Sacramento Win Triple-A National Championship

Sacramento beat Columbus on Tuesday night in Memphis, 4-0, and won the Tripe-A National Championship Game. That marks the official end of the 2019 Minor League Baseball season.

Congrats to Sacramento for winning it all. The Rainiers will have to deal with the defending champs as a division rival next season.

I caught a few innings of the game on FS1 and it looked like there was a pretty good crowd at Autozone Park for the game, which was nice to see. It’s a tough draw, with two teams playing at a neutral site. Next year’s Triple-A National Championship Game will be played in Las Vegas.

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We’ve got some good links today, so check below.

Not sure if we’ll have a post next week, as the major league wild card races get down to the nitty-gritty. Maybe a links round-up as the Mariners season winds down.

Once the major league season ends and the wild card games are played, make sure you check in for my annual Sure To Be Wrong MLB Playoff Predictions, so that you can wager your family fortune on the opposite outcomes. It’s a tradition like no other.

Links:

• Stories from the Triple-A National Championship Game: from the scene in Memphis, the game story from MiLB.com, and a championship season recap from the Sacramento Bee.
• MiLB.com has an article on minor league teams with the longest championship droughts. Not listed: your Tacoma Rainiers, thank goodness.
• For the past week, the Mariners have been giving Shed Long a look in the leadoff spot. For Tacoma this season, Shed batted leadoff in 13 of his 56 games, but he hit just .156 in that lineup position – however, he batted .373 with a .439 OBP when leading off an inning. The No. 1 hitter in the lineup often only leads off an inning one time in a game.
• Kyle Lewis did it again on Wednesday night, making it five homers in eight games.
• Top Mariners prospects Julio Rodriguez and Jarred Kelenic are playing in the Arizona Fall League, which started last night.
• Getting back to the big picture, Larry Stone sat in on general manager Jerry Dipoto‘s “town hall” with Mariners season ticketholders in which he discussed the state of the rebuild.
• The News Tribune takes a look at the progress of shortstop J.P. Crawford, whom the Mariners hope is a key cog in the future.

Sacramento Takes PCL Title

The Sacramento River Cats are your 2019 Pacific Coast League champions. They finished a three-game sweep of the Round Rock Express on Friday night, claiming victory in the best-of-five PCL Championship Series.

Sacramento is the first San Francisco Giants affiliate to win a Triple-A title since 1977, when the Phoenix giants won the league. That’s 42 years between Triple-A championships for the SF Giants.

Up next is the Triple-A National Championship Game, which will be played Tuesday night at Autozone Park in Memphis. Sacramento faces International League champion Columbus (Cleveland Indians) in a one-game final that has the feel of an exhibition game, but does award some modest prize money to the players and is nationally televised on FS1. First pitch Tuesday night will be at 5:05 (Pacific).

Congratulations to the Sacramento River Cats organization.

Links:

• Stories on Sacramento winning the PCL title: the national story from MiLB.com, and the local angle from Round Rock where the River Cats won it.
• For subscribers to The Athletic, there is a great story on Sacramento ending the Giants 42-year Triple-A title drought.
• Reno’s Kevin Cron won the Joe Bauman Award handed out to the player who hits the most home runs in all of domestic minor league baseball.
• Kyle Lewis hit his fourth home run of the week, a key three-run shot as the Mariners scored a comeback win against the White Sox on Sunday afternoon.
• The Mariners celebrated Ichiro this past weekend. He gave a speech to the fans in English, which is impressive, as I don’t believe he has ever done a TV or radio interview in English before.
• Seattle had an African-American Heritage Night the other day, and the Mariners currently have ten black athletes on the roster which is a lot in this era.
• Fangraphs has an elegy for the 2019 Mariners season.

Sacramento Up 2-0 In PCL Finals

The PCL Championship Series resumes tonight with Game Three in Round Rock, and so far it has been all River Cats.

