Tonight, Tacoma fans saw something they hadn't seen in over eight years: a home playoff win. Thanks to some magnificent tightrope walking by starter Garrett Olson and a 12-hit attack, the Tacoma Rainiers fought off the Sacramento River Cats 5-2 to give the crowd a postseason W for the first time since Sept. 6, 2001 and even the Pacific Conference Championship Series at 1-1.
Early excitement set the tone for the rest of the contest, as after Tacoma scored a run on a walk, a single and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first, Sacramento came right back to load the bases against Olson in the top of the second. But, the 25-year-old lefty showed remarkable poise, getting the dangerous Chris Denorfia to foul out to catcher Adam Moore on the first pitch. After falling behind 2-0 to Rainiers killer Matt Carson, Olson then fought back to get the River Cats' center fielder swinging at an 89-mph fastball for strike 3 to end the threat.
Mike Wilson sent a very loud answer to Sacramento's charge in the bottom of the frame, parking a no-doubt-abouter over the visitor's clubhouse beyond the left field wall for a no-out two-run bomb to put Tacoma up 3-0 after two.
The River Cats got one back in the top of the third on a two-out solo homer by first baseman Chris Carter--his second circuit shot in two days. The very next hitter, right fielder Aaron Cunningham, sent a long fly ball to center for a double, and took third on an Olson balk. Once again, however, Olson was able to wriggle off the hook, thanks to an amazing defensive play by shortstop Oswaldo Navarro. Catcher Eric Munson lofted what should have by all rights been an RBI single to short left, but Navarro sprinted back and made a sprawling, diving snag to end the inning, stranding Cunningham at third.
In the bottom of the sixth, Navarro traded in the leather for the lumber, smoking a one-out ground rule double down the right field line. Center fielder Jerry Owens then lined a first-pitch fastball down the left field line, scoring Navarro to put the Rainiers up 4-1.
Still with one out, second baseman Matt Tuiasosopo smoked a 1-0 92-mph fastball just to the left of the second base bag. With Carson charging hard, manager Daren Brown feigned the stop sign to Owens from the third base coach's box, only to change his red light to green at the last moment, sending the Tacoma stolen base leader hurtling home to score, putting the Rainiers up 5-1.
Clearly feeling the fire from Tacoma's surge, reliever Jared Wells came on and retired the side in the top of the seventh. Wells allowed just one run in his two innings of work--a solo shot to Munson to deep right center field--and struck out two on the evening without walking a batter.
Not willing to be outdone by Navarro's defensive heroics, Owens turned in a highlight-reel catch of his own in the top of the eighth. With two outs, Denorfia sent a sinking liner to shallow center. The speedy Owens charged in and dove forward, snaring the drive mere inches before it hit the turf to end the inning. It was Owens' second SportsCenter-worthy snag in the past week.
In the top of the ninth, wily side-arming veteran Mike Koplove came on to close the door, retiring Sacramento in order for his first save of the postseason.
PREVIEW: California, Here We Come
The Rainiers now head to Raley Field to face the River Cats for the final three games of the series, with Tacoma stalwart Andy Baldwin taking the hill tomorrow night against Sacramento's Jerome Williams.
During the regular season, Williams went 0-1 in his only start against Tacoma, lasting just 2.1 innings, over which he allowed nine hits and seven runs--all earned. Williams went 5-6 with a 5.58 ERA in 27 appearances--14 of which were starts--for the River Cats this season, allowing 41 walks in 101.2 innings while allowing opposing hitters to post a .297 batting average.
Notes: Eight of Tacoma's nine starters registered at least one base hit, with Mike Wilson, Prentice Redman and Matt Tuiasosopo each going 2-for-4 ... Wilson is now hitting .286 in the playoffs after hitting .164 in 146 regular season at-bats ... Tuiasosopo is now hitting .500 (4-for-8) in the postseason ... Garrett Olson went six innings, allowing five hits and one run while walking three and striking out six to earn the win.
The past two times that the Tacoma Rainiers have made the playoffs, they have found themselves facing these same Sacramento River Cats. In 2001, en route to a PCL Championship, the Rainiers dropped the opener to the visiting River Cats before winning three of the next four, with two of those wins coming on the road.
