O’Neill Hit Cloud-Scraping Homer To Win It For Rainiers

The Rainiers won Thursday night’s game against Las Vegas on a walk-off home run by Tyler O’Neill in the bottom of the ninth inning. The two-run homer gave Tacoma a 7-5 win.

Ahead in the count 3-1, O’Neill hit Hansel Robles‘ pitch high in the sky towards left field. This fly ball was a skyscraper, a true towering fly ball, hit so high in the sky you had to wonder if it was going to get out of the park.

Las Vegas left fielder Josh Rodriguez thought he might have a play on it. He went back to the fence, looked up, found the ball, had time to move about 15 feet to the right, was camped under it again, and then… realized it was a few feet beyond the fence, and nothing could be done.

O’Neill circled the bases, and the celebration was on. Note the expert-level pouring accuracy Dan Vogelbach displays in his emptying of the Gatorade cooler:

I will never get tired of watching Tyler O'Neill jump into a pile of his teammates at home plate pic.twitter.com/cQnbinypBD

— Lookout Landing (@LookoutLanding) June 30, 2017

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: The Las Vegas series wrapped up with another thriller, as the Rainiers lost a 4-1 lead in the top of the eighth, tied the game in the bottom of the eighth, and won it on Tyler O’Neill‘s homer in the ninth. Tacoma took three-of-four from Vegas.

Today: Albuquerque (38-41) at Tacoma (41-37), 7:05.

Opponent Affiliation: Colorado Rockies.

Season Series: Tacoma leads, 4-2.

Starting Pitchers: LHP Harrison Musgrave (3-1, 6.84) at RHP Rob Whalen (0-5, 6.38).

Hot Rainiers: Andrew Aplin has an eight-game hitting streak, and he is 14-for-40 with 11 RBI over his last 15 games… Boog Powell is 17-for-33 with two homers over his last eight games… Dan Vogelbach has a seven-game hitting streak… Leonys Martin is batting .340 in June, and he has been successful in his last 16 stolen base attempts.

Look Out For: Albuquerque was shut out on one hit last night, ending all hitting streaks. All-Star outfielder Noel Cuevas had the hit… infielder Ryan McMahon has been the big story for the Isotopes, batting .429 in 26 games since being promoted from Double-A Hartford. He’s had four games of four-or-more hits, and he had back-to-back two-homer games against Fresno, June 15-16.

Ex-Rainiers and Local Guys: Albuquerque doesn’t have any.

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:

• The News Tribune posted notes on the International League All-Stars who will be playing at Cheney Stadium on July 12.
• The Seattle Times has a fun story on how the Rainiers players are dealing with the never-ending stream of roster moves between Tacoma and Seattle.
• The World Baseball Classic hurt the Mariners, Larry Stone writes.
• Greg Bell has a feature on Mariners pitcher Sam Gaviglio.
• Albuquerque’s Ryan McMahon has the No. 1 spot on this week’s edition of the Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet.
• Lookout Landing has a deep look at the Mariners farm system.

PCL Game Reports:

• Just optioned to Fresno, Joe Musgrove tossed seven innings of one-hit ball as the Grizzlies shut out Albuquerque, 8-0.
• Salt Lake missed out on a sweep of Reno, dropping the final game in ten innings 3-2. Rudy Flores had the game-winning hit.
• Sacramento won a thriller at El Paso, 11-10. Chris Shaw had four hits, two homers, and four RBI for Sacramento.
• Royals ace Danny Duffy made a rehabilitation start for Omaha on the road at Colorado Springs. The Sky Sox won it long after he was gone, scoring seven runs in the eighth inning for an 8-4 win and a five-game series sweep.
• Iowa topped New Orleans, 5-2. The paper has a story on new Iowa reliever and PCL All-Star Matt Carasiti.
• Patrick Wisdom homered twice as Memphis beat Oklahoma City, 8-2. Hopefully later this season when Reno plays Memphis, Wisdom and Socrates (Brito) will sit down and have a long talk.
• Round Rock and Nashville used gimmicky team names last night, and Round Rock won 10-0 behind Clayton Blackburn.

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International League Delivers Prospects To Tacoma

The International League announced its All-Star Team today, and will send several highly ranked prospects to Tacoma to take on the PCL All-Stars on July 12. You can see the entire IL All-Star roster right here.

Charlotte (White Sox) infielder Yoan Moncada leads the way. He is currently ranked the No. 1 prospect in all of minor league baseball by MLB.com. Moncada is listed as the IL’s starting second baseman.

Durham’s Willy Adames is ranked the No. 1 prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays farm system, and he’s set to start at shortstop.

I’m excited to get a look at Lehigh Valley catcher Jorge Alfaro, who has been on the prospect radar since he was 16 years old. He’s one of five Philadelphia Phillies prospects on the team, including bash brothers Rhys Hoskins and Dylan Cozens.

Norfolk catcher Chance Sisco was named the Baltimore Orioles top prospect by Baseball America prior to the season.

Other highly ranked prospects include infielder Ozzie Albies of the Gwinnett Braves, outfielder Dustin Fowler of the Yankees, and Louisville outfielder Jesse Winker.