Sacramento has won the first two games of the best-of-five series, and needs just one win this weekend to take the crown. The winner of the series will play International League champion Columbus (Indians) in the Triple-A National Championship Game in Memphis on Tuesday.

Sacramento won in walk-off fashion in the opener on Tuesday, 8-7, as Abiatal Avelino had the game-winning hit. The game featured seven lead changes, indicating a potentially thrilling series.

The second game turned into a pitcher’s game – rare for Triple-A Baseball this year – and Sacramento emerged with a 4-2 win. Veteran Cristhian Adames homered and drove in two runs for the Cats.

You can follow the games this weekend via the PCL Scoreboard page. Tonight’s game is at 5:05 (Pacific).

Links:

• The Sacramento Bee has a column on River Cats manager Dave Brundage as he tries to win the PCL title.
• Nationwide, attendance in Minor League Baseball was up 2.6% over last year. This is a recovery after a rare drop in attendance in 2018. It was the largest single-season increase in over ten years.
• The Mariners announced their organizational minor league award winners. No Rainiers were winners this year.
• Pretty cool moment on Tuesday, when Kyle Lewis homered in the second at-bat of his major league debut. And then… hold the phone… he did it again in his second game! Each of his first two homers broke up a no-hit bid. Now he has homered again in his third game. At this rate he’ll hit No. 500 late in the 2022 season, and break Barry’s record before he turns 30. Justin Dunn‘s debut, however, was a disaster.
• Larry Stone has a column on Kyle Lewis and the home run streak.
• The four players called up from Double-A Arkansas were notified during a team meeting. Ryan Divish has the details.
• The Mariners have set a major league record for most different players used in a single season.
• Jake Fraley is done for the season with an injured thumb. In the story, an explanation why he missed several games prior to the injury.
• Former Rainiers infielder Seth Mejias-Brean recorded his first major league hit. Video.

Sacramento & Round Rock Advance To Championship Series

The 2019 PCL Championship will be won by either Sacramento or Round Rock, as they each survived a tough five-game series in the conference finals to advance to the PCL Championship Series.

Sacramento last won the PCL title in 2008, the last of their four titles in six years when they were an Oakland A’s affiliate. Sacramento is now a San Francisco Giants affiliate, and no Giants affiliate has won a Triple-A championship since the Phoenix Giants won the PCL in 1977. That’s crazy.

Round Rock joined the Triple-A ranks in 2005 and has not yet won a championship at this level, though the city did enjoy a baseball title in 2000 as a member of the Double-A Texas League. Round Rock is a Houston Astros affiliate, and the Astros organization won the PCL and the Triple-A National Championship Game in 2015 when affiliated with Fresno.

The series is best-of-five, and it begins in Sacramento:

• Tuesday – Game One – at Sacramento, 6:35
• Wednesday – Game Two – at Sacramento, 6:35
• Thursday – off for travel
• Friday – Game Three – at Round Rock, 5:05
• Saturday – Game Four (if necessary) – at Round Rock, 5:05
• Sunday – Game Five (if necessary) – at Round Rock, 11:05

You can be directed to all ways of following the games via the PCL Scoreboard landing page on MiLB.com.

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Former Rainiers lefty and one-time Mariners first round draft pick Danny Hultzen reached the majors with the Chicago Cubs on Friday, and pitched a scoreless inning in his big league debut this weekend.

Congratulations to Danny, who overcame years of injury and rehabilitation work to reach the show.

Concerning ex-Rainiers of more recent vintage, we’re keeping an eye on Ian Miller of the Minnesota Twins, who is looking for that first big league hit. He’s played in two games, both coming off the bench, and is 0-for-2.

Links:

• Round Rock won the decisive Game Five on the road to end Iowa’s season. An early three-run homer by Alex de Goti was the key hit.
• Sacramento trailed the series 2-1 and took back-to-back road games at Las Vegas to advance.
• MiLB.com has an article on the PCL playoffs so far.
• The Seattle Times sent Ryan Divish to Arkansas to spend some time with the Mariners prospect-loaded Double-A team.
• Four players are being called up from Arkansas, and Divish has the details on who they are and how they will be used.
• The Mariners keep chugging towards the finish line, but a four-game series in Houston led to a four-game sweep and the worst loss in franchise history yesterday. The M’s open a homestand Tuesday against the Reds and the White Sox – two teams they should be able to get some wins against.

