August 2 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Salt Lake Bees

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Tacoma Rainiers

August 2 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Salt Lake Bees

August 2, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


TACOMA RAINIERS (58-47) vs. SALT LAKE BEES (52-52)

Friday, August 2 - 7:05 PM - Cheney Stadium - Tacoma, WA

RHP Emerson Hancock (4-1, 2.20) vs. RHP Johnny Cueto (1-0, 3.60)

TONIGHT'S GAME: After winning last night's game to trail the series by just one entering play tonight, Tacoma will send Emerson Hancock to the mound tonight. Hancock comes into tonight's game with a 4-1 record and a 2.20 ERA through 10 starts with the Rainiers this season, with two of those 10 starts coming against the Bees. His last start came on July 27 against Oklahoma City, when he allowed two earned runs on three hits including a home run. He tied a career high with five walks, striking out two over 5.0 innings. Opposite Hancock will be long-time major leaguer Johnny Cueto taking the ball for Salt Lake, set to make his second start of the year for the Bees. The righty won his first game with Salt Lake, allowing just three runs (two earned) on six hits including a home run. He allowed just one walk and one strikeout over his 5.0 innings. Cueto faced Tacoma once this season, as a member of the Round Rock Express back on June 13. He suffered the loss in that outing, allowing three earned runs on six hits and two walks, striking out three over 5.0 frames.

MAKING HISTORY: Tacoma entered play last night with 222 stolen bases as a team, far and away the most in Triple-A this season. They swiped four more bags in their victory last night against Salt Lake, giving them 226 through their first 105 games. Their 226 stolen bases give them the most for a Triple-A team in a single season dating back to at least 1988. The Omaha Storm Chasers, Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, had 223 last season, but the Rainiers have now surpassed that. In franchise history, Tacoma's 1982 team stole 229 bases, so they are just three from tying and four away from setting a team record as well. Three Tacoma players (Cade Marlowe - 43, Samad Taylor - 37 and Ryan Bliss - 34) are three of the top four base stealers among qualified Triple-A players. They have combined to steal more bases (114) than 16 Triple-A teams have had in 2024. Jonatan Clase (26) and Leo Rivas (24) were also in the top-10 among Pacific Coast League base stealers, giving the Rainiers five of the top-10 runners in the league. Tacoma is on pace to steal 323 bases this year, which would put them fourth in all-time minor league history, according to SABR's minor league baseball statistics.

HEATING UP: After his first three-hit game with Tacoma this year, Ryan Bliss followed up with four more last night. Bliss came into play on Wednesday with 13 two-hit performances with Tacoma, the third-most for any Rainiers player this year. Since then, he went 3-for-5 on Wednesday and 4-for-4 last night. He has added a home run in each game with a grand slam on Wednesday and a lead-off solo blast last night. Since returning to Tacoma from Seattle, Bliss has at least one hit in six of his eight games, recording four multi-hit performances over that span. The 24-year-old is hitting .394 (13-for-33) with five runs scored, three doubles, three home runs and 11 runs batted in in his second stint with the Rainiers.

SEEN THIS BEFORE: Rainiers righty Nick Solak has been hot of late, hitting .361 (13-for-36) over his past 10 games, dating back to July 20th against Reno. The outfielder has three extra-base hits (two doubles and a home run), seven runs, and four RBI over that time, while also drawing five walks. Moreover, of his 11 balls in play against Salt Lake this series, seven have been hard hit, with exit velocities above 95 mph (109.5, 109.3, 108.6, 107.7, 105.6, 104.8, and 97.0). On the series, Solak is 6-for-12 with a homer, four RBI, three runs scored, and a stolen base in these past three contests. His home run last night was his first since May 18 against Salt Lake, which also came against lefty Kenny Rosenberg.

START OFF WITH A BANG: Ryan Bliss clubbed a solo home run on the first pitch he saw last night, giving Tacoma an early 1-0 lead. This isn't the first time Bliss has done this, as the infielder now has three lead-off deep flies for the Rainiers, including two in the last week. Bliss clubbed a lead-off shot at home against the Bees back on May 19, and most recently on July 27 at Oklahoma City. It marked the fifth lead-off home run of the season for Tacoma, as Jonatan Clase hit one on May 10 at Reno and June 15 at Round Rock.

HOME COOKING: In his first year in Triple-A, Rainiers starter Emerson Hancock has pitched very well, going 4-1 with a 2.20 ERA over 57.1 innings pitched (10 starts). However, Hancock has been especially dominant at home, owning a 1.25 ERA across six starts, logging 25 strikeouts and a 1.08 WHIP through 36.0 innings pitched (for a 3-1 record). In fact, the righty recorded a complete game shutout during his last start at Cheney on July 21st in Tacoma's 9-0 win over Reno. It's not just Hancock who has enjoyed playing at Cheney though. As a club, the Rainiers are 32-16 at home in Tacoma, compared to 26-31 on the road. Moreover, the Rainiers are 8-1-0 in home series, and will look to even their set with the Bees tonight.

HE'S BACK: In his first start since being activated from the development list (July 13th - August 1st), lefty Rob Kaminsky tossed five shutout innings against the Bees last night, striking out six on the way to a 5-4 Rainiers win. On the year, Kaminsky improved to 1-0, lowering his ERA to 3.05 across 20.2 innings (five appearances). Tacoma is now 4-0 in games that Kaminsky has started this season.

STREAK STOPPERS: With Tacoma's 5-4 victory over Salt Lake on Thursday night, multiple streaks came to an end. For the Bees, the loss halted their 12-game winning streak (started July 14th), which tied the Reno Aces (June 26th through July 9th) for the longest such streak in Triple-A this season. On the Rainiers' side, Tacoma's victory ended their four-game losing streak, finishing one shy of their season-long slide (which extended from April 18th through the 23rd). On an individual level, Rainiers first baseman Tyler Locklear saw this 16-game on-base streak snapped, as he was ejected after arguing with the umpire after a third-inning strikeout. Tacoma reliever Trevor Kelley allowed his first earned run in his last 15 appearances.

AGAINST SALT LAKE: Tonight's game marks the 22nd meeting of the season between the Bees and Rainiers, the fourth contest in the year's final series between the two clubs. On the series, Tacoma is 1-2 against Salt Lake, earning their first victory of the series in a 5-4 thriller Thursday night. For the season, the Rainiers are 12-9 against the Bees, going 6-6 at home. Overall, Tacoma holds the edge in the all-time series, going 401-386-1 thus far, with three more meetings left in the season.

SHORT HOPS: The team that has scored first has won each of the first three games this series, continuing a season-long trend for the Rainiers, who are 42-22 when scoring first and 16-22 when allowing their opponent to get on the board first...the Rainiers went just 4-for-17 with runners in scoring position last night, leaving 12 men on-base and scoring just one run in five separate frames...Tacoma is 7-2 at home and 15-4 overall in Friday night games, their winningest day of the week by five games (10-7 on Wednesday's)...Kirby Snead earned his first save of the year last night and first since October 5, 2022, against the Los Angeles Angels, Salt Lake's major league affiliate.

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