In 2005, Sacramento took the first two games at Cheney Stadium before the Rainiers went in to Raley Field and swept the River Cats right out of the playoffs.
Tomorrow night at Cheney Stadium, Rainiers fans get a bonus postseason Tasty Thursday, where you can get great deals on $1 hot dogs, soda, ice cream and coffee.
Enjoy $2 Miller Lite and Miller Genuine Draft in the terrace level beer garden, the place for singles to mingle every Thursday night during the regular season and the postseason.
The Tasty Thursday Beer Garden opens at 5:30 p.m. with music and beer specials sponsored by Miller Lite.
Last night at Cheney Stadium, the Sacramento River Cats showed just why they are the two-time defending Pacific Coast League Champions. Unfazed by starting the postseason on the road, the River Cats took Game 1 of the Pacific Conference Championship Series, downing the Tacoma Rainiers 8-2.
Sacramento wasted no time in building a sizeable lead, rattling Rainiers lefty starter Chris Seddon for five runs in the first two innings.
With two outs in the top of the first and a man on third, River Cats designated hitter Tommy Everidge struck first, lining Seddon's sixth offering of the at-bat right back up the middle for an RBI single. Next up was 22-year-old masher Chris Carter, who crushed Seddon's 3-1 pitch over the right field wall for an opposite-field two-run blast. But PCL Pacific South champs weren't done yet.
Second baseman Adrian Cardenas got things going in the top of the second with a one-out single up the middle, and then moved to third on a double by shortstop Gregorio Petit. Chris Denorfia then rolled a groundball to shortstop Oswaldo Navarro, who, after seeing Cardenas well on his way towards home, threw to first for the sure out, conceding the run. A Matt Carson RBI double to left plated Sacramento's second run of the inning, putting the visiting club up 5-0.
After the first two innings, however, Seddon threw 4.1 innings of excellent baseball, allowing just one home run--a solo shot in the top of the fifth inning to slugger Brett Wallace--and no walks, striking out three. By going deep into the game, Seddon was able to preserve the Rainiers bullpen, as relievers Denny Stark, Nick Hill and Justin Thomas each threw one inning or less, enabling all three to go tonight if necessary.
The Rainiers offense began to show signs of life in the third inning against starter Chris Gissell, putting two on with one out thanks to singles by the middle infield duo of Navarro and second baseman Matt Tuiasosopo. A groundout by Tacoma's Offensive MVP Bryan LaHair moved Navarro and Tui into scoring position for longball threat Chris Shelton. The third baseman out of Salt Lake City battled Gissell, but struck out swinging on the sixth pitch of the at-bat to end the threat.
Tacoma broke through for their first run in the bottom of the fourth, when with one out, catcher Adam Moore smoked the first pitch he saw from Gissell for a line-drive single to left field to cash in left fielder Prentice Redman, aboard with a leadoff single.
With Wallace's fifth-inning solo roundtripper putting Sacramento up 6-1, the Rainiers clawed back yet again for another run in the bottom of the frame. Tui led off the inning with a line-drive double to center, and took third on a dying-quail single to left off the bat of LaHair. Shelton then lofted a sacrifice fly to left to narrow the lead to 6-2, but that was the closest that Tacoma would come. The River Cats added two more runs in the top of the seventh on a two-run, two-out single by Everidge to close out the scoring.
No, Tacoma baseball fans, that's not a case of déjà vu you're experiencing. Tomorrow evening, it will indeed be the Sacramento River Cats sitting in the Cheney Stadium visitor's dugout. Again.
This year will mark the third time in their past three playoff runs that the Tacoma Rainiers will have to get through the Oakland Athletics' Triple-A Affiliate in order to advance to the Pacific Coast League Championship. Each of the previous two playoff series have gone the full five games, many of which have been closely-fought battles.
The first time River Cats and the Rainiers squared off in the postseason, Sacramento stole the opener at Cheney Stadium in 2001, only to see Tacoma take the second tilt 5-4, then rattle off two more wins on the road at Raley Field to advance to a PCL Championship Series that would eventually be canceled due to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. That team featured a young pitcher by the name of Denny Stark, whose career has since brought him full circle, right back into the Tacoma playoff fold.