There are also a pair of ex-Rainiers on the IL team. Pitchers Andrew Kittredge (Durham) and Edgar Olmos (Pawtucket) will make their returns to Cheney Stadium on July 12.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: Tacoma used a pair of fourth inning homers to snap a 2-2 tie and take a 6-2 lead over Las Vegas, and for the first time in the series there was no comeback and the Rainiers cruised to a 7-2 win on Wednesday night. Leonys Martin had three hits with a solo homer, and Boog Powell‘s three-run blast opened up the game.

Today: Las Vegas (30-49) at Tacoma (40-37), 7:05.

Opponent Affiliation: New York Mets.

Season Series: Tacoma leads, 7-3.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Ricky Knapp (3-9, 6.24) at RHP Christian Bergman (5-0, 3.21).

Hot Rainiers: Andrew Aplin has an eight-game hitting streak, and he is 14-for-40 with 11 RBI over his last 14 games… Boog Powell is 15-for-29 with two homers over his last seven games… Steven Baron is 8-for-12 over his last three games. He went 4-for-5 on Friday, and 3-for-4 Tuesday night… Dan Vogelbach has a six-game hitting streak.

Look Out For: Dominic Smith has a 15-game hitting streak, and he has hit safely in 22 of his last 23 with the only hitless game at Tacoma on June 11… Kevin Plawecki has an 11-game hitting streak, with three homers during the streak… after hitting .404 in April and .322 in May, top prospect Amed Rosario is batting just .231 in June.

Ex-Rainiers and Local Guys: Las Vegas doesn’t have any.

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:

• The News Tribune has a story on the Rainiers All-Stars, focusing on reliever Jean Machi.
• Here’s the MiLB.com story on the International League All-Star Team.
• The MLB All-Star Futures Game rosters were announced today as well. Several players are in both the Futures Game on Sunday, July 9 and the Triple-A All-Star Game on Wednesday, July 12. The only Mariners player in the Futures Game is Double-A reliever Thyago Vieira.
• The Mariners lost to the Phillies in the ninth inning yesterday, and have lost four in a row. Three takeaways from the game.
• The Mariners went from breakthrough to breakdown, Matt Calkins writes.
• John McGrath writes that the Mariners are tasting the cruel side of baseball.

PCL Game Reports:

• Just a few hours after Salt Lake’s Troy Scribner was named to the PCL All-Star Team, he delivered a gem in a 5-2 win over Reno. Scribner allowed one run over seven innings, striking out 11 for his league-leading ninth win. This result pulled Tacoma within seven games of first place.
• Fresno made it six straight wins with an 8-5 victory over Albuquerque, and the Grizzlies are tied in second place with Tacoma.
• The River Cats swarmed the Chihuahuas, 11-3, as Chris Shaw had three hits and three RBI.
• New Orleans picked up a 6-4 win at Iowa.
• Colorado Springs continued its hot play with a 4-1 win over Omaha, and the local paper has a feature on All Star first baseman Garrett Cooper.
• Nashville out-slugged Round Rock, 11-9, as All Star Renato Nunez blasted his PCL-leading 21st home run.
• Memphis All Star Luke Weaver tossed six shutout innings in a 7-2 win over Oklahoma City. Weaver is 7-1 with a 1.93 ERA.

 

Vogelbach, Machi Are PCL All-Stars

Tacoma’s Dan Vogelbach and Jean Machi were named Pacific Coast League All-Stars today, and they’ll represent the hometown club in the Triple-A All-Star Game on July 12 at Cheney Stadium.

And while the field has not yet been set, don’t be surprised if Vogelbach also is named a contestant in the Triple-A Home Run Derby on Monday, July 10.

You can see the entire PCL All-Star Team right here. Keep in mind, there will be a few changes: inevitably, a player or two gets called up to the majors between now and July 12.

There are a number of young prospects on the PCL squad who are projected to have long major league careers. Among them are Las Vegas shortstop Amed Rosario, Omaha shortstop Raul Mondesi, Fresno outfielder Derek Fisher, Oklahoma City outfielder Alex Verdugo and second baseman Willie Calhoun, and Memphis catcher Carson Kelly. Touted Memphis pitching prospect Luke Weaver is on the squad as well.

And for one day only, we’ll allow you to cheer for the Reno Aces murderers row of Ildemaro Vargas, Oswaldo Arcia, and Christian Walker. They’re all on the squad – but no Ketel Marte; he got called up by the Diamondbacks today.

We’ll keep you posted on any changes to the roster. The International League announces its all-stars tomorrow.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: Vegas turned the tables on Tacoma, picking up its own comeback win by scoring four runs in the eighth and the game-winner in the ninth. Amed Rosario tripled and scored on Dominic Smith‘s single to bring Las Vegas an 8-7 win.

Today: Las Vegas (30-48) at Tacoma (39-37), 7:05.

Opponent Affiliation: New York Mets.

Season Series: Tacoma leads, 6-3.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Wilfredo Boscan (3-5, 4.58) at RHP Casey Lawrence (0-0, 5.74).

