Tagged: Jeff Clement
Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: August 31 vs. Salt Lake
Game Notes:
Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: August 12 @ Albuquerque
Game Notes:
PLAYER NEWS: Clement to Bucs
According to Ryan Divish of The News Tribune and Tom Singer of MLB.com, the Seattle Mariners have dealt longtime Tacoma Rainiers catcher and designated hitter Jeff Clement and other prospects to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for shortstop Jack Wilson and right-handed pitcher Ian Snell.
Woah Nelly! Rainiers Win Third Straight
This afternoon at Cheney Stadium, for the third game
in a row, big Brad Nelson took a scenic tour around the bases, and for the
third game in a row the Tacoma Rainiers bested the visiting Las Vegas 51s, this
time by the tally of 14-9. But it may have come at a heavy price.
The Rainiers (49-52) exploded for six
runs in the fourth inning, sparked by a two-run home run from Nelson–his third
longball in the past three games and ninth of the season–and staked
right-handed starter Steven Shell to a very comfortable 7-1 lead.
Through six innings, the Longview, Tex.
native allowed just three runs and was working well despite the 90-degree heat.
But with one out in the top of the seventh, Las Vegas center fielder Buck Coats
lined a 1-2 pitch back up the middle, striking Shell flush in the right cheek.
While Shell made a valiant effort to make
his way over to field the ball, his body did not respond, and after Coats
reached base, the Rainiers training staff and paramedics rushed out onto the field
as the crowd held its breath for nine long minutes.
After Shell was carted off the field–with
a courageous wave drawing thunderous applause–reliever Eric Hull had the
unenviable task of trying to concentrate on getting the next two outs.
The 51s (47-55) capitalized, scoring two
runs in the inning thanks to Randy Ruiz’s league-leading 40th double of the
season, making the score 7-5.
Unwilling to waste the effort of a fallen
teammate, Tacoma charged back in the bottom of the frame. With one out, Nelson
delivered his fifth double of the season on a fly ball to center, and was
lifted in favor of speedy pinch runner Prentice Redman.
Left fielder Bryan LaHair then drew a
walk from lefty Las Vegas reliever Bill Murphy, setting the stage for catcher
Adam Moore, who–like Shell–hails from Longview, Tex. Almost as if to avenge his
batterymate and fellow Texan, Moore crushed the second pitch he saw from Murphy
off the top of the left center field wall for a three-run home run, putting the
Rainiers up 10-5 with his sixth circuit shot of the season.
But alas, the 51s would not go away. They
plated four more runs in the top of the eighth against Hull, pulling to within one
run. Once again, though, Tacoma responded.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the
bottom of the eighth, Redman connected on a soft liner to left center, knocking
in two runs and putting men on first and third. LaHair then came up with his
third hit of the day, lining the 1-1 offering from reliever Brian Wolfe up the
middle for an RBI single. Up next was Moore, who delivered again, singling on a
sharp liner to left field for an RBI single of his own.
Moore had his biggest run-producing
game of the year, going 2-for-4 with a game-high five RBI as part of a 16-hit
Tacoma attack that saw every hitter record at least one base knock.
Other top offensive performers were
LaHair–who went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored–and designated hitter
Jeff Clement, who chipped in with a 2-for-5, two-RBI day. Clement now owns a
.301 batting average in 22 July games this season, with four home runs and 22
RBI. Nelson went 3-for-3 on the day and drew a walk, and is now hitting a
scorching .348 in the month of July, reaching base safely in his past 11 games.
Seddon Deals Vegas Second Straight Loss
In his first game back since going on
the disabled list with a sprained ankle, Tacoma Rainiers starting pitcher Chris
Seddon didn’t take much time to stop and smell the roses. The lefty out of
Northridge, Calif. sported a nifty new set of stirrups in a decidedly
old-fashioned pitching-and-defense affair, earning his sixth win of the season
as the Tacoma Nine downed the Las Vegas 51s 2-1 in a brisk two hours and nine
minutes tonight for their second straight win.