In 2005, the Rainiers had an even larger mountain to climb, as the River Cats took both games at Cheney Stadium, downing Tacoma 7-3 in the opener and 7-4 in Game 2, forcing the Rainiers to win three straight road games.
Dan Rohn's squad was more than equal to the task, though, and fired off a convincing opening salvo with a 7-4 win on Sept. 9 at Raley Field, thanks to a 4-for-4 night from Shin-Soo Choo, and 2-for-5 nights from Aaron Rifkin and Rene Rivera.
The next night was a tension-filled evening, as the River Cats scored two runs in the bottom of the first before the Rainiers tied things up with a pair of their own in the top of the second. After giving up a run in the top of the fourth, Sacramento jumped on top 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth on RBI singles by Jermaine Clark and Hiram Bocachica. But in the very next frame, a sacrifice fly by catcher Wiki Gonzalez evened things up yet again, and in the top of the 10th, Tacoma scored what would prove to be the winning run on a groundball single by Asdrubal Cabrera. Finally, on the four-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Rainiers finished off the River Cats 5-2.
And so here the two teams find themselves once again, ready to kick off yet another playoff series at Cheney Stadium. The series should prove to be an intriguing match up, as evidinced both by how close the season series was (Sacramento took nine of 16 meetings) and how well-matched the two squads are statistically.
Tacoma enters the conference championship having led all of Minor League Baseball in home runs during the regular season, slugging 166 roundtrippers in 144 games. The Rainiers have a higher team batting average (.280) than the River Cats--who hit at a .273 clip during the regular season--and also have the edge in slugging percentage, out-mashing Sacramento .450 to .436.
The River Cats, however, are far from a light-hitting team, having put 150 over the fences this season. And while their team ERA is not the best in the league (4.30), it is more than half a run lower than that of the Rainiers pitching staff (4.84). With the pitching and offense coming close to negating one another, it would not be surprising if this year's series follows the trend that these two foes have set in postseasons past.
Rainiers Stand in Way of Three-Peat
While the Tacoma Rainiers are making their first playoff appearance since 2005, the opposing Sacramento River Cats are no stranger to postseason play. In the franchise's first nine seasons of existence, they have captured four PCL Championships and two Triple-A Championships, coming in 2007 and 2008.
With all that at stake, Sacramento will send PCL veteran and Tacoma native Chris Gissell to the hill for the series opener. In 14 minor league seasons, Gissell has compiled an 87-87 record with a 4.22 ERA. Gissell only made two appearances in 2009, both of them starts. In those two outings, he went 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA in 7.2 innings.
The Rainiers will send lefty Chris Seddon (9-8, 4.51) to the hill tomorrow evening to start Game 1. This season against the River Cats, Seddon is 1-1 with a 4.20 ERA against the River Cats in three starts, two of those coming on the road.
The last time Seddon faced Sacramento at Cheney Stadium, he picked up the win on April 17, when he gave up two earned runs in 5.1 innings of work with five strikeouts.
In his last two starts--both pressure-packed affairs--Seddon has come up huge, going 2-0 with a 3.27 ERA. In the season-series finale against the rival Portland Beavers on August 30, Seddon pitched the Rainiers into a first-place tie, going six strong innings while scattering five hits. Five days later, he notched a series-opening win against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, grinding through a five-inning, eight-hit outing while surrendering just two runs.
Tacoma Rainiers righty Gaby Hernandez will take the hill for tomorrow afternoon's season finale having won four straight starts, over which he has posted a 2.20 ERA in 28.2 innings.
Hernandez--who ranks second among Tacoma hurlers with 140.1 innings pitched this season--will face off against 26-year-old Samuel Deduno, who is making his first career start at the Triple-A level. In 24 starts for Double-A Tulsa this season, Deduno was 12-4 with a 2.57 ERA.
The Rainiers and the Sky Sox are playing for all the marbles tomorrow, as the winner will capture the Pacific Coast League Pacific North division title.
Should Tacoma emerge victorious, Game 1 of the PCL Pacific Conference Championship Series will be played on September 9 right here at Cheney Stadium.