PCL Playoffs Begin Tonight

The Pacific Coast League playoffs begin tonight. Let’s take a look at the schedules. All times are Pacific.

PACIFIC CONFERENCE

• Wed, Sept 4 – GAME ONE – Las Vegas at Sacramento, 6:35
• Thurs, Sept 5 – GAME TWO – Las Vegas at Sacramento, 6:35
• Fri, Sept 6 – GAME THREE – Sacramento at Las Vegas, 7:05
• Sat, Sept 7 – GAME FOUR if necessary – Sacramento at Las Vegas, 7:05
• Sun, Sept 8 – GAME FIVE if necessary – Sacramento at Las Vegas, 12:05

AMERICAN CONFERENCE

• Wed, Sept 4 – GAME ONE – Iowa at Round Rock, 5:05
• Thurs, Sept 5 – GAME TWO – Iowa at Round Rock, 5:05
• Fri, Sept 6 – GAME THREE – Round Rock at Iowa, 5:08
• Sat, Sept 7 – GAME FOUR if necessary – Round Rock at Iowa, 5:08
• Sun, Sept 8 – GAME FIVE if necessary – Round Rock at Iowa, 10:08 AM

These are new match-ups. None of the four teams reached the playoffs last year, and neither of the American Conference teams have ever won a PCL title. Las Vegas last won the title in 1988. Sacramento is the only team with recent championships.

You can follow along on the PCL Scoreboard page, which includes links to audio and video (if you subscribe) for all of the games.

Links:

• The Rainiers lost their last game of the season on Monday in Las Vegas, 3-2. After the game two players were promoted to Seattle: infielder Shed Long, and reliever Zac Grotz.
• MiLB.com has a PCL Playoffs preview. There are local newspaper playoff previews from Round Rock and Iowa.
• The Mariners Double-A Arkansas team is starting a playoff series tonight, and remarkably Root is televising the first game with M’s general manager Jerry Dipoto doing commentary. It starts at 5.
• M’s first round draft pick George Kirby had a solid first professional season up in Everett. They limited his work load after his college season, and will unleash him as a regular starting rotation member next year.
• San Antonio catcher David Freitas, who played in six games for Tacoma before being traded to the Brewers organization and assigned to the Missions, won the PCL Batting title with a .381 mark.
• The Las Vegas newspaper has a feature on Aviators broadcaster Russ Langer, which includes this all-time gem of a quote from manager Fran Riordan: “But I’ve been ejected a few times this year, and when I get ejected one of the few things I look forward to is going back to the clubhouse and listening to Russ broadcast the game.”

Rainiers Can’t Keep Las Vegas From Clinching, Finish Season Today

The Rainiers spoiler role came to an end on Sunday night, as Las Vegas scored six runs in the eighth inning and beat Tacoma, 8-1. The Vegas win, coupled with an El Paso loss in Sacramento, clinched the Pac-South division title for the Aviators. The Aviators celebrated with a raucous pool party in right-center field at the new Las Vegas Ballpark.

It’s the first playoff berth for Las Vegas since 2014, when Wally Backman led the then-Mets affiliate to the postseason two years in a row. Las Vegas plays Sacramento in the Pacific Conference Championship Series, starting Wednesday night at Raley Field. It will be Iowa against Round Rock in the American Conference series.

Tacoma has one last game to play, and because of last night’s result it is meaningless in the standings. Rainiers players will get one final game before heading off on their winter plans.

Everyone scatters after this one. Most will head to wherever they call home, and perhaps move on to winter ball after a brief rest. A couple may get called up by the Mariners after today’s game. Others will rest for a few weeks before participating in Mariners offseason programs down at the Peoria, AZ complex.

