ownership.

—

The entire PCL was off on Wednesday. We’re back in action tonight live from Las Vegas.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: Prior to Wednesday’s day off, Tacoma suffered a tough 1-0 loss to visiting Sacramento at Cheney Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. Ramiro Pena‘s solo homer in the top of the ninth inning was the only run of a game in which Tacoma mustered just five hits. Adrian Sampson had a terrific start, delivering 6.1 shutout innings of two-hit ball, with one walk and six strikeouts.

Today: Tacoma (11-8) at Las Vegas (8-10), 7:05.

Opponent Affiliation: New York Mets.

Season Series: 0-0. Tacoma and Las Vegas will play 16 games this season.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Donn Roach (1-1, 8.59) at LHP Sean Gilmartin (1-1, 1.62).

Roach is from Las Vegas; this is a hometown start for him. He knows all of the recent Las Vegas baseball royalty including Bryce Harper and his family, and Kris Bryant.

Hot Rainiers: Chris Taylor has reached base in 18 straight games… Stefen Romero has a 12-game hitting streak… Mike Zunino has a six-game hitting streak, and he’s hit safely in 16 of 17 games overall.

Look Out For: Matt Reynolds has the longest hitting streak for Las Vegas at seven games, but TJ Rivera has been on a mini-tear: he’s 8-for-13 over his last three games.

Ex-Rainiers Alert: Former Rainiers infielder Ty Kelly is playing a lot of outfield for Las Vegas, and he’s been getting on base all of the time, as usual. Kelly has reached via hit or walk in 12 consecutive games.

Broadcast: The pregame show starts at 6:50 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:

• Here’s the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune – this is Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to Sacramento.
• Your Rainiers-related must-read is Larry Stone’s column on Mike Zunino and what he is working on in Tacoma.
• The Las Vegas paper has an article on Donn Roach, who starts for Tacoma tonight in his hometown.
• We have news stories on the Mariners ownership transfer, from the Seattle Times and the TNT.
• Howard Lincoln‘s long stint as the Mariners CEO is winding down. Larry Stone summarized the Howard Lincoln era in three easy points.
• John Stanton has loved baseball for decades, we learn in this profile. Hopefully he has a sense of humor, because John McGrath wrote that Stanton looks a little bit like Donald Trump.
• Geoff Baker looks at how the ownership deal went down, and the history of Mariners ownership.
• Mariners on-field reports: The Mariners kicked the Astros on Tuesday night, 11-1, with Robinson Cano launching a grand salami… but the team missed out on an opportunity to sweep the Astros, dropping Wednesday’s meeting when Jose Altuve had a huge game.
• Bob Dutton’s Mariners Notebook looks at some of the team’s hitting stats.
• The most successful manager in the PCL is awaiting another shot at managing in the majors.
• Congratulations to Sky Sox broadcaster Dan Karcher, who will be inducted into the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame.

Baseball tonight! We’re back at it.

Rainiers Back On Track, Smith OK

Tacoma ended its four-game losing streak with a 7-1 win over Sacramento on Monday night. James Paxton pitched very well, as did the bullpen, and the Rainiers had some timely hitting.

There was a scary moment in the fourth inning, right after Shawn O’Malley pulled a two-run homer to give Tacoma a 4-1 lead.

The very next pitch from Austin Fleet to Tyler Smith came up and in, and it hit Smith in the batting helmet. It’s always scary when a player gets hit in the head, and this was no exception. Trainers tended to Smith and he eventually walked off the field on his own power.

It turns out that the pitch struck Smith’s helmet, and then hit him in the nose. It opened up a cut on his nose, which is what was bleeding. He had no concussion symptoms, thank goodness.

After the game, manager Pat Listach said Smith told him he wants to play in today’s game. Pat isn’t going to put him in there, but it’s definitely good news that he wants to play immediately.

The weirdest thing was that after Smith came off the field, the umpires ruled that the pitch hit his bat before hitting Smith, so it was a foul ball. Confusion ensued. Video replay showed that this was the wrong ruling, but we don’t have replay review in the PCL so the call stood: foul ball.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: James Paxton tossed 5.1 walk-free innings, striking out eight, and Tacoma beat Sacramento 7-1. Shawn O’Malley hit a two-run homer, Mike Baxter hit a two-run triple, and Mike Zunino singled home another run. Steve Johnson was particularly strong in relief, working 2.1 scoreless innings.

