PCL Tacoma Rainiers

May 31 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers at Sacramento River Cats

Published on May 31, 2024 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


TACOMA RAINIERS (29-25) @ SACRAMENTO RIVER CATS (32-22)

Friday, May 31 - 6:45 PM - Sutter Health Park - Sacramento, CA

RHP Casey Lawrence (3-4, 5.47) vs. RHP Casey Seymour (1-4, 5.40)

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Rainiers and River Cats will play game four of their series tonight, with the River Cats currently leading the series two games to one. Casey Lawrence will get the starting nod for the Rainiers, looking to once again even the series. Lawrence has had a hot hand for Tacoma, winning each of his last three starts after starting the year losing four of his first six starts. He enters play tonight with a record of 3-4 and a 5.47 ERA, allowing 32 earned runs on 65 hits and 16 walks, striking out 34 batters over his 52.2 innings pitched. Lawrence got a no-decision against Sacramento his first time facing them this year back on April 30, delivering a quality start. The veteran right-hander spun six innings of three-run ball, working around seven hits (two home runs) and two walks with four strikeouts. Opposite Lawrence will be Casey Seymour toeing the rubber for Sacramento. Seymour is 1-4 with a 5.40 ERA through 11 starts this year for the River Cats, allowing 26 earned runs on 51 hits and 23 walks. He has fanned 40 batters in his 43.1 innings, while opponents are hitting .293 against him. He suffered one of his four losses to Tacoma back on May 3, allowing four earned runs on five hits and a walk, striking out five over 4.0 innings.

A RARE ONE: Jhonathan Diaz kept his hot start to the season rolling last night, tossing 6.1 innings of one-run ball. The southpaw allowed just five hits while not walking a single batter and striking out six of the 24 men he faced. Unfortunately for Diaz, the Rainiers' bullpen allowed three late runs and they lost the game 4-2, keeping him from earning what would have been his league-leading eighth win of the season. The loss marked just the second time all season in which Tacoma has lost a game that Diaz started, as the 27-year-old is now 7-1 with a 2.98 ERA through 11 games this year. On the year, he has allowed just 21 earned runs on 58 hits and 11 walks, striking out 65 batters in 63.1 innings. Opponents are hitting .244 against Diaz, but his 1.09 WHIP leads all qualified PCL pitchers and is third among all qualified Triple-A arms.

END ON A HIGH NOTE: May has been the worst month of the season for the Rainiers, as they will finish the month with a losing record. They finished March 2-1 and April 15-10, but enter tonight, the last game in May, with a record of 12-14 in the month. They are hitting .243 this month compared to .277 in April. Their pitching has taken a dip as well, as the team ERA for the month is 5.62 with 96 walks compared to a 4.21 ERA and 72 walks in April. Tacoma had decent success at home in May, going 7-5 in their 12 games at Cheney Stadium. Playing on the road has been a different story, however, as they are just 5-9 in 14 road games coming into tonight's contest. Five of their nine road losses this month have come at the hands of the River Cats.

"K"REHBIEL: Despite getting tagged with his first loss of the season last night, Joey Krehbiel threw the ball extremely well. He entered the game in the seventh inning, relieving starter Jhonathan Diaz, with a runner on first base and one out. He struck out the next two batters he faced to end the inning and came back out for the eighth. The first batter in the eighth reached via an error followed by a walk, but Krehbiel struck out the next two batters. He was then replaced by Collin Snider, who allowed two singles and Krehbiel got charged with the two runs and the loss. It is a hard loss to take, but Krehbiel struck out all four batters he retired and should have been out of the inning with a clean line had there not been an error.

DÉJÀ VU: After last night's loss, Tacoma now trails the series two games to one entering play tonight. They could very easily be holding a 3-0 series lead coming into tonight's game, blowing leads in both games one and three of the series so far. In Tuesday's loss, the Rainiers were up 3-2 going into the bottom of the seventh, allowing three runs in the seventh frame to lose 5-3. It was more of the same last night, going into the eighth with a 2-1 lead. The River Cats again struck for three late runs, winning by a score of 4-2 and taking a series lead. On the season, Tacoma is now 7-for-17 in save opportunities, blowing two through the first three games this week in Sacramento.

LEADING THE WAY: Jason Vosler has had nearly identical performances over his last two games, going 2-for-5 with two runs scored, a double, a home run and four runs batted in on Wednesday. He followed that with a 2-for-4 game last night, scoring a run, hitting a double, a home run and driving in one. The 30-year-old has been consistent all season long for the Rainiers and is leading the team in virtually every major hitting category. Coming into play tonight, he leads Tacoma in batting average (.294), hits (52), doubles (10), home runs (9) and runs batted in (37). He also has the most multi-hit games with 17and the most multi-RBI games on the active roster with nine. He now has home runs in back-to-back games, the second time he has done that this year and seventh time it has been done this year for the Rainiers.

NOT GETTING THE JOB DONE: Tacoma led 2-0 after four innings and 2-1 after five innings last night but couldn't add on. They had opportunities in the fifth and seventh innings, getting runners to third with one out in both frames and were unable to bring them in. In the fifth, a leadoff double followed one batter later by a single put runners on first and third with one out. Brian Anderson came to the plate and grounded into a double play, ending the inning and the scoring threat. In the seventh, two walks and a single loaded the bases with one out, but Anderson again grounded into a double play. This has been a common problem for the Rainiers this year, as they are hitting .193 (43-for-223) with runners in scoring position and two outs. They went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position last night, stranding nine runners on base. On the other side, with two outs in the eighth inning, Sacramento came up with two clutch singles to bring in three runs and win the game.

AGAINST SACRAMENTO: Tacoma and Sacramento are set to play game four of their six-game series tonight, with the Rainiers down a game again after falling last night. The loss put the River Cats ahead in the current series two games to one and in the season series by three, at 6-3. They also are back to 10 games over the .500 mark against Tacoma all-time, at 254-244.

SHORT HOPS: Jhonathan Diaz recorded six strikeouts and nine ground ball outs in last night's outing, retiring 15 of the 24 men he faced with either a strikeout or groundout...after allowing three runs in the eighth inning to lose the game last night, the Rainiers are now 24-2 when leading after seven innings this year...Luis Urias checked in with his first two hits since being optioned to Tacoma last night; the infielder is now hitting .167 (2-for-12) with five walks and four strikeouts in four games with the Rainiers...Tacoma is 16-5 when they out-hit their opponent, as they out-hit Sacramento 9-7 last night but lost by two...the Rainiers are just 8-5 when getting a quality start this year.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 31, 2024


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