Hot Rainiers: Andrew Aplin is 13-for-36 with 11 RBI over his last 13 games… Boog Powell is 12-for-25 with a homer over his last six games… Steven Baron is 8-for-12 over his last three games. He went 4-for-5 on Friday, and 3-for-4 last night.

Look Out For: Dominic Smith has a 14-game hitting streak, and he has hit safely in 21 of his last 22 with the only hitless game at Tacoma on June 11… Kevin Plawecki has an 11-game hitting streak, with three homers during the streak… Matt Reynolds has homered three times in the last five games… after hitting .404 in April and .322 in May, top prospect Amed Rosario is batting just .230 in June.

Ex-Rainiers and Local Guys: Las Vegas doesn’t have any.

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:

• Tacoma’s Tyler O’Neill is showing signs of improvement at the plate.
• The Mariners are back under .500 again after losing to the lowly Phillies on Tuesday, 8-2. Three takeaways from the game.
• Bad news for the Mariners: Drew Smyly‘s elbow requires “Tommy John’ surgery and he will not pitch this year – and maybe not next year, either.
• John McGrath writes that the Mariners should do everything they can to acquire Japanese star Shohei Otani.
• Larry Stone gives a thumbs up to the new biography of Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus.

PCL Game Reports:

• Salt Lake scored early and often in a 9-3 win over Reno. That keeps Tacoma eight games out of first place.
• Christian Villanueva nearly hit for the cycle in El Paso’s 5-2 win over Sacramento.
• A rehabilitating Charlie Morton helped Fresno knock off Albuquerque last night, 6-3.
• Colorado Springs was very rude to Omaha last night, scoring double-digit runs in both games of a doubleheader sweep. The Sky Sox won 14-6 and 10-2, scoring 24 runs on 28 hits while batting in just 12 innings.
• Iowa’s John Andreoli hit two doubles and a homer in a 7-6 win over New Orleans. Meanwhile it sounds like PCL All-Star catcher Victor Caratini is getting promoted to Chicago.
• Oklahoma City All-Star Willie Calhoun homered in a 3-2 win at Memphis.
• Round Rock’s Travis Snider had the game-winning hit in a 6-4 win at Nashville.

Epic Comeback In Homestand Opener

After it was all said and done last night, I said on the air that I wouldn’t blame anybody for turning off the game when Las Vegas took an 8-0 lead in the top of the sixth inning.

At that point the Rainiers had been outscored 17-1 over the previous 15 innings, manager Pat Listach had been ejected three innings prior, and Las Vegas ace Tyler Pill had tossed five shutout innings. It certainly didn’t feel like a winnable game. The outlook was grim.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Tyler O’Neill continued his recent surge with a solo homer to right-center, making it 8-1. Then Leonys Martin singled to right, and one out later Andrew Aplin homered to make it 8-3 at the end of the sixth inning.

OK, 8-3 is a little better, going to the seventh inning, but it still didn’t feel like a winnable game.

Nick Hagadone pitched a scoreless top of the seventh, and Las Vegas brought in reliever Logan Taylor to pitch the bottom of the inning.

Boog Powell singled with one out, and with two outs Martin lined a change-up over the right field fence for a two-run homer. Suddenly, it was 8-5 and the Rainiers were in striking distance.

Hagadone pitched another scoreless inning in the eighth – he was the unsung hero, going 2.2 shutout innings to enable the comeback.

Taylor helped out the Rainiers in the bottom of the eighth inning, walking Aplin and D.J. Peterson to start the inning. This is when the comeback started to feel real, like it was going to happen. A big comeback always requires a mistake or two by the opposition, and these walks were the mistakes.

Tyler Smith struck out for the first out, and Las Vegas brought in left-hander Alberto Baldonado to face Danny Muno. Muno singled to right center, scoring Aplin to make it 8-6 and putting the tying runners on base.

Tuffy Gosewisch was the next hitter, and Baldonado started him off with two strikes. Gosewisch then pulled the 0-2 pitch down the left field line and into the corner, scoring Peterson and Muno with the tying runs.

Now the Rainiers had to take the lead.

Powell flied out to deep right field, allowing Gosewisch to tag up and advance to third, but there were two outs.

That brought up O’Neill, and he singled to right-center, scoring Gosewisch with the go-ahead run.

Emilio Pagan came in from the bullpen and struck out the side in the top of the ninth, sealing the 9-8 victory.

It was an utterly remarkable comeback. Down 8-0 in the sixth inning, score nine unanswered runs, win it 9-8.

I’m pleased to report that it looked like the majority of the Monday night crowd of 3,125 stuck around for the finish. When Tacoma was trailing 8-0 in the sixth inning, the sun was still shining and it wasn’t even 8:00 yet. It was too early to go home! Then the comeback began, and the fans were there to see it.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: What a comeback! (see above)

Today: Las Vegas (29-48) at Tacoma (39-36), 6:05.

Opponent Affiliation: New York Mets.

Season Series: Tacoma leads, 6-2.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Donovan Hand (1-3, 6.99) at RHP Andrew Moore (3-1, 3.19).