Roster Move: Before yesterday’s game, Mayckol Guaipe was recalled by Seattle. The Rainiers added pitcher Jordan Pries from Double-A Jackson. Pries was in Tacoma’s starting rotation the last two years, but after being slowed last season by two different injuries, the M’s are easing him back in a long relief role for now.

Today: Sacramento (7-12) at Tacoma (11-7), 11:35 AM.

Opponent Affiliation: San Francisco Giants.

Season Series: Sacramento leads, 2-1.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Albert Suarez (0-2, 3.46) at RHP Adrian Sampson (2-1, 4.24).

Hot Rainiers: Chris Taylor went 0-for-3 with a walk, ending his career-best 14-game hitting streak. He’s reached base in 17 straight games. He went 23-for-57 during the hitting streak… Stefen Romero has an 11-game hitting streak… here comes Mike Baxter: he had two hits yesterday and has a five-game hit streak.

Look Out For: Mac Williamson had that seven-RBI game on Sunday, but the Rainiers held him in check on Monday. Still, he’s a tough out.

Ex-Rainiers Alert: Sacramento has former Rainiers Miguel Olivo and Darren Ford on the team. Yes, that Miguel Olivo. He’s 38-years-old and has already hit two homers this year. Pitching coach Dwight Bernard had the same job for Tacoma for seven years.

Broadcast: The pregame show starts at 11:20 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:

• Todd Milles inked the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune.
• The Mariners beat the Astros, 3-2, and moved into first place in the AL West. Taijuan Walker struck out 11 over seven terrific innings.
• Bob Dutton’s Mariners Notebook is full of good tidbits today.

PCL Game Reports:

• Las Vegas ended Albuquerque’s seven-game win streak, and it took a Johnny Monnell homer in the tenth inning to do it.
• Fresno’s six-run second inning was enough to beat Reno, 7-4. Peter O’Brien hit two homers for the Aces.
• James Loney and Ryan Schimpf homered for El Paso in an 8-5 win at Salt Lake. Something about the headline to this story make me laugh: Salt Lake was “overpowered by Chihuahuas.”
• Ryan Kalish is happy to be back with the Iowa Cubs, who blasted Oklahoma City 13-6.
• Catcher Tony Cruz homered twice in Omaha’s 9-4 win over visiting Colorado Springs.
• New Orleans topped Nashville in the tenth inning, 4-3, on Destin Hood‘s sixth homer of the year.
• Young slugger Joey Gallo homered in the first and 12th innings of Round Rock’s 6-5 win at Memphis. Gallo – who my uncle nicknamed Joey Wino; I won’t be using that on the air – has tied Mike Zunino for the PCL home run lead with seven.

Tuesday is the last game of the brief homestand. We’re off on Wednesday and there will be no new blog post. Next update will be early Thursday afternoon, prior to the first game of the Las Vegas series.

Rainiers Hit By Mac Truck

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: Sacramento scored three runs in each of the first three innings, and beat Tacoma in a rain-shortened game, 10-5. Only five-and-a-half innings were completed, but that’s enough for an official game. Mac Williamson went 3-for-3 with seven RBI, making you wonder what he would’ve finished with if the game had gone nine innings. Tacoma has lost four straight games.

Roster Move: After an incredible 17 straight games with the opening day roster still intact, the Rainiers are going to have their first roster move today. Gotta wait for the Mariners to announce it.

Today: Sacramento (7-11) at Tacoma (10-7), 6:05.

Opponent Affiliation: San Francisco Giants.

Season Series: Sacramento leads, 2-0.

Starting Pitchers: LHP Matt Lujan (0-2, 4.85) at LHP James Paxton (1-2, 5.84).

Hot Rainiers: Chris Taylor has a career-best 14-game hitting streak, and he’s reached base in 16 straight games. He’s 23-for-57 during the hitting streak… Stefen Romero has a ten-game hitting streak… Tacoma’s dual closers Blake Parker and Mayckol Guaipe are a combined 7-for-7 in save opportunities.

