Negron's Big Night Lifts Rainiers to Fourth-Straight Victory against Salt Lake
June 30, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
Kristopher Negron of the Tacoma Rainiers
(Tacoma Rainiers, Credit: Jeff Halstead)
Tacoma, WA - A sixth inning solo home run from Kristopher Negron put Tacoma ahead of the Salt Lake Bees for good on Saturday night at Cheney Stadium before the host Rainiers poured on nine eighth inning runs, four of which came on a Shed Long inside-the-park grand slam, and won their fourth consecutive game, 12-3.
Negron passed teammate Jose Lobaton with his Rainiers (40-42) best 11th big fly on a full count pitch from Salt Lake (35-46) reliever Jose Rodriguez (1-2). The opposite field jack led off the bottom of the sixth and was part of a 5-for-5 game with 2 RBI and three runs for the 33-year-old.
Down 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Tacoma tied the game on a Jake Fraley RBI triple that scored Negron for the first run followed by a Ryan Court run-scoring single. Fraley has three triples in eight games at the Triple-A level, and two in as many nights.
Court finished 1-for-2 with a pair of walks in his first appearance since May 25. The 31-year-old spent the last 32 games on the Injured List.
The Rainiers took a 3-2 advantage into the bottom of the eighth and added nine insurance runs to seal the victory. Negron singled home Tim Lopes, and Shed Long raced home to beat a throw on Jake Fraley's ground ball to shortstop. Jordan Pacheco dumped a two-run single into shallow right-center to plate Negron and Fraley before Chris Mariscal doubled home Court for an 8-2 advantage.
After Tacoma loaded the bases up again, Long hit a fly off just to the left of the center field fence, bouncing away from the converging outfielders and allowing Long to race around the bases for an inside-the-park grand slam and a 12-2 lead. The grand slam was the Long's second this season (May 8 vs. Reno), and also marked Tacoma's second inside-the-parker this year (Robert Perez).
Left-hander Sean Nolin (2-0) dealt six strong innings to earn his second win, striking out six and allowing two runs on four hits and four walks.
Gerson Bautista pitched a scoreless seventh, striking out three, and Darin Gillies (S, 1) earned his first save by delivering the final two innings with one run allowed and a pair of strikeouts.
The Rainiers will play for a fifth-straight victory in Sunday's K9 Innings game, where fans can purchase one of two ticket packages to bring their dogs to the park. First pitch is at 1:35 p.m. PDT as righty Tyler Cloyd (1-7, 7.23) takes the mound. Mike Curto will have full coverage of on South Sound Talk 850 with audio streaming available on the Tacoma Rainiers TuneIn Radio Network.
All tickets, group outings, and suites packages for the 2019 season are available for purchase in person at the Cheney Stadium Box Office, online at TacomaRainiers.com and WeRTacoma.com, or over the phone at (253) 752-7707. The most up-to-date news and notes about the Rainiers throughout the season can be found by following the Rainiers on Twitter (@RainiersLand), Instagram (tacomarainiers) or liking the team on Facebook.
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 Kristopher Negron of the Tacoma Rainiers (Jeff Halstead) |
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