Hot Rainiers: Andrew Aplin is 12-for-31 with ten RBI over his last 12 games… Boog Powell is 10-for-20 with a homer over his last five games… Jonathan Aro had two outstanding relief appearances in Reno, pitching 4.1 shutout innings allowing one hit.

Look Out For: Dominic Smith has a 13-game hitting streak, and he has hit safely in 20 of his last 21 with the only hitless game at Tacoma on June 11… Kevin Plawecki has a ten-game hitting streak, with three homers during the streak… Matt Reynolds has homered three times in the last four games… after hitting .404 in April and .322 in May, top prospect Amed Rosario is batting just .221 in June.

Ex-Rainiers and Local Guys: Las Vegas doesn’t have any.

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:

• The News Tribune has a brief recap of the comeback, with some quotes.
• Here’s the situation with Andrew Moore‘s start tonight. He’ll throw about 70 pitches.
• Christian Caple has a look at new Mariners reliever Max Povse.
• The M’s were off last night, but they have gone 18-10 since May 28. Ryan Divish has details on the team’s surge.
• Matt Caulkins is a believer: the M’s are going to end their playoff drought.

PCL Game Reports:

• Salt Lake helped out the Rainiers by beating Reno in the tenth inning, 6-5, on Nolan Fontana‘s game-ending sacrifice fly.
• Fresno blew a four-run lead in the ninth, then beat Albuquerque in the tenth inning, 7-6. Tyler White had the game-winning hit. Meanwhile it appears the Fresno team is about to be sold, and the prospective new owners have been identified.
• Tyler Beede and Sacramento held El Paso to four hits in a 4-2 win at Southwest University Park.
• Colorado Springs hammered Omaha, 14-3, as Ivan De Jesus Jr. went 5-for-5. Triple-A baseball is leaving the Springs, but right now there is a lot of talent on the field. A columnist for the local paper explains the baseball landscape in Colorado Springs.
• Scott Barlow pitched Oklahoma City to a 3-2 road win at Memphis.
• Nashville’s Renato Nunez hit his league-leading 20th home run in a 5-3 win over Round Rock.
• Pitching should have been the story, but instead it was Kyle Schwarber mania when he reported to the Iowa Cubs last night. Schwarber fanned three times before hitting a single in Iowa’s 1-0 win over New Orleans.

Rainiers Look To Recover From Rough Reno Trip

The Rainiers got blown out on Sunday, 9-1, and ended up losing three of the four games at Reno. Tacoma is now nine games out of first place, and the Rainiers all-time record in that ballpark now stands at 19-49.

But here’s some good news: the Rainiers are home now, and this team has played great baseball at Cheney Stadium. Tacoma is 23-12 at home this year, and an eight-game homestand starts tonight.

Las Vegas comes to town, bringing the second-worst record in the PCL with them. The 51s are 29-47 this year, and have lost seven of their last nine games.

Top prospects Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith are still with Las Vegas, despite New York Mets fans clamoring for a call-up of Rosario. Rosario has tapered off at the plate, batting just .231 in June, but Smith is on an extended hot streak right now.

After the four games with Las Vegas, the Albuquerque Isotopes comes to town for four games culminating with the July 3rd Fireworks Spectacular (or is it an Extravaganza? I can never remember. Either way, it’s awesome).

It’ll be a great homestand and we hope you can make it out to the park.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: Reno coasted to an easy 9-1 win over the Rainiers on Sunday, opening up a nine-game lead in the Pac-North standings. Tacoma had just five hits in the loss, with Andrew Aplin‘s homer being the only run.

Today: Las Vegas (29-47) at Tacoma (38-36), 6:05.

Opponent Affiliation: New York Mets.

Season Series: Tacoma leads, 5-2.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Tyler Pill (4-1, 2.04) at RHP Chase De Jong (3-3, 4.89).

Hot Rainiers: Andrew Aplin is 10-for-28 with eight RBI over his last 11 games… Boog Powell is 8-for-15 with a homer over his last four games… Jonathan Aro had two outstanding relief appearances in Reno, pitching 4.1 shutout innings allowing one hit.

Look Out For: Dominic Smith has a 12-game hitting streak, and he has hit safely in 19 of his last 20 with the only hitless game at Tacoma on June 11… Kevin Plawecki has a nine-game hitting streak, with three homers during the streak… after hitting .404 in April and .322 in May, top prospect Amed Rosario is batting just .231 in June.

Ex-Rainiers and Local Guys: Las Vegas doesn’t have any.

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:

• Reno’s Christian Walker talked to MiLB.com after driving in five runs against the Rainiers yesterday.
• The Mariners lost to Houston on Sunday and dropped two-of-three in the series. Three takeaways from the game.
• John McGrath was at the game and filed this column.