Look Out For: Ryan Lollis never makes outs against Tacoma. He hit .409 against Tacoma last year, and he’s 4-for-6 with five runs scored in the first two games of this series… power prospect Mac Williamson has gone 11-for-20 with two homers over his last five games, and he’s 5-for-6 with eight RBI in this series.

Ex-Rainiers Alert: Sacramento has former Rainiers Miguel Olivo and Darren Ford on the team. Yes, that Miguel Olivo. He’s 37-years-old and has already hit two homers this year. Pitching coach Dwight Bernard had the same job for Tacoma for seven years.

Broadcast: The pregame show starts at 5:50 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:

• We start with the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune.
• The Mariners closed out a terrific road trip with a 9-4 win over the Angels on Sunday. they went 6-3 on the nine-game trip. Now let’s see if they can start winning some home games.
• Bob Dutton’s Mariners Notebook tells us how Seth Smith is beating the shift.
• The fellas at SB Nation have created a random minor league team name generator. It’s fun for the whole family!

PCL Game Reports:

• Albuquerque is the hottest team in the league. The Isotopes won their seventh in a row yesterday, beating Las Vegas in the ninth inning.
• Kyle Drabek delivered six shutout innings and Reno pounded Fresno, 12-7.
• El Paso and Salt Lake split a doubleheader. Hunter Renfroe homered in both games and won the PCL Player of the Week award.
• New Orleans picked up a 4-3 win at Nashville.
• Omaha withstood a rain delay and extra innings to beat Colorado Springs, 6-5 in ten. Rey Fuentes had the game-winning hit.
• Carlos Peguero‘s three-run homer in the eighth inning gave Memphis a 6-4 win over Round Rock.
• Oklahoma City banged out 14 hits in a 13-5 win at Iowa.

River Cats Enjoy Rain, Top Rainiers

Sacramento used a six-run second inning to take command, eventually beating Tacoma in the series opener at Cheney Stadium on Saturday evening. 8-4 was the final.

The game was delayed for 42 minutes with two outs in the top of the fifth inning, while Sacramento held a 7-2 lead. It was our first rain delay of the season (there’s been one rainout, but that one was called early before the scheduled start time).

Tacoma is in its first skid of the season, having lost three straight games to fall to 10-6 overall. Starting pitcher Joe Wieland had a rough outing and was knocked out in the second – and taking a line drive off his lower back in the first inning certainly didn’t help.

On the positive side, the Rainiers probably won’t have to see Chris Heston again this series. A 12-game winner who pitched a no-hitter during his rookie campaign with the Giants last year, Heston is stuck in Triple-A waiting for a rotation opening in SF. He pitched four innings in long relief last night, and is likely down for the remainder of the series.

Tacoma could use a win on Sunday. Scheduled starter Cody Martin is 3-0 so far – can he be the stopper?

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: A six-run second inning sealed the deal for Sacramento, which beat Tacoma 8-4 in the series opener. All six runs in the inning scored with two outs.

Today: Sacramento (6-11) at Tacoma (10-6), 1:35.

Opponent Affiliation: San Francisco Giants.

Season Series: Sacramento leads, 1-0.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Chris Stratton (1-2, 7.16) at RHP Cody Martin (3-0, 3.78).

Hot Rainiers: Chris Taylor has a career-best 13-game hitting streak, and he’s reached base in 15 straight games. He’s 21-for-54 during the hitting streak… Stefen Romero has multiple hits in eight of the 14 games he has played in, and he has a nine-game hitting streak… Tacoma’s dual closers Blake Parker and Mayckol Guaipe are a combined 7-for-7 in save opportunities.

Look Out For: Ryan Lollis never makes outs against Tacoma. He hit .409 against Tacoma last year, and last night he went 3-for-4… power prospect Mac Williamson has gone 8-for-17 with two homers over his last four games.

Ex-Rainiers Alert: Sacramento has former Rainiers Miguel Olivo and Darren Ford on the team. Yes, that Miguel Olivo. He’s 37-years-old and has already hit two homers this year. Pitching coach Dwight Bernard had the same job for Tacoma for seven years.

Broadcast: The pregame show starts at 1:20 on South Sound Sports 850 AM. The broadcast also streams online via the TuneIn app – just click here. It’s a Sunday home game, so Bob Robertson joins me on the air and will call the middle innings.

