Tagged: Jared Wells

Rainiers Score First Home Playoff Win Since 2001

DSC_8635.JPG

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.

Division Title Still Up For Grabs

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.

Bees Swarm Esquibel, Rainiers


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.

Rainiers Sweep Into First Place

PORTLAND–With a vocal contingent of
Tacoma faithful on hand thanks to the Beat the Beavs Bus Trip, the Rainiers put
the finishing touches on a five-game sweep of the rival Portland Beavers,
winning their ninth straight game by the count of 6-3 to pull even with the
Colorado Springs Sky Sox for the top spot in the Pacific Coast League Pacific
North standings.

Prentice Redman’s bat did its best to
match the volume of the Rainiers fans, as the Tacoma left fielder went 3-for-3
with two RBI, four runs, two walks and his 20th home run of the season–a solo
blast in the top of the ninth. But for all that thunder, the Rainiers (70-66)
got the scoring underway with a comparatively quiet start.

Center fielder Jerry Owens led off the
top of the first with a walk, and then swiped his 21st bag of the year to move
into scoring position. Third baseman Matt Tuiasosopo lofted a soft sacrifice
fly to right, moving Owens over to third, and a second straight sac fly off the
bat of Mike Carp brought home Tacoma’s first run of the afternoon–all without
benefit of a hit.

The Rainiers struck for their second run
in the top of the fourth, when Redman worked a five-pitch walk from Beavers
starter Aaron Poreda and stole second before fellow outfielder Mike Wilson
worked a seven-pitch free pass of his own. With two outs, hot-hitting shortstop
Oswaldo Navarro snuck a groundball double just inside the third base line,
scoring Redman, who slid in safely ahead of the tag by catcher Eliezar Alfonzo
despite running right out of his shoe halfway between third and home.

Portland Reliever Rocky Cherry had
himself an appropriately rocky fifth, when with two outs, first baseman Chris
Shelton hammered a ground-rule double off the hand-operated scoreboard in left
and then rode home on a Redman double. After fouling off two 1-2 offerings from
Cherry, Wilson lined an RBI single to left to drive in Redman and put the
Rainiers up 4-1.

After the Beavers (57-79) cut the lead to
4-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Tacoma came right back in the top of the
seventh thanks to a line-drive RBI single by veteran catcher Jamie Burke.

Rainiers reliever–and former Portland
hurler–Jared Wells took the mound in the bottom of the seventh and worked two
scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit while striking out three to
earn his fourth hold of the season.

Righty Robert Manuel came on in the
ninth and allowed a solo shot to Sean Kazmar before inducing groundouts from
Brett Dowdy and Craig Stansberry to polish off the win.

Rainiers Trade in Bats for Clubs


Yesterday at McCormick Woods Golf Course,
16 Tacoma Rainiers players and coaches traded in their lumber and leather for
drivers and nine irons in the annual Rainiers Golf Tournament, with proceeds
benefiting Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital.

Along with the Tacoma coaching staff–manager
Daren Brown, hitting coach Alonzo Powell and pitching coach Dwight Bernard–outfielders
Prentice Redman, Jerry Owens and Bryan LaHair, catcher Fleming Baez, infielders
Callix Crabbe and Erick Monzon and pitchers Eric Hull, Doug Fister, Josh Hall,
Jared Wells, Andy Baldwin and Justin Thomas all teed it up for charity.

Several Rainiers players participated in
the pre-round putting contest, with LaHair turning in the closest putt to the
pin, rolling his shot to within a foot and a half of the cup.

On the first hole, Parkland Chevrolet’s
Ron VanGeystel parked his ball closest to the flag at five and a quarter
inches, just beating out Thomas (eight inches) to take home a prize package
including a PCL hat and shirt, as well as a Paint the Park Purple Jersey.

The second hole was the site of the
Rainiers long-drive contest, with Powell narrowly beating out Baldwin for the
longest drive of the day on that hole.

The 12th hole featured the Rainier
Connect Marshmallow Drive contest, which was won by D.J. Cobb, who whacked a
marshmallow 134 feet, eight inches.

For much of the afternoon, the team of
Brown, Jeff Sadler, Marty Boscos, John Combs and Jason Stockton paced the field
in the scramble-play format, but they were edged out by one stroke in the end
by the team of Hull, Dan Koch, Adam Knoll, Rick Adams, Jerry Isaksen and BZ
Zenczak for the tournament’s top honors.

Baldwin’s team of Kale and Wayne Larkin,
Jeremy Balzarini and Alex Schilter came in third, shooting a 57 on the day.

The Rainiers return to action today
against the Las Vegas 51s, the Triple-A Affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.

The last time Tacoma squared off with the
51s, in a June 6-9 set at Cashman Field, the two squads split the four-game
series, with the Rainiers coming out on top 9-2 in the opener and 6-3 in the
finale.

The last time
these two teams clashed, there was offense aplenty, with Tacoma and Las Vegas combining for 42
runs on 85 hits during their four-game set earlier in the month, with the
Rainiers going 44-for-147 (.299) against 51s pitching.

Las Vegas starter Brian Burres is 0-1
this season against Tacoma, allowing five runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings on
June 6.