Seddon threw just 59 pitches–37 for
strikes–as he retired the 51s (47-54) in order in four of his five innings
pitched, surrendering just one hit and one walk in holding Las Vegas to just
one run on a third-inning RBI single by center fielder Aaron Mathews.
In a game in which offense was at a
premium–each team recorded just four hits–Tacoma (48-52) was able to get to 51s
starter Scott Richmond early, striking for their only runs in the first and
second innings.
Fleet-footed leadoff man Jerry Owens got
the proceedings off to a familiar start in the bottom of the first, beating out
a ground ball to shortstop Angel Sanchez for an infield single and then taking
second on Sanchez’s hurried throw to first.
Following a walk to third baseman Matt
Tuiasosopo, Richmond uncorked a wild pitch on a 1-2 count to designated hitter
Jeff Clement, allowing both runners to move into scoring position for the heart
of the Rainiers lineup.
But Richmond was able to collect himself
and struck out Clement, only to face left fielder Mike Carp, who lifted
Richmond’s fourth offering into center field, deep enough to allow the speedy
Owens to dash home on a sacrifice fly.
Big first baseman Brad Nelson–who
struck for Tacoma’s first pinch-hit home run Friday night–went yard for his
second game in a row, leading off the second with a titanic blast to right
field for his eighth longball of the season. Nelson went 1-for-3 on the evening
to lift his July batting average to .302. The 6-foot-2, 265-pounder out of
Algona, Iowa has hit four of his eight dingers in his 15 games this month,
collecting eight RBI and seven walks.
The Rainiers infield jealously guarded
the 2-1 lead, with Oswaldo Navarro making two fine late-inning plays at
shortstop to back up Rainiers reliever Jesus Delgado.
Delgado for his part picked up right
where Seddon left off, throwing 42 pitches in his three shutout innings of
work, allowing just two singles and one walk while striking out two, finally
giving way to closer Randy Messenger who worked a quick ninth for his 20th
save.
River Cats Out-Slug Rainiers
While Wednesday’s game between the Sacramento River Cats (61-37)
and the Tacoma Rainiers (46-52) was decidedly about pitching, tonight it was
the lumber that did the talking.
The two squads combined to pound out 24 hits–nine of them
for extra bases–but it was the visiting River Cats who came out on top, taking
the series finale 11-6.
While Tacoma starter Gaby Hernandez gave up six runs in his four
innings of work, it wasn’t until the seventh inning that Sacramento was able to
truly pull away, as the Rainiers responded to every Sacramento score with a
flurry of their own.
Down 3-0 going into the bottom of the first, first baseman Jeff Clement wasted no time in extending his latest hitting streak to seven
games, blasting his 14th home run of the season over the right field
wall to cut the deficit to two runs.
After a walk to right fielder Bryan LaHair to lead off the
bottom of the second, left fielder Michael Saunders stretched his own hitting
streak to seven games with his 14th double of the season, putting
men on second and third for catcher Adam Moore.
Moore singled in LaHair, and after an Oswaldo Navarro
strikeout, center fielder Jerry Owens delivered his second sacrifice fly in as
many nights to make the score 4-3.
The River Cats pulled ahead again in the top of the third
with a pair of runs, but Tacoma slowly chipped away over the next three
innings, with LaHair’s 18th longball of the year in the bottom of
the sixth keeping Tacoma close, down 7-5.
The decisive blow came in the top of the seventh, when Andy
Baldwin–making his third relief appearance of the season–stumbled after
striking out left fielder Aaron Cunningham to lead off the frame.
Baldwin gave up a sharp groundball single to right fielder
Travis Buck, and then couldn’t manage to find the strike zone, walking catcher
Eric Munson and center fielder Chris Denorfia, uncorking a wild pitch along the
way to allow a run to score.
With the bases loaded, designated hitter Matt Carson–who
showed off his pitching arm in the previous night’s loss–decided to make a
difference through more conventional means: his bat. Carson unloaded on
Baldwin’s 2-2 offering, hitting the LED ribbon over the left center field wall
for his first grand slam of the season.