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

Links:

• The Rainiers game story centers on Joe Wieland and the line drive off his back.
• My Minor League Notebook for the paper looks at (among other things) how James Paxton used video to recover his mechanics.
• Highlight of Saturday: the Mariners low-A Clinton club beat Cedar Rapids in 18 innings, 2-1. Oh, I should mention that it was the first game of a doubleheader. This is a fun post.
• Bob Dutton’s Mariners Notebook includes another fun minor league item, on Class-A Bakersfield starter Andrew Moore.
• Mike Trout vs. Felix Hernandez. We know how that goes. The Mariners three-game win streak came to an end. Felix did become the Mariners all-time franchise strikeout leader, passing Randy Johnson.
• With Shoreline’s Blake Snell debuting for Tampa yesterday, Ryan Divish checked in on major leaguers from Washington. One to add to the list: Port Orchard’s Jason Hammel is 2-0, 1.00 after three starts for the Chicago Cubs.
• John McGrath blesses us with his MLB Power Rankings and the associated one-liners.
• John Sickles has some thoughts on Mariners top pitching prospect Edwin Diaz, who is off to a great start at Double-A Jackson. Diaz is knocking on the door to Tacoma.
• Interesting Triple-A story from Milwaukee, where the Brewers are still bitter about be punted out of Nashville by the Sounds ownership, and are trying to figure out what to do about their affiliation with Colorado Springs.

PCL Game Reports:

• Albuquerque stayed hot, winning its sixth in a row. A wild pitch with the bases loaded brought in the game-winning run in a 5-4 victory at Las Vegas.
• Archie Bradley returned from an erratic spot-start with the Diamondbacks and delivered a strong outing in Reno’s 5-3 win over Fresno.
• El Paso got rained out at Salt Lake. Double-dip today.
• Omaha out-slugged Colorado Springs in Omaha, 11-9. Jorge Bonifacio had a key homer.
• Nashville had just three hits, yet still managed to score four runs, and lost anyway. New Orleans got ’em, 7-4, with Destin Hood having a big game.
• Joey Gallo homered and Round Rock shut out Memphis, 3-0.
• And your game of the day: up from a two-week tour of Double-A Tulsa, former Rainiers reliever Logan Bawcom pitched three scoreless innings for Oklahoma City, and in his first professional at-bat he executed the game-winning squeeze bunt to bring Oklahoma City a 6-4 win over Iowa in 13 innings.

Time for the Rainiers to end this little skid.

Rainiers Home After Road Push

The Rainiers dropped the final game in El Paso on Friday night, 7-5.

Mike Zunino hit his seventh homer – which leads all of Minor League Baseball – but the Rainiers couldn’t maintain an early 3-0 lead.

The loss was disappointing, as Tacoma had a chance to have a winning road trip. Instead it was splits all around, with Tacoma going 4-4 on the trek through Albuquerque and El Paso.

Now a new challenge: the Rainiers face a new team!

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: Tacoma hit into four double plays and lost in El Paso, 7-5. Mike Zunino and Stefen Romero hit homers for Tacoma.

Today: Sacramento (5-11) at Tacoma (10-5), 5:05.

Opponent Affiliation: San Francisco Giants.

Season Series: 0-0. They’ll play 16 games this year.

Starting Pitchers: LHP Ty Blach (1-1, 6.75) at RHP Joe Wieland (1-1, 11.32).

Hot Rainiers: Chris Taylor has a 12-game hitting streak, and he’s reached base in 14 straight games. He’s 20-for-50 during the hitting streak… Stefen Romero has multiple hits in seven of the 13 games he has played in, and he has an eight-game hitting streak… Tacoma’s dual closers Blake Parker and Mayckol Guaipe are a combined 7-for-7 in save opportunities.

Look Out For: The River Cats have had a strange start to the season: they have gone 0-8 against Salt Lake, and 5-3 against Las Vegas… power prospect Mac Williamson homered twice yesterday; he’s already been briefly called up by the Giants… the Rainiers are going to miss the Cats’ best starter, Clayton Blackburn, who pitched into the ninth inning of Friday’s 3-1 win over Vegas.

Ex-Rainiers Alert: Sacramento has former Rainiers Miguel Olivo and Darren Ford on the team. Yes, that Miguel Olivo. He’s 37-years-old and has already hit two homers this year. Pitching coach Dwight Bernard had the same job for Tacoma for seven years.