The race for the Pacific Coast League Pacific North title got just a bit more interesting this afternoon. Just one loss away from elimination at the hands of the Tacoma Rainiers, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox fought back to come away with a 5-2 win, ensuring that tomorrow's tilt will decide which of the two combatants goes on to face the Sacramento River Cats in the PCL Pacific Conference championship.
While the Rainiers (73-70) capitalized on a Mark Bellhorn throwing error to capture the victory on Saturday, it was the Sky Sox who took advantage of an early miscue today on the part of Tacoma starter Brandon Morrow.
After scoring a run in the top of the first thanks to an RBI double by Matt Murton, Colorado Springs (73-68) came right back to threaten again in the top of the second. With Christian Colonel on second after a leadoff double, center fielder Chris Frey bunted a high-and-inside fastball from Morrow right back to the mound. Morrow alertly wheeled and threw to third, trying to cut down Colonel, but his throw sailed wide of third baseman Chris Shelton's glove and up the left field line, allowing Colonel to come home to stake the Sky Sox to a 2-0 lead. Morrow then retired the next hitters in order, striking out two.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Rainiers began to climb back, with Matt Tuiasosopo slugging a solo home run to right field on a 1-1 offering from Sky Sox starter Esmil Rogers.
Rehabbing Mariners righty Carlos Silva came on in relief of Morrow in the top of the fifth, retiring the side on 12 pitches. However, in the top of the sixth, Colorado Springs struck again. With one out, Murton slugged his second double of the game to right on the second pitch he saw from Silva. Just two pitches later, first baseman Dan Ortmeier rapped a line drive single past a sprawling Tuiasosopo and into right field, giving the Sky Sox the lead for good.
Tacoma fought back in the bottom of the frame when a two-out RBI single by Shelton plated center fielder Jerry Owens. After Colorado Springs tallied two runs in the top of the seventh off of reliever Jared Wells, the Rainiers threatened again in the bottom of the inning. Big Brad Nelson showed off a little speed--and some keen base-running awareness--when his infield pop fly began twisting in the wind. Seeing a trio of Sky Sox infielders struggling to track the ball against the steel-gray sky, Nelly hustled around first and slid into second just as third baseman Colonel came up empty on a diving attempt behind the mound, giving Nelson the ever-rare 60-foot infield double.
After the powerful Mike Wilson went down swinging, veteran catcher Jamie Burke worked a six-pitch walk from Rogers. Another walk to shortstop Oswaldo Navarro prompted a pitching change by Sky Sox manager Stu Cole. Reliever Ryan Speier fell behind 2-0 to Owens before retiring Tacoma's leading hitter on strikes.
Speier's next challenger was Tuiasosopo, who entered the game with a scorching .429 average in the first two games of the series with four runs scored. On his fourth pitch, Speier was able to get Tuiasosopo to ground into a force out at second to snuff out the rally.
Needing just one win in their next two games to clinch a playoff spot, the Rainiers will send right-hander Brandon Morrow to the hill tonight in Game 3 of the crucial series against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox.
Morrow has been unstoppable in his last six starts, posting a record of 5-0 and an ERA of 1.93. In his past 37.1 innings, Morrow has walked just 11 hitters while striking out 22. Over that stretch, Morrow has held the opposition to a paltry .188 batting average (25-for-133).
Today is Fan Appreciation Day here at Cheney Stadium, where the Rainiers will give back to the fans in thanks for a great 50th season of Tacoma baseball.
Don't forget to sign up at the sales booth for your chance to win some awesome prizes that will be raffled off throughout the game. Prizes include Seattle Mariners tickets, a set of Rainiers specialty jerseys, Rainiers goody bags and various items autographed by Rainiers players.
While it may be a tad early to put the champagne on ice, you can at least start to take it out of the refrigerator. Last night in front of a raucous Cheney Stadium crowd, the Tacoma Rainiers downed the Colorado Springs Sky Sox 6-4, elbowing aside the Colorado Rockies' top affiliate to move into a tie for first place in the Pacific Coast League Pacific North division.