Offensive bright spots for the Rainiers included third
baseman Matt Tuiasosopo, who went 2-for-4 to finish the series 6-for-13 with
three doubles. Owens–despite having his hitting streak halted at nine
games–still led the team with two RBI on the evening.
Fister Halts Skid at Four
Informed mere hours before tonight’s game against the
Sacramento River Cats (60-37) that he would be starting on three days’ rest,
Tacoma Rainiers pitcher Doug Fister could have been forgiven had he just gutted
out three or four innings and then turned the game over to the bullpen. But
that just wouldn’t be his style.
The Rainiers (46-51) called Fister into service in place of
a scratched Ryan Rowland-Smith–who will reportedly be making his next start Friday at Safeco
Field–and the 6-foot-8 righty answered the bell. Fister scattered six
hits and just one walk over six innings, allowing one run and striking out two–all
on just 69 pitches–as Tacoma romped to an 11-1 victory to snap a four-game
losing streak.
Fister struggled early on, allowing two hits and one run in
the top of the first inning. But after that, he clamped down, working inside
and out with offspeed and breaking pitches and doing what he does best:
pitching to contact. Fister thew up zero after zero after zero as the Rainiers
offense went to town on River Cats righty Jerome Williams and the parade of
Sacramento relievers that included center fielder Matt Carson.
Tacoma posted two runs in the first and second, then
exploded for four more in the third and three in the fourth en route to
hammering out 18 hits on the night. Each Rainiers starter registered at least
one base hit, but the biggest came off the bats of second baseman Alex Cintron
and designated hitter Jeff Clement.
In just his third game in a Tacoma uniform, Cintron came
within a triple of hitting for the cycle, going 3-for-6 with four runs scored
and a game-high four RBI. Cintron connected on a two-run home run in the second
inning for the game’s only longball, after the River Cats and the Rainiers
combined for seven circuit shots the night before.
Clement came within smelling distance of history on his
4-for-5 night, smacking a double in each of his first four at-bats. Only twice
in the 106-year history of the PCL has a hitter registered five two-baggers in a game, and
though he grounded out in his fifth turn at the dish, Clement’s three RBI on
the night were a large part of Tacoma’s offensive explosion.
Another key cog in the Rainiers offensive machine was
leadoff man Jerry Owens. Owens went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two
walks, and is now hitting a blistering .575 (23-for-40) in his past 10 games
with a .605 on-base percentage.
Fan favorite Matt Tuiasosopo, in his sixth game back from
elbow surgery, went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, upping his average to
.444 (4-for-9) in the series.
Notes: Designated hitter Jeff Clement and outfielder Michael
Saunders each extended their hitting streaks to six games tonight against
Sacramento, combining to go 5-for-9 on the evening … Third baseman Matt
Tuiasosopo has now reached base safely in each of his first six games back from
the disabled list, hitting four doubles and one home run over that span.
River Cats Take Second Straight
Clearly realizing that four runs per game may not cut it
for the entire series against the Tacoma Rainiers, the Sacramento River Cats
more than doubled their previous game’s output in the first five innings of
tonight’s contest, and they would need every run.
The first place team in the Pacific Coast League Pacific
South was able to fend off a late charge by the Rainiers to come out on top,
11-7, for their second straight win over Tacoma (45-51).
The River Cats pounded out 18 hits, including two doubles, one
triple and four home runs against Rainiers pitching, doing most of their damage early
against right-handed starter Steven Shell.
After scoring two runs in the top of the second off of
Shell, Sacramento tacked another three runs on in the top of the third and two
more in the top of the fourth on a two-run home run off the bat of Cliff
Pennington.
Rainiers right fielder Prentice Redman did the best he
could to muster some offense, leading off the bottom of the fourth with his
14th home run of the season on the first pitch he saw from lefty starter Dana
Eveland to make the score 7-1.