We’ll keep the blog active during the offseason. Come back Wednesday for a PCL playoffs preview post. You’ve been following along all season; might as well stick around and see who wins this crazy league.

After the baseball ends we’ll have weekly (more or less) posts covering player moves that involve potential Rainiers, and whatever else inspires me to write a post.

Thanks for reading this season, and following the team. Let’s win one last game for the road!

RAINIERS DAILY

YESTERDAY: Las Vegas clinched the Pac-South division title with an 8-1 win over Tacoma on Sunday night. It was a 2-1 game until the Aviators scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Eric Filia had three hits for the Rainiers, and Sean Nolin struck out 11 over 4.2 innings while giving up two runs. Nolin is the first Tacoma pitcher to strikes out 11 batters in a game since James Paxton did it in 2013.

TODAY: Tacoma (61-77) at Las Vegas (82-57), 12:05.

OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Oakland A’s.

OPPOSING MANAGER: Fran Riordan. Riordan was voted the PCL Manager of the Year earlier this week.

SEASON SERIES: Las Vegas leads, 9-6.

PITCHERS: RHP Andrew Moore (0-4, 8.38) at RHP Daniel Mengden (4-3, 4.22)

HOT HITTERS: Jaycob Brugman has hit seven homers and driven in 28 runs over his last 18 games… John Andreoli is 12-for-26 with six RBI on this road trip… Eric Filia has reached base safely in 16 straight games, and 23 of the last 24, and he is 13-for-22 on the road trip.

OPPONENT NEWS: After sweeping Tacoma last weekend, Las Vegas went to Albuquerque and lost three of four. They also lost three key players: Seth Brown and Sheldon Neuse got called up, and Nick Martini was lost on waivers… yesterday the A’s called up Franklin Barreto and Sean Murphy… Mark Payton and Alfonso Rivas have seven-game hitting streaks.

FAMILIAR FACES: Las Vegas pitching coach and PCL veteran Rick Rodriguez pitched for the Tacoma Tigers from 1983 to 1987. Catcher Cameron Rupp played for Tacoma last year.

BROADCAST: The pregame show starts at 11:50 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:

• The Vegas newspaper has a recap of the Rainiers game.
• The Mariners cruised to a win yesterday in Texas, and now they head to Wrigley for a couple of games.

In the PCL:

• Sacramento shut out El Paso, 5-0, helping end the Chihuahuas four-year playoff streak. Carlos Navas, Pat Venditte, Sam Selman, and Daniel Winkler combined on a four-hit shutout.
• Reno scored six runs in the top of the first inning and managed to lose the game in Salt Lake City, 7-6. Kaleb Cowart had three hits for the Bees.
• Fresno took down Albuquerque, 7-6, on Wilmer Difo‘s two-run double in the bottom of the tenth inning.
• Taylor Jones belted his 22nd home run to help Round Rock win at Omaha, 5-3. Kyle Tucker got called up today.
• Nashville’s Tim Dillard pitched seven innings and recorded his 1,000th minor league strikeout in a 7-3 win over San Antonio. Christian Lopes homered and drove in four runs.
• Oklahoma City blasted New Orleans, 11-5, as Edwin Rios homered for the 31st time this season. Dodgers phenom Gavin Lux was summoned to Los Angeles.
• Iowa scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning off Memphis starter Jake Woodford and beat the Redbirds, 6-5.

Rainiers Call The Cops On Vegas Clinching Party

Once again the Rainiers spoiled the party in Las Vegas, beating the Aviators 3-2 on Saturday night while second place El Paso pulled within one game of first in the Pac-South division race.

Tacoma has been out of the race for several weeks, but this has been fun down here watching the team severely impact the Pac-South race. Las Vegas has a magic number of two, with two games left. The Rainiers will try to get ’em again tonight at 7:05.

