Rainiers Rally Late to Beat Bees 5-4, Win Sixth-Straight
May 31, 2025 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
TACOMA, WA - The Tacoma Rainiers (26-30) scored all five of their runs after the fifth inning as they erased a 3-0 deficit to beat the Salt Lake Bees (23-32) 5-4 on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 6,817 at Cheney Stadium. The win is the Rainiers' sixth in a row as they have taken the first five games of the series against Salt Lake.
The Bees opened the scoring in the first inning. David Mershon began the game with a single into right field, which Christian Moore followed with a double off the left field wall. With runners on second and third, J.D. Davis grounded out softly to third, and Mershon was able to score on the play, giving Salt Lake a 1-0 lead. Tacoma starter Jhonathan Díaz struck out Niko Kavadas and induced a groundout from Matthew Lugo to end the frame.
Tacoma starter Jhonathan Díaz stranded runners in scoring position in the second and third innings. After giving up a two-out double to Davis, he retired eight in a row through the fifth inning.
The score stayed at 1-0 until the sixth inning when Salt Lake added to their lead. Davis, Kavadas, and Lugo hit three consecutive singles to load the bases, following which Chad Stevens struck out swinging. With Kyen Paris at the plate, Díaz was called for a balk, which scored Davis to make it 2-0. With runners on second and third, Paris hit a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 3-0 before Sebastian Rivero flied out to end the inning.
Tacoma came back to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth. Dominic Canzone led off with a single, and Tyler Locklear walked. Austin Shenton then doubled into the right field corner, scoring Canzone and advancing Locklear to third base. After Colin Davis struck out, Spencer Packard bounced a single to right field, which scored Locklear, getting Tacoma within a run at 3-2. With runners on the corners and two outs, Samad Taylor doubled to the opposite field, scoring Shenton to tie the game at 3-3, but Packard was thrown out at home plate to end the Tacoma rally.
The Rainiers took the lead in the seventh, which began with a base hit by Rhylan Thomas. With Harry Ford at the plate, Salt Lake reliever Jack Dashwood attempted a pick-off to first base right as Thomas tried to steal second base. Kavadas's throw from first base aimed to catch Thomas deflected off of his helmet and rolled into shallow left field, which allowed Thomas to advance to third base. Harry Ford grounded to third, which Canzone followed with an infield single that scored Thomas to give Tacoma a 4-3 lead.
Tacoma added on to their lead in the eighth. With one out, Spencer Packard hit his fourth home run of the season over the right field wall, a solo shot that extended the Tacoma advantage to 5-3.
Salt Lake made a late push in the ninth inning. Zach Pop entered the game looking for his first save of the season. Paris was hit by a pitch to begin the inning. He stole second base and advanced to third on a ground ball hit to first by Rivero that resulted in an error on Tyler Locklear. Tucker Flint, who pinch hit for Korey Holland in the seventh inning, dropped down a sacrifice bunt and reached base on a throwing error by Ford, scoring Paris to make it 5-4. Mershon was retired after a sacrifice bunt, which moved both runners into scoring position. Moore was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up the double play. Davis then grounded to shortstop, which the Rainiers turned for the twin killing to win the game 5-4.
Diaz went 6.0 innings in the start for the Rainiers, allowing three runs and striking out six in his team-leading fourth quality start of the season. Adonis Medina earned the win with a scoreless seventh and eighth innings out of the bullpen, and Zach Pop earned his first save of the season. Jake Eder had 4.0 scoreless innings in his start for Salt Lake, and Jack Dashwood took the loss after giving up the run that put Tacoma in the lead in the seventh inning.
Postgame Notes:
Tacoma extended their season-high winning streak to six games tonight, the longest active streak in the PCL and Tacoma's longest winning streak since they won six straight from August 14-20, 2024.
Saturday's game marks the first time this season that Spencer Packard has recorded multiple extra-base hits and multiple RBIs in a game, as he had a double, a homer, and two RBIs. The last time he achieved the feat was June 16, 2024, when he went 5 for 6 with two doubles and two RBIs in a Tacoma victory over Round Rock.
With his fourth quality start of the season tonight, Jonathan Diaz moved into a tie for second place in the PCL in that category. He is tied with Sacramento's Trevor McDonald and trails Sacramento's Carson Whisenhunt, who leads the PCL with six quality starts.
Samad Taylor extended his hitting streak to 15 games with his double in the sixth inning, which is the second-longest active streak in the PCL. On top of that, he extended his on-base streak to 21 games, which is also the second-longest active streak in the PCL. Taylor also has four straight games with an extra-base hit, which is the second-longest such streak in the PCL.
Zach Pop recorded his first save of the season on Saturday, his first since July 25th, 2024 for Buffalo versus Syracuse. This is also his third consecutive outing without allowing a hit, which is the fourth-longest active streak in the PCL. It is the second-longest active streak on the team, however, as Pop trails Shintaro Fujinami, whose five straight hitless outings rank as the second-longest active streak in the PCL.
Pacific Coast League Stories from May 31, 2025
- Rainiers Rally Late to Beat Bees 5-4, Win Sixth-Straight - Tacoma Rainiers
- Late Rally Not Enough as Bees Fall to Rainiers, 5-4 - Salt Lake Bees
- Sugar Land Scores Four Runs in the Ninth, But Comeback Falls Short - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- Aces Silenced by Express in 6-0 Loss - Reno Aces
- Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - vs. Salt Lake - Tacoma Rainiers
- OKC Comets Game Notes - May 31, 2025 - Oklahoma City Comets
- Tacoma Uses Big Second Inning to Cruise Past Salt Lake - Salt Lake Bees
- Aviators Top Comets, 9-7 - Oklahoma City Comets
- Rainiers Strike Out Season-High 16 Bees in 7-2 Victory, Earning Series Win - Tacoma Rainiers
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