Broadcast: The pregame show starts at 4:50 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:

• Here’s the Rainiers gamer from The News Tribune, with details on Mike Zunino‘s tape-measure homer and other positive outcomes – and a lot about double plays.
• The Mariners are heating up. They beat the Angels in ten innings and have won three in a row, getting back to .500 at 8-8 for the year.
• Bob Dutton’s Mariners Notebook explains why Felix Hernandez was scratched yesterday, and more. Get better, Felix!

Sorry, that’s all of the links for today. I posted this on Friday night at 12:30 in El Paso. We have a 3:40 AM wake-up call to go to the airport, fly through Phoenix, will hopefully be home by 1:00 PM, and then the early 5:05 game. PCL travel at it’s  finest!

Chihuahuas Blanket Rainiers

In an against-the-odds result on Thursday night, El Paso shut out Tacoma 5-0.

Tacoma managed just five hits and had only two runners reach second base all game.

This was a bit of a stunner, as the Rainiers entered the game leading the PCL in almost every batting statistic, including the most important one: runs scored.

And El Paso was last in the league in team ERA. Go figure.

The Rainiers can still win the series and the road trip – they just need a win in the final game tonight. Otherwise, the entire eight-gamer is a split.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: The baseball gods laughed in our collective faces, as the team with the worst ERA in the league shut out the best offense in the league, 5-0. Four El Paso pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout, and Tacoma never advanced a runner to third base.

Today: Tacoma (10-4) at El Paso (4-9), 6:05 (Pacific).

Opponent Affiliation: San Diego Padres.

Season Series: Tacoma leads, 5-1.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Donn Roach (1-0, 8.38) at RHP Greg Reynolds (0-1, 7.27).

Hot Rainiers: Chris Taylor has an 11-game hitting streak, and he’s reached base in 13 straight games. He’s 19-for-46 during the hitting streak… Efren Navarro saw his nine-game hitting streak come to an end… Stefen Romero has multiple hits in seven of the 12 games he has played in… Tacoma’s dual closers Blake Parker and Mayckol Guaipe are a combined 7-for-7 in save opportunities.

Look Out For: Top prospect Manuel Margot has hit safely in five straight games, going 7-for-22… second baseman Carlos Asuaje is 6-for-13 in this series, with two triples and a double.

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:

• We start with the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune, which includes injury updates on Stefen Romero and Boog Powell. Neither is serious.
• For an update on the Chris Taylor – Chico the Chihuahua feud, let’s go to Bleacher Report the Seattle Times for a compilation.
• Robinson Cano homered in the tenth and the Mariners beat Cleveland on Thursday, 10-7.
• Bob Dutton’s Mariners Notebook reports that Felix Hernandez is working hard to cut down on his walks.
• The Mariners are road warriors, John McGrath writes.
• I was a guest on the Mariners Podcast. Hopefully it sounds OK, we had connection issues.
• A team in the South Atlantic League registered five strikeouts in a half-inning last night. Despite that, it was not a good inning for the pitching team.
• And speaking of awesome minor league accomplishments, MiLB.com re-published an article about the night Modesto stole 15 bases in one game – seven of them by Rickey Henderson.

PCL Reports:

• Big news in the PCL from New Orleans, where the team announced that this is the last year it will be known as the Zephyrs. A new name is coming in 2017. Sadly for them, Chihuahuas is already taken.
• Salt Lake withstood a monster game from Fresno’s Jon Singleton and beat the Grizzlies, 9-6. The Bees jumped the Rainiers and have the league’s best record at 11-4.
• Sacramento’s Gorkys Hernandez ripped a game-winning homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to beat Las Vegas, 3-1.
• Albuquerque broke out its purple jerseys in honor of Prince and then beat Reno, 6-5. Catcher Jackson Williams drove in a couple of runs.
• Nashville got a grand slam from Andrew Lambo and held on for a 9-8 win at Colorado Springs.
• Ex-Rainiers outfielder James Jones was the catalyst as Round Rock rallied to beat Omaha, 3-2.
• A late Dodgers threat came up one run short, and Memphis held on for a 6-5 win at Oklahoma City. Charlie Tilson had three hits for Memphis – he might be one of those St. Louis Cardinals sleeper prospects, who doesn’t get any hype in the minors and ends up being a good major leaguer.
• This doesn’t happen often: Iowa at New Orleans was suspended in the top of the seventh with Iowa leading, 2-1. Why didn’t they call it an Iowa win? It was tied 1-1 after six innings, Iowa scored in the top of the seventh and was still batting when the rain hit. Since New Orleans didn’t get a fair chance in the bottom of the inning, it’s a suspended game and will be completed today.

