J.P. and Shed Go To The Show

The Rainiers continued their strong week, beating Reno 10-2 on Thursday night behind an excellent start from Christian Bergman. The team has won six of the last eight games and has a chance to win a four-game series against Reno with a victory tonight.

However, the Rainiers are going to have to do it without two anchors in the lineup.

The Mariners were hit with injuries to the infield last night in New York, with second baseman Dee Gordon getting drilled on the wrist by a pitch, and utility man Dylan Moore also dealing with a hand injury. While they wait for results on Gordon’s check-up, they have already placed Moore on the injured list.

So off to the big leagues go J.P. Crawford and Shed Long.

Crawford’s promotion seemed inevitable for the last two weeks or so, when it became quite clear through just pure consistency that we were watching a major league shortstop every day wearing a Rainiers uniform. It was only a matter of time before he got called up.

Long’s promotion is more injury-related. I think the Mariners would like to see him get more Triple-A time, to improve consistency from at-bat to at-bat while gaining more reps at the new positions he has been playing (third base and left field). However, the Mariners need another infielder right now, and Shed is swinging it well and he is on the 40-man roster, so he gets the call.

Congratulations to both, we hope they do well when their opportunity comes. Crawford is in the starting lineup tonight at Fenway.

Meanwhile in Tacoma, the Rainiers are going for a rare four-game series win against division rival and longtime nemesis Reno, and they are going to have some fresh faces in the lineup. See the Roster Moves tab below for the new names.

RAINIERS DAILY

YESTERDAY: Tacoma starter Christian Bergman had his best day of the season so far, retiring 18 of 19 batters faced during six innings of one-hit ball as the Rainiers walloped Reno, 10-2. Orlando Calixte, Shed Long and Tim Lopes each homered for the Rainiers, while Ian Miller and Kristopher Negron each contributed two-out, two-run singles. Tacoma goes for a series win tonight.

ROSTER MOVES: Suddenly hit with injuries in the infield, the Mariners have called up J.P. Crawford and Shed Long from Tacoma. They placed utility man Dylan Moore on the injured list and optioned reliever Chasen Bradford to Tacoma (just in time for a road trip to see the new ballpark in his hometown). Here in Tacoma: outfielder Eric Young Jr. has been placed on the injured list (thumb), outfielder Johnny Slater has been transferred to Class-A West Virginia so he can play regularly, and today the team is expected to add outfielder/catcher David Sheaffer from Double-A Arkansas, infielder Connor Kopach from Class-A Modesto, and outfielder Billy Cooke from extended spring training.

TODAY: Reno (14-20) at Tacoma (16-19), 7:05.

OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Arizona Diamondbacks.

OPPOSING MANAGER: Chris Cron.

SEASONS SERIES: Tacoma leads, 2-1.

PITCHERS: RHP Taylor Widener (2-2, 9.53) at LHP Tommy Milone (3-2, 3.66)

HOT HITTERS: Ian Miller has a five-game hitting streak, collecting eight hits and scoring eight runs during the streak… Austin Nola has reached base in 11 straight games, and he has hits in 20 of the 26 games he has batted in this season… Tim Lopes has hit safely in his last four games, drawing four walks and scoring five runs during the stretch.

OPPONENT NEWS: Reno just split a high-scoring four-game series at Sacramento… Kevin Cron is tied for the PCL lead in home runs (14) and ranks second in RBI (40); his father is the Reno manager. Cron homered in each of the first two games of this series before taking the third game off.

FAMILIAR FACES: Lots of ’em on this club. Reno has former Rainiers in outfielders Andrew Aplin and Abraham Almonte, pitchers Anthony Vasquez and Marc Rzepczynski, and they have a local guy in Mill Creek native Travis Snider.

BROADCAST: The pregame show starts at 6:50 on South Sound Talk 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:

• More on the call-ups of J.P. Crawford and Shed Long.
• The Mariners lost in New York last night, and Dee Gordon was injured and unhappy.
• The News Tribune has five things we have learned about the Mariners after 40 games.

In the PCL:

• A two-run single by Carter Kieboom was part of a three-run tenth inning as Fresno beat Sacramento, 7-4. Fresno had a grand slam by Yadier Hernandez earlier in the game.
• El Paso continued its winning ways as Jerry Keel made a strong start in a 5-2 win over visiting Albuquerque.
• A rain-shortened game in Las Vegas? It’s true. The Aviators beat Salt Lake, 7-5, in seven innings as Corban Joseph went 3-for-3 with two RBI. Can confirm that the new Las Vegas Ballpark does indeed have a tarp, so it must have been pouring.
• San Antonio edged New Orlans, 5-4, as Mauricio Dubon doubled and homered.
• Iowa and Memphis went to extra innings tied 4-4, and things got wild before Iowa won the game in the 11th, 9-8. The I-Cubs are 9-1 over the last ten games.
• Kyle Tucker‘s two-run homer helped Round Rock pick up an 8-6 win at Omaha.
• Oklahoma City enjoyed a strong start from Rob Zastryzny – seven innings, nine strikeouts – and beat Nashville, 7-3.