PCL Game Reports:

• Salt Lake starter Daniel Wright held the Las Vegas hitters in check in a 4-3 win on Sunday.
• Albuquerque scored three runs in the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th innings of a 12-5 win over El Paso. Carter Capps was ejected for throwing “illegal pitches.” The paper has a feature on red-hot third baseman Ryan McMahon, who will be here in Tacoma on Friday. We also have some fun facts from the longest game in Isotopes history – the 5 hour, 35 minute games against El Paso on Saturday night.
• Iowa and Round Rock were suspended due to rain in the second inning, so the Austin Statesman sportswriter dug into the day game or night game debate.
• Matt Juengel‘s three-run homer helped the Baby Cakes scribble all over the Sky Sox, 7-1.
• Omaha’s Luke Farrell had a strong start, and Jorge Soler ripped a three-run homer in a 5-3 win over Memphis.
• Oklahoma City completed a four-game sweep of Nashville, 3-1, behind Justin Masterson‘s gem.

Rainiers Look To Split Reno Series Today

Tough loss for the Rainiers last night, when immediately following a game-tying homer the team allowed four runs on just one hit. Walks, a wild pitch, a hit batter, and a three-run homer by Oswaldo Arcia gave Reno the win.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: Immediately after Dan Vogelbach hit a game-tying three-run homer in the top of the eighth inning, Tacoma surrendered four runs in the bottom of the frame and lost in Reno on Saturday night, 9-5. Tacoma needs a win today to split the series.

Today: Tacoma (38-35) at Reno (47-28), 1:05.

Opponent Affiliation: Arizona Diamondbacks.

Season Series: Reno leads, 5-2.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Rob Whalen (0-4, 5.08) at LHP Erik Jokisch (5-3, 5.82).

Hot Rainiers: Andrew Aplin is 9-for-25 with seven RBI over his last ten games… Boog Powell is 8-for-15 with a homer over his last four games… Zach Shank has reached base in 12 straight games.

Look Out For: Jack Reinheimer has a nine-game hitting streak, going 14-for-37 during the streak… Kristopher Negron is 8-for-12 with four triples during a four-game hitting streak… Oswaldo Arcia has homered in back-to-back games.

Ex-Rainiers and Local Guys: Reno has former Rainiers infielder Ketel Marte. Catcher Hank Conger spent much of his youth growing up in Federal Way.

Broadcast: The pregame show starts at 12:50 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 recap from the Reno Aces website.
• The Mariners six-game winning streak ended with a 5-2 loss to Houston on Saturday. Three takeaways from the game.
• Suddenly the Mariners look like playoff contenders, Larry Stone writes.
• John McGrath wonders if the Astros can make a run at the 2001 Mariners record 116 wins.
• Bob Dutton reports that Drew Smyly could be set for some rehabilitation starts in Tacoma toward the end of the upcoming homestand.
• I don’t have time to do all of the PCL links this morning, but do yourself a favor and read the Albuquerque Journal’s recap of last night’s 14-inning, 13-10 El Paso win at Albuquerque. Fireworks at 12:45 AM!
• One more: ex-Rainier Forrest Snow helped pitch Colorado Springs to a 1-0 win at New Orleans. Baby Cakes outfielder Moises Sierra went 4-for-4, and everybody else in the game combined to go 3-for-51. The very first batter of the game, Kyle Wren, homered – and that was it.

 

Rainiers Draw To 21 Hits, Win In Reno

One day after sinking to last place in the PCL in runs scored, the Tacoma Rainiers had the offensive explosion we have been waiting for.

The Rainiers banged out 21 hits, Tyler O’Neill had his biggest game of the season, and Tacoma romped its way to a 13-6 win in Reno on Friday night.

O’Neill’s night was huge: 3-for-6, with two homers, a double, and seven runs batted in.

The just-turned 22-year-old entered last night’s game batting .214 with six homers on the year. He’s been having trouble adjusting to Triple-A pitchers who are able to command their breaking pitches, and use advanced pitch sequencing to get him out.

But O’Neill was having fun on Friday.

Facing veteran major league finesse lefty Aaron Laffey for the second time this month, O’Neill pulled a towering fly-ball for a two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning. It was the second time he has homered off Laffey this season.

O’Neill hit with the bases loaded in the sixth, against Daniel Gibson – a lefty reliever. This time O’Neill did something that has been very rare for him this season: he drove a pitch to the opposite field, lining the ball high off the right field fence for a two-run double that was nearly a grand slam.

In the ninth he came up against right-handed reliever Louis Coleman, who spent the 2016 season in the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen. O’Neill got under a pitch but was still able to pull it out to left field for his second homer of the game. This one, admittedly, was something of a “Reno homer,” a fly ball that carried out in the high elevation and probably would have been caught in a lot of sea level ballparks.

The opposite-field double was the most impressive hit of the three. Hopefully this big game helps O’Neill get going for the second half of the season (which began yesterday for Tacoma).

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: Tacoma pounded a season-high 21 hits, scored seven runs in the sixth inning, and rolled to a 13-6 win in Reno on Friday night. Tyler O’Neill hit two homers and drove in seven runs, while both D.J. Peterson and Steven Baron hit four singles. The series is tied, 1-1.

Roster Moves: Prior to yesterday’s game, the Mariners activated Felix Hernandez from the disabled list and optioned Andrew Moore to Tacoma. Because the M’s have two days off this coming week (everyone in the PCL: “what?”), they don’t need a fifth starter until July 4th.