We’ll be home Saturday, 5:05 first pitch – and finally playing somebody different! I was beginning to think there were only three teams in this league. Sacramento is in town for a four-game series.

Paxton Silences Chihuahuas

James Paxton had a terrific outing on Wednesday in El Paso, pitching six shutout innings in Tacoma’s 3-1 victory.

Paxton was in complete command. He gave up just three hits and didn’t walk anybody.

Not only did he not walk anybody, he only reached three balls on one hitter: Jason Hagerty in the sixth inning. He fell behind 3-1, but still managed to strike him out.

Strike outs were not plentiful. He had only three K’s. He kept getting ahead in the count, and the batters would defend the strike zone and make weak contact with a pop-up or a routine infield grounder. Outs, lots of quick outs.

Paxton was pulled after 72 pitches (48 strikes). He looked like he could go longer, but the organization sees no need to push him deep into games in April.

Tacoma has won the first two games in El Paso, guaranteeing at least a road series split. The Rainiers are 4-2 on this road trip with two games to go.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: James Paxton was terrific, providing six scoreless innings and the Rainiers beat El Paso, 3-1. Chris Taylor was the offensive player of the game, hitting two doubles, driving in a run, scoring another, taking a walk, and stealing a base.

Today: Tacoma (10-3) at El Paso (3-9), 5:35 (Pacific).

Opponent Affiliation: San Diego Padres.

Season Series: Tacoma leads, 5-0.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Adrian Sampson (2-0, 2.25) at RHP Aaron Northcraft (0-0, 0.00).

Sampson has had to good starts for the Rainiers – both wins. Northcraft has made just one appearance this season, a long relief outing in which he went 3.1 shutout innings five days ago.

Hot Rainiers: Chris Taylor has a ten-game hitting streak, and he’s reached base in 12 straight games. He’s 18-for-43 during the hitting streak… Efren Navarro has built an nine-game hitting streak, collecting 17 hits. He has multiple hits in his last five games… Stefen Romero has multiple hits in seven of the 12 games he has played in… Ed Lucas (11 games) and Mike Zunino (ten games) saw their season-opening hitting streaks end yesterday, as each to his first 0-for.

Look Out For: Top prospect Manuel Margot is warming up from a slow start, going 6-for-19 in his last four games. He can really play defense in center… hit-hitting Jemile Weeks got himself called up to San Diego… Austin Hedges had his eight-game hitting streak end last night, but he threw out two-of-three attempted Tacoma base stealers.

Broadcast: The pregame show starts at 5:20 (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:

• A mechanical adjustment helped James Paxton get straightened out, we learn from the Rainiers game story in The News Tribune.
• The Mariners won on Wednesday night in Cleveland despite getting only three hits. Taijuan Walker tossed a gem.
• Bob Dutton’s Mariners Notebook details the impressive Mariners bullpen.
• Mike Montgomery has been a key part of that bullpen, Ryan Divish writes.

PCL Reports:

• Fresno beat Salt Lake last night, 3-2, and now the Rainiers have the best record in the entire PCL. Tony Kemp is off to a fast start for Fresno.
• Shane Carle tossed six scoreless innings and Albuquerque beat Reno, 4-1.
• Las Vegas rolled to a 9-3 win at Sacramento, as former Rainiers infielder Ty Kelly had three hits.
• Ex-Rainier Patrick Kivlehan snapped a 1-1 tie with a seventh inning grand slam, and Round Rock beat Omaha 5-1.
• Memphis starter Jeremy Hefner pitched well and picked up the win near his own home town in Oklahoma City.
• Baseball was actually played in snow-torn Colorado Springs, as Nashville and the Sky Sox split a doubleheader. Top prospect Orlando Arcia hit a walk-off three-run homer in the opening game.
• New Orleans walked-off Iowa, 3-2, on Kenny Wilson‘s RBI double in the bottom of the ninth.