The Sky Sox (72-68) came out with a sense of urgency, no doubt sensing their hold on the division title rapidly slipping away to a Tacoma squad that is playing like a team possessed. After Colorado Springs scored two runs on two hits and two walks in the top of the first against starter Garrett Olson, the Rainiers (73-69) responded with two of their own in the bottom of the frame thanks to first baseman Bryan LaHair.
The Rainiers longball leader hadn't gone yard in 18 games, but he sure picked the right night to get off the schnide. With one out, second baseman Matt Tuiasosopo dropped a bunt single up the third base line, setting the stage for LaHair, who crushed the second pitch he saw from starter Adam Eaton over the right field wall for his 26th circuit shot of the year to knot the score at 2-2.
Mike Wilson--who made two outstanding catches in right--led off the next inning with a line-drive single to left, and moved to third on a ground-ball single to right by catcher Adam Moore. With one out and leadoff man Jerry Owens at the dish, Eaton uncorked a wild pitch, allowing speedy Wilson to score the go-ahead run.
The lead wouldn't last long, as the Sky Sox again pounced on Olson in the top of the third. First baseman Dan Ortmeier led off with a single on a soft grounder up the middle, and took third on a double by designated hitter Paul McAnulty. A sacrifice fly by third baseman Christian Colonel brought Colorado Springs even at 3-3, with a one-out RBI single by Mark Bellhorn putting the Sox back on top.
As fate would have it, the fifth inning would see LaHair and Tui team up yet again, with the Bellevue native working a one-out walk with the slugging first baseman on deck. This time, LaHair sent a booming double off the left center field wall to plate Tui to tie things up at 4-4.
As the saying goes, the third time's a charm, and in the bottom of the seventh, LaHair and Tui netted themselves a hat trick. With one down, Tui once again reached base via a walk, but instead of LaHair's bat proving to be the difference-maker, it was instead the arm of second baseman Bellhorn. LaHair grounded reliever Scott Munter's second offering to the right side, and thanks to on-and-off showers, Bellhorn lost the handle on his throw to first, putting men at second and third for third baseman Chris Shelton, who responded with a sacrifice fly to center to give the Rainiers the lead for good. An RBI double by left fielder Prentice Redman--his 34th two-bagger of the season--provided some much-needed insurance.
After lefty reliever Justin Thomas turned in his second inning of scoreless relief, the side-arming major-league veteran Mike Koplove came in to work a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save, putting Tacoma just one win away from reaching the postseason.
Thanks
to a ruling by the Pacific Coast League yesterday afternoon, the Rainiers find
themselves needing only two more victories to secure a division title rather
than the three they would have needed before the league clarified the
intent of the playoff rule.
With
the rest of the series now essentially a best-of-three series, Tacoma will send
lefty Garrett Olson to the mound tonight, who will benefit from a Rainiers
offense which has scored 24 runs over the past five games.
Tonight
is Kids Night Out here at Cheney Stadium, where, thanks to generous donations
by local businesses, underprivileged youth will receive a hot dog, chips, a
special t-shirt and a ticket to the ballgame to help them make a memory to last
a lifetime.
All
throughout this weekend, Windex will be sponsoring special seat upgrades--where
four lucky fans will receive Venture Bank Gold Club tickets--as well as lucky
row giveaways of Windex products.
When right-handed reliever Robert Manuel joined the Tacoma Rainiers just over one month ago, little could he have known that he would be pitching with his new club's season on the line in the final week of the regular season. When Manuel was acquired at the trade deadline, the Rainiers were just 50-55, sitting in third place in the Pacific Coast League Pacific North, 6.5 games behind the Colorado Springs Sky Sox.
But last night with two outs in the top of the ninth, as the 26-year-old Texan stared in for the sign from catcher Adam Moore on his 13th pitch against Colorado Springs center fielder Mike McCoy, Manuel had the hopes of all of Tacoma riding squarely on his shoulders. As McCoy lofted a fly ball down the right field line, Manuel raised his fist into the night, knowing that as Mike Wilson's glove closed, the Rainiers (72-69) would move to within just one game of first with a dramatic 9-6 victory.