You can feel the stress among the front office workers and on the field in Las Vegas. Everyone here is tight (note: many far more colorful phrases were considered for this sentence, but this is a family blog). They had a strong hold on first, and had a nine-game win streak which ended just six days ago. But the A’s have called up several key hitters, and Vegas has now lost five of the last six games, and they are having a real tough time clinching.

All of this has made these games – which are meaningless for Tacoma – a lot of fun to call.

RAINIERS DAILY

YESTERDAY: Tacoma continued its mission to ruin the playoff party in Las Vegas, beating the Aviators 3-2. Anthony Misiewicz finished his season with another strong outing, allowing one run in six innings, striking out a season-high ten, and earning his team-leading eighth win. Eric Filia doubled and homered, and Shed Long opened the game with a solo homer.

ROSTER MOVES: Yesterday Tacoma added Kevin Santa from Everett (he never actually went there; it was a one-day paper move), because Ryan Court was on his way to re-join the Mariners.

TODAY: Tacoma (61-76) at Las Vegas (81-57), 7:05.

OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Oakland A’s.

OPPOSING MANAGER: Fran Riordan. Riordan was voted the PCL Manager of the Year earlier this week.

SEASON SERIES: Las Vegas leads, 8-6.

PITCHERS: LHP Sean Nolin (6-3, 4.82) at RHP James Kaprielian (–)

HOT HITTERS: Jaycob Brugman has hit seven homers and driven in 27 runs over his last 17 games… John Andreoli is 11-for-22 with six RBI on this road trip… Eric Filia has reached base safely in 15 straight games, and 22 of the last 23, and he is 10-for-18 on the road trip… Kelby Tomlinson has a five-game hitting streak.

OPPONENT NEWS: After sweeping Tacoma last weekend, Las Vegas went to Albuquerque and lost three of four. They also lost three key players: Seth Brown and Sheldon Neuse got called up, and Nick Martini was lost on waivers… yesterday the A’s called up Franklin Barreto and Sean Murphy… Mark Payton and Alfonso Rivas have six-game hitting streaks.

FAMILIAR FACES: Las Vegas pitching coach and PCL veteran Rick Rodriguez pitched for the Tacoma Tigers from 1983 to 1987. Catcher Cameron Rupp played for Tacoma last year.

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:

• The Mariners got walked off in Texas on Saturday night.
• J.P. Crawford has a strained hamstring and is going to be out for a couple weeks. The story includes information on the Mariners plan for the call-ups.
• Shannon Drayer also has a story on the call-up situation.
• Seattle Times writer Ryan Divish has his weekly Mariners Q&A, which includes a segment on what to do about the seriously slumping Dan Vogelbach.

In the PCL:

• El Paso put the pressure on Vegas with a 3-0 win at Sacramento, with Dillon Overton, Tyler Higgins, and Trevor Megill combining on the shutout. Rehabilitating Johnny Cueto pitched six shutout innings for Sacramento. El Paso is one game back with two to play, and hold the tiebreaker.
• Fresno’s Drew Ward hit a pair of two-run homers, including a tiebreaking blast in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the Grizzlies beat Albuquerque, 4-2.
• Salt Lake edged Reno, 4-3, as Jarrett Parker had two hits and two RBI. The Salt Lake City newspaper has a story on top prospect Jo Adell and the home runs that never happened in Tacoma.
• A Memphis ‘bullpen day’ resulted in a no-hit bid broken up in the eighth inning by Iowa. The Redbirds won the game, 3-1, as Adolis Garcia hit a two-run homer.
• New Orleans shut out Oklahoma City, 3-0, as Mike Kickham and two relievers combined on a four-hitter.
• Jacob Nottingham‘s three-run homer helped San Antonio to a 9-5 win at Nashville.
• Wild game in Omaha, where Round Rock took a 7-2 lead into the 7th Inning Stretch, but Omaha scored seven runs in the bottom of the seventh, so Round Rock scored three in the eighth and won 10-9. Local products Taylor Jones and Nick Tanielu each homered for the Express.