May 30 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers at Sacramento River Cats
May 30, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
TACOMA RAINIERS (29-24) @ SACRAMENTO RIVER CATS (31-22)
Thursday, May 30 - 6:45 PM - Sutter Health Park - Sacramento, CA
LHP Jhonathan Diaz (7-1, 3.16) vs. RHP Kai-Wei Teng (0-2, 13.50)
TONIGHT'S GAME: Tacoma and Sacramento will play game three of their six-game series tonight, with Jhonathan Diaz facing off against Kai-Wei Teng. Diaz comes into play leading the Pacific Coast League with seven wins, holding a record of 7-1 and a 3.16 ERA through 10 games (nine starts). The southpaw has allowed just 20 earned runs on 53 hits and 11 walks while striking out 59 batters over 57.0 innings. Teng will be making just his second start of the year in his eighth appearance, coming into play tonight with an 0-2 record and a 13.50 ERA in those games. He has surrendered 26 earned runs on 25 hits and 17 walks, striking out 10 over 17.1 innings. Opponents are hitting .342 against the righty through his seven games. In one relief effort against Tacoma this season, he allowed two earned runs on two hits, two walks and three strikeouts over 3.0 innings back on May 3.
EARLY AND OFTEN: After not scoring a single run against Tommy Romero through his first two outings (9.1 innings) against Tacoma, the Rainiers struck early last night against the right-hander. Tacoma used a combination of patience and clutch hitting to knock Romero out of the game early, getting to the right-hander for eight runs in just 1.2 innings pitched. They took five total walks and collected four hits, including a three-run home run from Jason Vosler to knock Romero out of the game in the second inning. They handed Romero his first loss of the season in his shortest outing of the year.
DRIVE THEM IN: Taking last night's game by a score of 9-2, Jason Vosler drove in four of Tacoma's nine runs on his own. His double in his first at-bat drove in the second run of the game, giving Tacoma a 2-0 lead. Vosler was back at it in the second inning, driving in three more runs with a home run in his next at-bat to make the score 8-0. Collecting four runs batted in over the two innings, Vosler now leads the Rainiers in RBI (37), home runs (8), and hits (50) through 48 games this season. Last night's contest marked Vosler's third 4-RBI game of the 2024 season, and his second in the month of May.
REPEAT PERFORMANCE: In his last outing against Sacramento back on May 5, Jhonathan Diaz allowed just one earned run through his 5.0 innings pitched. Besides walking four River Cats, Diaz had a strong outing, striking out six and earning the win. Through nine games against Sacramento in his career, Diaz is sporting a 3-1 record with a save through 27.2 innings. With a season record of 7-1, Diaz leads Triple-A pitchers through 57.0 innings. Tonight, Diaz looks to add another game to his win column and have another outstanding performance against the River Cats.
SHUT IT DOWN: Although the game was out of reach by the time Cody Bolton entered in the ninth inning, it was still a special night for the right-hander. Bolton tossed a scoreless ninth inning to secure Tacoma's 9-2 victory, retiring all three batters he faced on just 11 pitches. The reason it was a special outing for Bolton was because he is playing just an hour and 15 minutes from where he went to high school, at Tracy High School in California. The outing kept his ERA at 0.00 through three games with Tacoma this season, throwing 3.0 scoreless frames. He has allowed just one hit and one walk, striking out three over that span.
AGAINST SACRAMENTO: The Rainiers and River Cats will play game three of their six-game series tonight, with the series tied at 1-1. Sacramento still holds the all-time series by nine games, at 253-244. With last night's 9-2 victory for the Rainiers, Sacramento has only scored one more run than Tacoma through the first eight games between the two teams, at 31-30.
SHORT HOPS: The Rainiers faced their second position player this season in the ninth inning last night, as Donovan Walton entered the game; Jake Slaughter singled off Walton, recording the only hit of the inning...Samad Taylor checked in with a double and two more runs batted in last night, giving him three hits and four RBI through the first two games of the series...the top three hitters in Tacoma's lineup combined to walk six times, as Luis Urias led the way with three free passes.
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