Today: Tacoma (38-34) at Reno (46-28), 7:05.

Opponent Affiliation: Arizona Diamondbacks.

Season Series: Reno leads, 4-2.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Christian Bergman (5-0, 2.17) at LHP Anthony Banda (6-4, 4.96).

Hot Rainiers: Andrew Aplin is 8-for-24 with seven RBI over his last nine games… Boog Powell is 8-for-13 with a homer over his last three games… Zach Shank has reached base in 11 straight games… Gordon Beckham has hit safely in four straight games.

Look Out For: Jack Reinheimer has an eight-game hitting streak, going 13-for-33 during the streak… Kristopher Negron has tripled in three straight games for Reno, going 6-for-9 with four three-baggers during the unusual streak. He gets out of the box in a hurrry.

Ex-Rainiers and Local Guys: Reno has former Rainiers infielder Ketel Marte. Catcher Hank Conger spent much of his youth growing up in Federal Way.

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.

Triple-A All-Star Game: We’re hosting it at Cheney Stadium on July 12, and fan balloting is live now – go here and vote for who you want to see.

Links:

• Tyler O’Neill spoke with MiLB.com about his big night at the plate.
• The Mariners made it six straight wins, welcoming Felix Hernandez back with plenty of run support in an 13-3 win over Houston. Three takeaways from the game.
• Regardless of how he performed, the mere presence of Felix Hernandez makes the Mariners better, Matt Calkins writes.
• Bob Dutton has an article explaining the option of Andrew Moore to Tacoma right after he recorded his first major league win.
• Mariners first round draft pick Evan White was introduced to the media.
• The broadcast details were announced for the Triple-A All-Star Game. I’ll be doing the national radio broadcast with Pawtucket’s Josh Maurer (as long as he doesn’t get called up to the big leagues before July 12).

PCL Game Reports:

• Salt Lake literally knocked out Las Vegas starter Wilfredo Boscan in the first inning of a 7-1 win at Cashman Field.
• Fresno scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to beat Sacramento, 7-6. Teoscar Hernandez had the game-winning knock.
• Hot-hitting Mike Tauchman had three hits and four RBI in Albuquerque’s 9-5 win over El Paso.
• Round Rock’s fourth homer of the game was a crucial three-run shot by Jared Hoying in an 8-6 win over Iowa. World Series star Kyle Schwarber reports to Iowa on Monday.
• Oklahoma City knocked off Nashville, 4-2, behind the pitching of Trevor Oaks. The paper has a story on our former guy Mike Freeman.
• Omaha’s interesting-but-wild pitching prospect Josh Staumont walked everybody in an 8-4 loss to Memphis.
• Led by Scott Copeland, New Orleans had excellent pitching in a 4-1 win over Colorado Springs.

Rainiers Needs Wins In A Tough Place To Get Them

The Rainiers dropped the opening game of the Reno series on Thursday night, 4-3, and fell eight games behind the division leading Aces.

It was the first of seven games that the Rainiers will play at Greater Nevada Field this season – all within a two-week span. It’s an opportunity for the Rainiers to pick up some ground head-to-head against the first place team. Alternately, it’s an opportunity for Reno to bury the Rainiers in the standings.

Tacoma has not played well historically in Reno, although it’s not as bad as it once was. Reno joined the league in 2009, and over the first four years of the Tacoma-Reno rivalry the Aces went 26-6 against the Rainiers in Reno.

The Rainiers finally started picking up a few wins in Reno in 2013, and even went 4-4 at (then-called) Aces Ballpark in 2014. Tacoma won its first series at Reno in 2015 (the seventh year of the rivalry!), taking two-out-of-three.

Still, Tacoma has never won a four-game series on the road in Reno. The team has an all-time record of 18-47 at Greater Nevada Field/Aces Ballpark.

It’s gotta change eventually, right?

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: True to the Rainiers history when playing Reno on the road, Tacoma took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, only to see Reno score twice off Jean Machi and win it, 4-3. The game ended on an error by – of all people – Leonys Martin, who dropped a fly ball allowing the winning run to score from second base.

Roster Moves: Prior to yesterday’s game, the Mariners released Tacoma shortstop Ryan Jackson, and promoted pitcher Rob Whalen to Tacoma from Double-A Arkansas.

Today: Tacoma (37-34) at Reno (46-27), 7:05.

Opponent Affiliation: Arizona Diamondbacks.

Season Series: Reno leads, 4-1.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Casey Lawrence (0-0, 4.09) at LHP Aaron Laffey (4-0, 3.35).

Hot Rainiers: Andrew Aplin is 8-for-24 with seven RBI over his last nine games… Boog Powell has back-to-back three-hit games, and he homered yesterday… Zach Shank has reached base in ten straight games.

Look Out For: Jack Reinheimer has a seven-game hitting streak, going 12-for-29 during the streak… Ildemaro Vargas is 13-for-24 with two homers and nine RBI against Tacoma pitching this season… Christian Walker has a five-game hitting streak, going 10-for-19.