But over the next two innings, the River Cats piled on even
more, thanks to a towering drive from catcher Eric Munson which cleared the
trees across the road from the right field wall in the top of the fifth and an
RBI triple by Travis Buck with no outs in the top of the sixth–his first three-bagger
of the year.
After being shut down by Eveland
for seven innings, the Rainiers finally broke through to make things interesting
in the bottom of the eighth.
Second baseman Callix Crabbe led off the frame
with a line-drive single to center, and was followed by Jerry Owens, who laced
his third hit of the night for a single to left. The pair of speedsters then
came home thanks to a double by Matt Tuiasosopo and an RBI single from
designated hitter Jeff Clement. Eveland was then lifted for reliever Chris
Schroder, who fanned big Brad Nelson to bring Redman back to the dish.
Redman worked a 3-2 count from Schroder and then
annihilated the seventh pitch of the at-bat for his second home run of the
game, wrapping a moon shot around the left field foul pole to bring the score
to 9-6.
Left fielder Michael Saunders then tattooed the fourth
pitch he saw from Schroder over the foul pole in right to bring the Rainiers
to within two runs with just one out in the inning, marking the sixth time that
Tacoma has hit back-to-back homers this season.
But that was as close as the Rainiers were able to come, as
the River Cats (60-36) tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the ninth off
of closer Randy Messenger to polish off their fourth win in a row.
Notes: Jerry Owens went 4-for-5 tonight to continue his torrid hitting. Over the past 10 games, the Rainiers center fielder has gone 21-for-40 for a scorching .525 average … Callix Crabbe went 1-for-4 tonight, and is hitting a white-hot .351 over his last 10.
League Leaders at the Break
As the Pacific Coast League and the International League All-Stars get set to duke it out in Wednesday’s Triple-A All-Star Game in Portland, Ore., several Tacoma Rainiers sit among the best in the PCL in a multitude of offensive categories.
Crabbe Takes the Cake in Win
Before last night’s game against the
Portland Beavers, Tacoma Rainiers second baseman Callix Crabbe sampled–for the
first time–the Cheney Stadium sandwich that now bears his name. He may want to
make that a pre-game ritual.
The same Callix Crabbe that came into the
game batting .189, and who was 0-for-14 when batting second, used that
delectable dish to turn into a 5-foot-7, 185-pound, one-man wrecking crew,
going 4-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI from the two-slot to power the
Rainiers to an 8-3 win over the Beavers (42-48).
Tacoma (43-46) rode Crabbe’s career
night for its third straight win, and the Rainiers leaned on the little guy
early. With one out in the bottom of the first inning, Crabbe staked starter
Doug Fister to a 1-0 lead with his first home run of the season, a
no-doubt-abouter down the right field line.
With Fister humming through the first
three innings–needing only 36 pitches–Crabbe went to work again in the bottom
of the third, delivering a bases-loaded RBI single to put the home team up 2-0.
Tacoma’s next two runs in that inning came from a more traditional
run-producer, as Jeff Clement crushed the second pitch he saw from Portland
starter Walter Silva to deep center field for a two-run double.
After that brief interlude, Crabbe came
up big again in the bottom of the fifth. After a one-out triple by center
fielder Jerry Owens–his third in the past four days–Crabbe delivered an RBI
double to stretch Tacoma’s lead to 5-1.
When a solo home run by catcher Adam
Moore in the bottom of the sixth put the Rainiers up 6-1, the Beavers fired
back by scoring two runs in the top of the seventh off of reliever Denny Stark
to pull within three.
Clearly uncomfortable with a mere
three-run lead, Crabbe stepped to the plate in the bottom of the inning with
one out and Owens on first. After fouling away the first pitch from Portland
reliever John Hudgins, Crabbe went yard for a second time, putting Tacoma ahead
for good.
The two-run dinger marked the first time
that Crabbe had put two over the wall in one game since July 27, 2007, when he
tallied two solo shots for the Nashville Sounds.
Rainiers Rants 