Rainiers In Danger Of Being Swept

It has not been a good trip to Salt Lake City for the Tacoma Rainiers, who are in danger of being swept in a four-game series.

All three games here have been winnable, especially the last two. Tacoma showed a lot of fight last night after giving up seven runs in the bottom of the second inning, eventually coming back to take a 9-7 lead in the seventh. But Salt Lake rallied late and managed to find shutdown relief in the final two innings, winning 11-9.

At least the offense was clicking last night. Taylor Motter continued to hit, going 4-for-5 with a homer and two doubles. Gordon Beckham hit a pair of doubles and drove in four runs. And Dan Vogelbach continued his strong second half, with two hits and two runs scored.

Hopefully the team can put it all together tonight and get out of town with a win.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: Salt Lake rallied to score four runs in the bottom of the seventh, winning a back-and-forth game 11-9. Tacoma fell behind 7-2 in the second inning, came back to take a 9-7 lead at the stretch, only to lose it in the end.

Roster Moves: Yesterday Tacoma did not have a roster move, ending a stretch of 13 consecutive days with at least one transaction.

Today: Tacoma (61-64) at Salt Lake (64-61), 5:35 Pacific.

Opponent Affiliation: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Season Series: Salt Lake leads, 7-4.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Christian Bergman (8-3, 4.88) at RHP Daniel Wright (6-8, 7.25).

Hot Rainiers: Shawn O’Malley has a nine-game hitting streak… Taylor Motter has gone 11-for-16 with two homers and six RBI over his last four games… Dan Vogelbach has hit .333 with six homers and a .970 OPS since the all-star break.

Look Out For: Michael Hermosillo saw his 11-game hitting streak come to an end last night… ex-Rainiers outfielder Ramon Flores has a seven-game hitting streak… Shane Robinson is batting .486 (35-for-72) with runners in scoring position.

Broadcast: The pregame show starts at 5:20 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:

• The Salt Lake Tribune has a recap of the Rainiers game.
• The Mariners open a “season defining” 12-game road trip tonight in Tampa, Ryan Divish writes.
• Bob Dutton took a deep dive into the AL Wild Card race.
• Tim Booth checks in on the Mariners Amanda Hopkins, who is the only female scout in professional baseball.
• This week’s edition of Baseball America’s Prospect Hot Sheet includes two pitchers traded away by the Mariners.

PCL Game Reports:

• Reno lost to Sacramento, 7-4, yet remains in first place in the Pac-North.
• Las Vegas had a bullpen day in Fresno, and five relievers combined to pitch a six-hit shutout against the Grizzlies.
• Albuquerque took down El Paso, 5-2, as Ryan Carpenter pitched well.
• Down 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth, New Orleans scored three runs and beat Round Rock, 3-2. Eury Perez had the game-winning hit.
• The game of the night was the first game of the doubleheader in Des Moines between Colorado Springs and Iowa. Sky Sox starter Angel Ventura had a perfect game through six innings, but it was 0-0 going to the bottom of the seventh, and Iowa’s John Andreoli led off the inning with a walk-off homer to end the perfecto, the shutout, and the game. Iowa pitched two shutouts and swept the doubleheader.
• Oklahoma City edged Omaha, 4-3, and pulled within six games of first place Colorado Springs in the American-North.
• Franklin Barreto had a huge game as Nashville won in Memphis, 11-8.

The Rainiers play their final weekend home games of the season Saturday and Sunday. See you at the park!