Ex-Rainiers and Local Guys: Reno has former Rainiers infielder Ketel Marte. Catcher Hank Conger spent much of his youth growing up in Federal Way.

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.

Triple-A All-Star Game: We’re hosting it at Cheney Stadium on July 12, and fan balloting is live now – go here and vote for who you want to see.

Links:

• Here’s the blow-by-blow of the Aces 4-3 win over Tacoma from the team’s PR department.
• Andrew Moore won his MLB debut, and the Mariners beat Detroit 9-6 for their fifth straight victory. Seattle is over .500 for the first time this season. Three takeaways from the game – one of which is the immediate future of Moore, since the M’s don’t need a fifth starter for a couple of weeks.
• The Mariners welcome back Felix Hernandez tonight. It’s not exactly a ‘soft landing’ – he’s facing Houston.
• John McGrath has a column on Felix, Justin Verlander, and aging aces.
• Lookout Landing has a solid State Of The Farm post looking at the M’s system.
• Baseball America’s weekly Prospect Hot Sheet is Marinerless, but here it is anyway.

PCL Game Reports:

• Kaleb Cowart went 6-for-6 and hit for the cycle in Salt Lake’s 16-2 win at Las Vegas. Three of his hits were doubles, and he got the triple in the eighth inning.
• Albuquerque starter Barry Enright tossed seven innings of two-hit ball in an 8-1 win over El Paso. The Isotopes and Colorado Rockies are set to extend their Player Development Contract, even though the current one doesn’t expire until the end of the 2018 season. This could be a sign that there is going to be something of a ‘race’ among MLB teams to not get stuck in the ancient San Antonio ballpark when that city joins the PCL in 2019.
• Sacramento turned a franchise record six double plays in a 9-3 win at Fresno, but don’t go looking for that small piece of news in the online story. You’ll just have to trust me.
• Colorado Springs jumped all over Adam Conley and the New Orleans Baby Cakes, 8-5.
• Will Middlebrooks homered twice in a 4-1 win over Iowa.
• Oklahoma City picked up a pair of wins over Nashville, including a 19-hit attack in a 14-5 game two victory.
• Three Omaha players had three-hit games in an 11-3 win over Memphis.

Rainiers Visit Reno, San Antonio Plans To Move Up

After splitting a four-game home series with Pacific-South division leaders Salt Lake, the Rainiers now head to Reno to face the best team in the PCL.

Reno leads Tacoma by seven games in the Pacific-North, and the two teams have 11 head-to-head games remaining to be played. That starts with the four in Reno this weekend.

Oddly, the Rainiers next two road trips are to Reno: after the four game series which begins tonight, Tacoma comes home for an eight-game homestand, and then flies right back to Reno for a three-game series. So we’ll play all of the Reno road games over the course of the next two weeks.

It’s a big opportunity for the Rainiers to make up some ground in the standings.

—

There was a major announcement in the Pacific Coast League on Wednesday.

Starting in 2019, San Antonio is joining the league and will play at its existing Double-A stadium while the team and city work on a new ballpark plan.

The San Antonio franchise will replace Colorado Springs, which will drop down to short-season rookie ball level in 2019 as a member of the Pioneer League. The Double-A Texas League will add Amarillo as a new city to replace San Antonio.

This has been discussed for a few years, but with no progress on the ballpark in San Antonio I thought it had stalled out. Apparently the leagues decided to make the move now, and worry about the ballpark later.

San Antonio is a huge market which has been discussed for years as a possible Major League Baseball expansion possibility. However, the current stadium there is known to be subpar by Double-A standards. Hopefully the announcement of this move means that the new ballpark process is making progress.

On the other side of the coin, it appears that Tacoma’s trip to Colorado Springs at the end of July will be the last in franchise history. The Rainiers are not scheduled to visit the Springs in 2018.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: The Rainiers were off yesterday. On Tuesday, Tacoma hit 13 singles and edged Salt Lake, 7-6, to earn a split of the four-game series. Boog Powell had three hits and D.J. Peterson drove in three runs.

Roster Moves: The Mariners called up Andrew Moore, who will make his MLB debut tonight, and they also activated Jean Segura from the disabled list. Tyler Smith and Christian Bergman were optioned to Tacoma, and Tyler Cloyd was designated for assignment.

Today: Tacoma (37-33) at Reno (45-27), 7:05.

Opponent Affiliation: Arizona Diamondbacks.

Season Series: Reno leads, 3-1.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Tyler Cloyd (1-0, 1.40) at RHP Braden Shipley (5-3, 4.78).

Cloyd is going to start if he clears waivers before game time. If not, it will be a “bullpen day” likely led by Cody Martin.

Hot Rainiers: Andrew Aplin has six RBI over his last eight games… Tuffy Gosewisch is 10-for-27 with five doubles over his last nine games… Zach Shank has reached base in ten straight games.

Look Out For: Oswaldo Arcia went 0-for-3 on Tuesday, ending a 16-game hitting streak… Jack Reinheimer has a six-game hitting streak, going 11-for-25 during the streak… Ildemaro Vargas is 11-for-20 with two homers and nine RBI against Tacoma pitching this season.

