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March 31 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Oklahoma City Baseball Club

March 31, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


TACOMA RAINIERS (1-1) vs. OKLAHOMA CITY BASEBALL CLUB (1-1)

Sunday, March 31 - 1:35 PM - Cheney Stadium - Tacoma, WA

RHP Cory Abbott (0-0, -.--) vs. RHP Walker Buehler (0-0, -.--)

TODAY'S GAME: Tacoma and Oklahoma City are set to play the third and final game of their three-game set this afternoon, with Cory Abbott toeing the rubber for the Rainiers. Abbott is set to make his first start of the 2024 campaign, and the first in his career against Oklahoma City. Despite pitching at the Triple-A level for parts of the last three seasons, they have all come with International League teams, making this season his first run in the Pacific Coast League. Opposite Abbott will be two-time National League All-Star and 2020 World Series Champion, Walker Buehler. Buehler missed virtually all of the 2023 season after being placed on the injured list back on June 11, 2022, with a right forearm strain. He was transferred to the 60-day IL after right elbow UCL reconstructive surgery and remained there until Sept. 3 last year, when he was sent on a rehab assignment to Oklahoma City. The righty spun two scoreless innings with two strikeouts against the Round Rock Express, but didn't make another outing and was placed back on the 15-day injured list to start this season on March 19.

WELCOME BACK: Nick Solak played in four games with the Tacoma Rainiers last season before he was designated for assignment by Seattle on April 10 and claimed by the Chicago White Sox on April 14. In his return to Tacoma and first game of the 2024 season last night, Solak paced the Rainiers' offense with three hits, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two runs batted in out of the nine-hole. The utility player collected as many hits on his own as the entire team did on Friday night. Solak's game has him tied for third in the Pacific Coast League in batting average (.600) and tied for fourth in on-base percentage (.600) in the early going.

SWIPE THAT BAG: Cade Marlowe stole two more bases last night after one stolen base on Friday night in the season opener. His three stolen bases through the first two games of the year not only lead the team, but they also lead the entire Pacific Coast League. Tacoma has shown the ability to run early, as they also lead the PCL as a team, with five stolen bags. Their five steals are second in all of Triple-A behind Gwinnett and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, who each have seven.

CLEAN IT UP: The Rainiers made three critical errors in last night's two-run loss to Oklahoma City, allowing two unearned runs to score. Their three errors last night are more than any other Pacific Coast League team has all season, with two. After one blemish in Friday night's game, Tacoma leads the PCL with four errors through two games. They trail only Durham (6) and Norfolk (5) in that category.

L(LOVE)RA TO SEE IT: Mauricio Llovera made his first appearance of the 2024 season out of the bullpen last night, tossing two scoreless frames. The right-hander allowed two hits while striking out a batter but was extremely efficient. Llovera used just 24 pitches to get through his two innings, throwing 71% (17-of-24) of them for strikes.

WATCH OUT: In his first game of the season last night, Andre Lipcius single-handedly took down the Tacoma Rainiers. The second basemen gave Oklahoma their first run and lead of the 2024 season with a solo home run in the second inning. He followed that up with a two-out, two-run single in the third inning and in his third at-bat, hit a two-run home run, growing the Baseball Club's lead to 8-2 in the fifth inning. Lipcius ended the night going 3-for-5 with three runs scored, two home runs and five runs batted in.

AGAINST OKLAHOMA CITY: The Rainiers and Baseball Club will finish up their series with a rubber match this afternoon. After Tacoma took the first game in extras on Friday, Oklahoma City came back with a 9-7 win in last night's contest to even the series at one game apiece. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak (dating back to 2023) for the Rainiers over Oklahoma City and gave the Baseball Club their 90th all-time win over the Rainers. Tacoma is now 94-90 all-time and 1-1 this year against Oklahoma City.

SHORT HOPS: After going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position on Friday night, Tacoma went just 4-for-18 last night, stranding 13 runners on base including the bases loaded twice...Walker Buehler is set to make the second start of his career against Tacoma, as the righty earned a win, tossing five scoreless innings of three-hit ball while striking out six last time he faced them on July 31, 2017.

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