Rainiers Fall 4-2 to River Cats in Pitcher's Duel
May 6, 2025 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
TACOMA, WA - The Tacoma Rainiers (11-23) allowed three runs on four extra-base hits in the sixth inning as they lost the series opener 4-2 to the Sacramento River Cats (17-17), taking their ninth-straight loss.
Tacoma got on the board in the first inning. Cole Young clubbed his third triple of the season off the right-center wall, tied for the most in the Pacific Coast League. Two batters later, an error by Sacramento first baseman Jake Lamb allowed Young to score, giving the Rainiers a 1-0 lead.
Sacramento tied the game in the third inning. With one out, Sergio Alcantara pulled a double down the right field line. Brett Auerbach followed that with a walk, and both runners advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch by Tacoma starter Blas Castaño. Grant McCray then flied out to center field, scoring Alcantara on the sacrifice fly and tying the game at 1-1. Castaño then got Marco Luciano to fly out to end the inning.
Sacramento took the lead in the sixth inning, and their rally began with a one-out triple from Daniel Johnson. Devin Mann doubled immediately after, making it 2-1, chasing Castaño from the game. Austin Kitchen came on in relief for Tacoma, and Jake Lamb met him with an RBI double to left field. After Logan Porter grounded out, Hunter Bishop hit Sacramento's fourth extra base hit of the inning, another double to left field which scored Lamb and made it 4-1.
The score remained 4-1 until the ninth inning, when Tacoma got back on the board. Young singled to lead off the frame, and after Harry Ford grounded into a fielder's choice, Dominic Canzone singled for his second hit of the game. Tyler Locklear then singled to load the bases, which Austin Shenton followed with a sacrifice fly to score Ford, cutting the deficit to 4-2, but that would be as close as the Rainiers got in the loss.
Blas Castaño took the loss in 5.1 innings pitched with three earned runs for Tacoma, his first of the season. Juan Mercedes took the win for Sacramento, and Tristan Beck recorded the save with two scoreless innings.
Postgame Notes:
Cole Young added to his team lead in triples today, notching his third triple of the season. This also moved him into a first place tie in the PCL for triples with Albuquerque's Sam Hilliard.
Cole Young also registered his third consecutive multi-hit game, his longest streak of the season.
Harry Ford extended his on-base streak to 18 games, which is the second longest active streak in the PCL and is also tied for the fourth longest on-base streak in the PCL this season.
Dominic Canzone's 112.7 MPH exit velocity on his single in the ninth inning is the hardest hit ball at Cheney Stadium this year. One batter later, Tyler Locklear laced a single at 111.5 MPH, which marked the second hardest hit ball at Cheney Stadium this season. The only ball that has been hit harder than these two by a Rainier this season was Canzone's home run at Reno on April 6th, which left the bat at 115.5 MPH.
Canzone extended his hitting streak to six games tonight, which is his longest hitting streak of the season.
Tacoma's nine game losing streak is their longest since dropping nine-straight from July 19-26, 2018.
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