The Tacoma Nine entered last night's game with a swagger about them, apparent from the first pitch out of the hand of starter Chris Seddon. Seddon himself was all business, striking out the first two hitters as part of a 1-2-3 first inning.
In the bottom of the frame, center fielder Jerry Owens crushed a leadoff triple to the warning track in right center--his ninth three-bagger of the year--and as he rode home on a Matt Tuiasosopo RBI single up the middle, the Rainiers bullpen erupted. Intensity, thy name is Tacoma.
The Rainiers stretched the lead to 2-0 with two outs thanks to a solo homer from third baseman Chris Shelton--his 15th circuit shot of the season. But that was just a warm up.
In the bottom of the third, after the Sky Sox had tied things up at 2-2, Tacoma struck for five runs. Following a leadoff single by Owens, Sky Sox starter Greg Smith walked the bases loaded for Bryan LaHair, who lifted Smith's first pitch into the right center field gap past a diving McCoy for a two-run double. Shelton then struck for his second RBI of the night, driving in LaHair with a line-drive one-hopper past shortstop Jonathan Herrera.
A sacrifice fly to deep right off the bat of Prentice Redman plated LaHair, and following a long single by designated hitter Brad Nelson off the top of the left center field wall, Shelton came around to score on a sac fly from Wilson to put Tacoma in the driver's seat, up 7-2.
Colorado Springs (72-67) fought back though, plating runs in the seventh and the eighth against reliever Jared Wells. After getting the first out in the top of the ninth, Wells surrendered three straight hits--a single to Christian Colonel and back-to-back run-scoring doubles from Mark Bellhorn and Edwin Bellorin. Enter: Manuel.
Herrera, who was battered all night by Tacoma liners and hard hops to the hole, worked the count full against Manuel before flying out lazily to Owens in center.
But that lengthy battle was just a prelude to the war of attrition that ensued between Manuel and McCoy.
Manuel went 2-2 to McCoy before seeing the 28-year-old San Diego native foul off the next six pitches. Manuel missed low and away with his 11th offering, and McCoy fought off pitch No. 12 inside, before flying out to end the game, closing the books on Manuel's fourth save in his last 11 appearances.
The last time that Chris Seddon took the hill, he pitched the Rainiers to a 6-3 win over the rival Portland Beavers in front of a hearty group of road-tripping Rainiers fans cheering him on from the stands at PGE Park.
That win put Tacoma into a first-place tie with tonight's opponent, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Perhaps there is still a little magic yet in that left arm of his, because tonight, the Rainiers will need every trick Seddon can muster in front of a playoff-hungry home crowd as they try take the first step towards sweeping the Sox, which would clinch Tacoma's first division title since 2005.
Remember to stay after tomorrow night's game for our final Friday Night Fireworks show of the season, brought to you by Courtyard by Marriot. All throughout this weekend, Windex will be sponsoring special seat upgrades--where four lucky fans will receive Venture Bank Gold club tickets--as well as lucky row giveaways of Windex products.
Saturday will be Kids Night Out here at Cheney Stadium, where, thanks to generous donations by local businesses, underprivileged youth will receive a hot dog, chips, a special t-shirt and a ticket to the ballgame to help them make a memory to last a lifetime.
Despite having been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention with Wednesday night's loss, the Salt Lake Bees still found a way to interject themselves into the race for the Pacific Coast League Pacific North crown tonight at Cheney Stadium. The Bees were able to overcome a clutch outing from Tacoma Rainiers righty Andy Baldwin, and shut down a thunderous Tacoma lineup to come away with a 4-0 win.
Fortunately for the Rainiers however, they got some assistance in their playoff quest from an unlikely source. The last-place Portland Beavers--Tacoma's longtime regional rival--were able to down the front-running Colorado Springs Sky Sox 6-5 at Security Service Field to keep the Rainiers (71-69) just two games back with four to play.
The evening started off well for Tacoma, as Baldwin followed a scoreless first inning from the rehabbing Carlos Silva with six innings of shutout ball, at one point retiring 12 straight batters.
The Bees (69-70) finally broke the spell in the top of the seventh as Terry Evans came through with Salt Lake's first hit off of Baldwin, dropping down a bunt single up the third base line to lead off the frame. Evans came in to score when the very next batter, first baseman Matt Brown, cracked his 26th double of the season to center field.