Ex-Rainiers and Local Guys: Reno has former Rainiers infielders Ketel Marte and Carlos Rivero. Catcher Hank Conger spent much of his youth growing up in Federal Way.

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.

Triple-A All-Star Game: We’re hosting it at Cheney Stadium on July 12, and fan balloting is live now – go here and vote for who you want to see.

Links:

• Stories on the franchise shift from Colorado Springs to San Antonio: from MiLB.com, the Colorado Springs Gazette, and the San Antonio Express-News.
• The News Tribune has a report on Jean Segura‘s rehabilitation game for Tacoma on Tuesday.
• The Mariners had a comeback win against Detroit on Wednesday night, winning 7-5 and getting their won-loss record back to .500. Three takeaways from the game.
• It sounds like Hisashi Iwakuma is going to do another rehab start in the minors – somewhere.
• Bob Dutton has a round-up of all of the Mariners roster moves from the last 48 hours, and Ryan Divish focused on the call-up of Andrew Moore.
• Mariners prospect Braden Bishop was the star of the Class-A California League All-Star Game.

The entire PCL was off yesterday.

Rainiers Need Offense To Get Going

The Rainiers close out the four-game home series against Salt Lake tonight, and the team needs to find some offense.

Sure, Hisashi Iwakuma wasn’t very sharp in his rehab start last night – though he wasn’t very lucky, either. He allowed a solo homer in the first inning, but the real trouble started in the second.

Iwakuma walked the leadoff man, allowed an infield single on a weak ground ball, and then walked another batter to load the bases. A bloop single to left brought in two runs, a bunt single re-loaded the bases, then an error on a grounder to third scored another run. All told, three runs scored in the second inning without any hard-hit balls.

Because he threw 32 pitches in the inning, Iwakuma was pulled short of his expected allotment of 70 pitches. As of right now, we’re not sure what the next step is for him. Tacoma will be on the road in Reno this weekend when his next start would come around.

Offensively, things continue to look grim for the Rainiers.

Tacoma has not scored more than three runs in any of the last five games, and have a total of just 12 runs during that time. They were recently held to three runs or fewer in three out of four games in the hitter’s haven of El Paso. That 9-0 win over Las Vegas on June 9 feels like it was a long time ago.

Tacoma needs a win tonight to salvage a split of the series. Hopefully the bats will come alive.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: Hisashi Iwakuma‘s control briefly deserted him in the second inning, and then he got nickle-and-dimed for three cheap hits and three runs in his first rehabilitation start for Tacoma. The Rainiers went on to lose, 6-3.

Today: Salt Lake (39-32) at Tacoma (36-33), 6:05.

Opponent Affiliation: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Season Series: Salt Lake leads, 4-3.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Daniel Wright (2-2, 7.43) at RHP Chase De Jong (2-3, 4.32).

Hot Rainiers: Andrew Aplin has six RBI over his last seven games… Tuffy Gosewisch is 9-for-24 with five doubles over his last eight games… Zach Shank has reached base in ten straight games.

Look Out For: Cesar Puello has hit safely in 11 of his last 13 games… Michael Bourn is a two-time major league all-star and Gold Glove award winner… Jefry Marte snapped a 3-for-34 slump by hitting two solo homers last night.

Ex-Rainiers and Local Guys: Ex-Rainiers and Mariners infielder/outfielder Dustin Ackley is playing for Salt Lake this year. Bees outfielder Ramon Flores was with Tacoma in August of 2015. And the Bees have added ex-Rainiers and Mariners starting pitcher Doug Fister, but he is not scheduled to pitch in this series.

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.

Triple-A All-Star Game: We’re hosting it at Cheney Stadium on July 12, and fan balloting is live now – go here and vote for who you want to see.

Links:

• The News Tribune has a report on the rehabilitating Hisashi Iwakuma and Jean Segura.
• Mike Zunino homered twice and the Mariners beat the Tigers last night, 6-2. Three takeaways from the game.

PCL Game Reports:

• Reno won again, taking down Las Vegas 9-4 as Zach Borenstein drove in five runs. The Aces have 45 wins and we aren’t quite at the halfway point yet!
• Eight of Albuquerque’s 16 hits were doubles in an 11-6 win at Sacramento.
• The Chihuahuas ran all over Fresno, 10-4. Ryan Schimpf is trying to find his swing.
• Omaha won in Iowa, 5-1, and the Des Moines Register predicts that we’ll be seeing Iowa catcher Victor Caratini in the Triple-A All-Star Game on July 12.
• Colorado Springs had a relentless attack in a 9-3 win over Oklahoma City. The Sky Sox opened up a three-game lead over OKC in the American-North, with the series finale today representing a big swing game in the standings.
• Memphis scored three two-out runs in the top of the eighth inning and beat Round Rock, 5-4.
• Wow. New Orleans shut out Nashville in both games of a doubleheader sweep yesterday, 1-0 and 6-0.

The Rainiers are off on Wednesday – and so is the blog. We’ll have a new post for you on Thursday afternoon, from Reno.