It’s another very nice day here in El Paso. Off to the ballpark!

When Two Is Better Than Six

El Paso scored in six different innings on Tuesday, and the Rainiers scored in two innings.

Tacoma won the game, 11-7.

The Rainiers had a six-run fourth, and a five-run fifth. That was enough to claim a win, and improve the Rainiers record to 9-3.

The big story was that Mike Zunino‘s home run streak came to an end. He homered in five straight games -an amazing run – but did not go deep on Tuesday.

He did, however, contribute in a big way to a Rainiers victory. He hit the two-run single in the top of the fourth that gave Tacoma a 3-2 lead, and he added another RBI single in the fifth inning.

But the most fun part of the game was when Tacoma shortstop Chris Taylor made an error. Forced to rush a throw on a slow roller from quick El Paso outfielder Jose Pirela, Taylor’s throw went wide and smoked Chihuahuas mascot ‘Chico‘ right in the gut. Enjoy the video.

Will @EPChihuahuas mascot "Chico" be the next on the DL? Got hit by a ball in tonight's game. https://t.co/JDQbWJZzA2

— Harry Ruiz (@harryruiz) April 20, 2016

Taylor insists that Chico was flashing him prior to this play, raising his jersey to expose his gross, bare chihuahua belly. Ewwwww.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: Tacoma scored six runs in the fourth inning, with Mike Baxter‘s three-run homer capping the rally, and defeated El Paso 11-6.

Today: Tacoma (9-3) at El Paso (3-8), 10:05 AM (Pacific).

Opponent Affiliation: San Diego Padres.

Season Series: Tacoma leads, 4-0.

Starting Pitchers: LHP James Paxton (0-2,11.37) at RHP Daniel McCutchen (2-0, 7.36).

Paxton has had a lot of trouble with walks in his first two starts of the season, and he hopes to get that taken care of today.

Hot Rainiers: Mike Zunino has a ten-game hitting streak, and he leads the PCL with 18 RBI… Ed Lucas extended his hitting streak to 11 games…Stefen Romero has multiple hits in seven of the 12 games he has played in, but he left yesterday’s game with a stiff back… Efren Navarro has built an eight-game hitting streak, collecting 15 hits… Chris Taylor has a nine-game hitting streak.

Look Out For: The Chihuahuas also have a hot-hitting catcher. Austin Hedges has hit safely in eight straight games, with homers in his last two, and he was 3-for-4 with three RBI Monday… Jemile Weeks is 8-for-18 with two triples in his last four games… top prospect Manuel Margot is warming up from a slow start, going 5-for-15 in his last three games. He can really play defense in center.

Broadcast: The pregame show starts at 9:50 AM (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:

• Mike Zunino talked about the end of his home run streak in the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune.
• Mariners manager Scott Servais talked about Zunino’s hot start. Read about it in Bob Dutton’s Mariners Notebook.
• The Mariners lost the series opener in Cleveland, 3-2. Wade Miley walked in two runs, but the bullpen was terrific and they only allowed three runs in the game. Gotta score some.
• John McGrath has an interesting read, comparing the 2001 Mariners to the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, and Steph Curry to… Carlos Guillen?

PCL Reports:

• Jordan Patterson‘s first Triple-A home run was a grand slam in Albuquerque’s 9-5 win over Reno. That paper has a feature on infielder Chris Nelson, who then went on to make three errors in the game. Whoops!
• Fresno shut out Salt Lake, 3-0, handing the Bees just their third loss of the season. Tommy Shirley and three relievers combined on a six-hitter.
• Holy smokes, Sacramento banged out 21 hits in a 12-1 workover of the Las Vegas 51s. This game was in Sacramento – a tough place to hit.
• Round Rock got shut out for the second straight game, as Luke Farrell and Omaha beat ’em 3-0.
• Oklahoma City beat Memphis 4-0 in a five-inning, rain-shortened game – and Jharel Cotton got credit for a complete game shutout.
• New Orleans scored early and often in a 7-5 win over Iowa. Destin Hood ripped a three-run homer in the first inning.
• The Sky Sox were postponed again, this time with Nashville in town.

OK, after today we are back to normal, night-time baseball for a while.