Second baseman Nate Sutton then tapped the first pitch he saw back to the mound, and Baldwin alertly threw over to third to cut down Brown for the first out of the inning. After a double by veteran left fielder Adam Pavkovich put men on second and third, a five-pitch walk to Ryan Budde loaded the bases. Despite the pressure, Baldwin came up big yet again, catching shortstop Gary Patchet looking at strike three.
With the left-handed Brad Coon coming to the plate, Rainiers manager Daren Brown turned to southpaw Justin Thomas, who had not allowed a run in his last five relief appearances, over which he held opposing hitters to a .143 average.
Thomas got ahead 1-2 on Coon, but on the fourth pitch of the at-bat, the Bees center fielder lofted a soft line drive into shallow left to score Sutton and Pavkovich. Switch-hitting third baseman Freddy Sandoval followed Coon with an RBI single of his own on a groundball through the left side to finish off the scoring for Salt Lake.
Bees pitchers appeared to have learned their lesson from Wednesday night's 11-2 shellacking, pitching around the heart of a Tacoma lineup that leads all of Minor League Baseball in home runs. Salt Lake hurlers issued a combined four walks to 2-3-4 hitters Matt Tuiasosopo, Chris Shelton and Bryan LaHair, who have hit a combined 49 dingers this season.
The bottom of the Tacoma lineup--catcher Adam Moore and shortstop Oswaldo Navarro--accounted for four of the team's six hits, with both men notching 2-for-4 nights. Navarro extended his hitting streak to 13 games, over which he has hit .447 (21-for-47).
A win by the Rainiers tomorrow night would go a
long way towards ensuring that the season-ending series against first-place Colorado
Springs will be a meaningful one. A Tacoma win combined with a Sky Sox loss
would mean that the Rainiers would have to take three of four from Colorado
Springs this weekend.
If the Sky Sox finish off a sweep of the
Portland Beavers however, Tacoma would have to finish the season with a
four-game sweep of the front-running Sox.
Tomorrow is Tasty Thursday here at Cheney
Stadium, where you can get great deals on $1 hot dogs, soda, ice cream and
coffee.
Enjoy $2 Miller Lite and Miller Genuine
Draft with the Hooters girls in the terrace level beer garden, along with the
finals of the Miller Lite Tacoma Rainiers karaoke contest, featuring a guest
player judge.
The Tasty Thursday Beer Garden opens at
5:30 p.m. with music and beer specials sponsored by Miller Lite and Hooters.
As 23-year-old righty Gaby Hernandez
strode to the Cheney Stadium mound tonight to face the Salt Lake Bees, two
words hung over his head: must win. Two games back of first-place Colorado
Springs with a four-game series against the Sky Sox looming, Hernandez and the
Rainiers couldn't afford to lose any more ground. And they played like it,
downing the Bees 11-2 thanks to a torrid offensive attack, dazzling defense and
Hernandez's first complete game since 2007. Hernandez scattered five hits and
two walks on the night, striking out three while throwing just 95 pitches.
Tacoma battered Salt Lake from the very
beginning, scoring four runs in the first on a two-run double by Bryan LaHair
and RBI singles from Prentice Redman and Brad Nelson. LaHair's two-bagger was his
first of two on the night, as he paced a 16-hit attack with a 3-for-5,
three-RBI evening. LaHair was just one of five Rainiers to register multi-hit
nights.
RBI doubles were in fact the order of
the evening, as four of Tacoma's season-high six two-sackers resulted in
runners crossing the plate. Three of those came in the bottom of the third,
when catcher Adam Moore, shortstop Oswaldo Navarro and center fielder Jerry
Owens went back-to-back-to-back to stretch the Rainiers lead to 8-0.
Moore, Navarro and Owens also turned in
some sparkling plays on defense. In the top of the fourth with two out, the
speedy Owens sprinted out to deep right center field to snare what would have
surely been an RBI double by Matt Brown to keep Hernandez's bid for the shutout
intact.
In the top of the sixth, it was
Navarro's turn to flash some leather, as he ranged out into short right field
to make a diving snag with his back to the plate on a soft fly by shortstop
Gary Patchet.
The next great defensive play came on a
heads-up effort from Moore, who was able to pick off a sleeping Brad Coon at
first after tracking down a foul pop by Freddy Sandoval.
With all of that great defense, though,
it was left fielder Prentice Redman who headlined the highlights, flying
through the air in the top of the third to rob Coon of a double down the line
and notching an outfield assist in the top of the fifth, gunning out catcher
Ryan Budde at second for the third out. Redman was no slouch with the lumber
either, absolutely crushing a 2-1 offering from recently-promoted Eddie
McKiernan off the top of the wall just under the video board for a two-run
bomb, his 21st longball of the season en route to a 2-for-4, three-RBI night.
After pulling into a tie with the Colorado
Springs Sky Sox for first place in the Pacific Coast League Pacific North, the
Rainiers have now lost two straight to the Salt Lake Bees, who have now run off
six straight wins.
But there is reason to hope tomorrow night, as righty
Gaby Hernandez takes the Cheney Stadium mound having won five straight
decisions and each of his last three starts. Over those last three outings,
Hernandez has posted a sparkling 2.89 ERA, allowing just five runs in 19.2
innings with 11 strikeouts.
Hernandez's opponent, Mike MacDonald, is 3-2
with a 6.20 ERA in his last 10 appearances, but in his last start on August 28
in Colorado Springs, he tossed eight innings, allowing five hits and one run at
Security Service Field.
MacDonald has faced the Rainiers three times
this season, including two starts. In those three games, the 6-foot-1,
215-pound righty out of Camden, Maine has gone 2-1 with a 6.35 ERA.
Remember that tomorrow is Tasty Thursday here at
Cheney Stadium, where you can get great deals on $1 hot dogs, soda, ice cream
and coffee.
Enjoy $2 Miller Lite and Miller Genuine Draft
with the Hooters girls in the terrace level beer garden, the place for singles
to mingle every Thursday night.
The Tasty Thursday Beer Garden opens at 5:30
p.m. with music and beer specials sponsored by Miller Lite and Hooters.
While
the Tacoma Rainiers lost just two players to the Mariners via September
call-up, they did lose last tonight's scheduled starter, Jason Vargas. In his
place, Andres Esquibel--who spent several days with the Rainiers earlier in the
season--was called up from Single-A Everett to make his first Triple-A start. And
the Salt Lake Bees came out stinging. Salt
Lake (68-69) dinged Esquibel for a run in the second and three more in the
third, thanks to two home runs, a walk, a single and two stolen bases. The Bees
tacked on another run in the top of the fifth inning when Brad Coon led off
with a single and moved into scoring position with his 22nd steal of the year. A
groundout by third baseman Freddy Sandoval advanced Coon over to third, after
which manager Daren Brown pulled Esquibel in favor of righty Denny Stark. The
first batter Stark faced, left fielder Chris Pettit, grounded the first pitch
to third baseman Chris Shelton, who alertly threw home to cut off the run.
Catcher Adam Moore tried to catch Pettit going for second, but shortstop
Oswaldo Navarro was unable to handle the throw, putting yet another man in
scoring position for right fielder Terry Evans, who promptly lined a single to
left to put Salt Lake up 5-0. Meanwhile,
Bees starter Brad Salmon effectively stifled the potent Tacoma offense,
carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning, only to see both the no-no and the
shutout broken up by the hot-hitting Navarro. With
one out and two on thanks to two straight walks by Salmon to start off the
bottom of the fifth, Navarro extended his hitting streak to 11 games by
crushing a 2-0 curve into the left field corner for a double to plate first
baseman Bryan LaHair. A walk
to speedy center fielder Jerry Owens again put two men on for the heart of the
Rainiers order, but Salmon was able to strike out second baseman Matt
Tuiasosopo and the slugging Shelton to wiggle off the hook, two of his nine Ks
on the night. The
Rainiers (70-68) kept the game within reach thanks to 3.2 scoreless innings of
relief from Stark and Jared Wells, but the Bees put the game out of reach by rattling
off a five-run top of the ninth against major-league veteran Mike Koplove.
