Rainiers Win Fourth-Straight With 8-6 Victory Over Round Rock
PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Rainiers Win Fourth-Straight With 8-6 Victory Over Round Rock

Published on July 26, 2025 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


TACOMA, WA - The Tacoma Rainiers (56-44/18-7) won their fourth game in a row, scoring an 8-6 victory over the Round Rock Express (45-52/11-11) on Friday night at Cheney Stadium. Blas Castaño fired 5.0 innings of one-run baseball in the win. The win marks the Rainiers' fourth in a row, their fifth streak of at least four wins this year.

Round Rock scored in the first inning for the third consecutive game. Dustin Harris led off the game with a single to right field. He advanced to second base on a balk and scored on a two-out single from Trevor Hauver to take a 1-0 lead.

The Rainiers, similar to Thursday night, put up a crooked number in the bottom of the first inning. Samad Taylor worked a 10-pitch battle, but was called out on strikes to lead off the inning. Rhylan Thomas poked a single to left field and Harry Ford smoked a double off the left-center wall to put two in scoring position. After Tyler Locklear struck out, Leody Taveras crushed a three-run home run to right field, his third with the Rainiers, giving Tacoma a 3-1 lead. Round Rock starter Cory Abbott got Cade Marlowe to fly out to finish the inning.

Tacoma put up another pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning. Leo Rivas led off with a walk and swiped second base. Victor Labrada drove him in with a double down the right field line to push the Rainiers' lead to 4-1. With Taylor at the plate, Labrada stole third base, allowing Taylor to drive him in with a sacrifice fly to right field to make it a 5-1 lead.

Dane Acker took over for Abbott in the bottom of the fifth inning and Tacoma would plate a pair of runs against him. Austin Shenton led off with a double to the right field corner. Taylor put down a sacrifice bunt, pushing Shenton to third base. Thomas drew a walk that put runners on the corners. Ford looped a ball down the right field line that scored Shenton to give Tacoma a 6-1 lead, with Thomas moving to second base on the play. Tyler Locklear was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Taveras hit a ground ball back to the pitcher Acker, who threw to second base, but the throw to first was not in time for a potential double play, allowing Thomas to score on a fielder's choice and pushing the Rainiers lead to 7-1. Marlowe flied out to left field for the final out of the frame.

Round Rock got back on the board in the top of the sixth inning as Joe Jacques took over in relief of Castaño. Trevor Hauver led off the inning with a walk, and a one-out double by Billy McKinney put two runners in scoring position. Frainyer Chavez drove in a run on a groundout to cut the Rainier's lead to 7-2. Juan Burgos would take over for Jacques to face Cooper Johnson, who doubled in another run to trim the lead to 7-3. Burgos got Kellen Strahm to pop out to retire the side.

Tacoma plated countered with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth, this time against Josh Sborz, who was pitching on a Major League rehab assignment. Rivas led off the inning with his second walk of the game, his third consecutive game with multiple walks. Rivas swiped second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher Cooper Johnson. After Labrada struck out, Shenton hit a sacrifice fly to center field that brought Labrada in to lead 8-3.

The Express continued to chip away, as they scored twice more in the seventh inning as Collin Snider took over in relief, making his seventh appearance on Major League rehab. Harris led off the inning with a single and stole second base. Snider got a pair of outs as Justin Foscue flied out to center field and Blaine Crim popped out to the shortstop. Hauver, who already drove in a run, hit a two-run home run to right field, his seventh of the season, getting Round Rock within 8-5. McKinney grounded out to first base for the third out of the inning.

In the top of the eighth inning, Hagen Danner took over in relief for Tacoma. Trejo led off with a double to left field and moved up to third base on a groundout by Chavez. Johnson drove him in with a sacrifice fly to cut the Tacoma lead even further at 8-6. Danner struck out Strahm to close the frame.

Troy Taylor entered the game in the top of the ninth, looking to close out the victory. He issued a leadoff walk to Harris, but retired the next three batters in order to finish the 8-6 win. Taylor picked up his fourth save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning. Blas Castaño secured his sixth win of the season with 5.0 innings of one-run baseball.

POSTGAME NOTES:

Blas Castaño recorded his sixth victory of the season on Friday night, all of which have come at Cheney Stadium...his six home victories are the most in the PCL and the second-most in Triple-A, trailing Iowa's Connor Noland, who has seven...Castaño's six wins at Cheney Stadium are tied for the sixth-most by a Tacoma pitcher since 2005

Leody Taveras hit his third home run of the season with Tacoma on Friday night, all of which have come since the All-Star Break...with his four RBI tonight, he now has 21 RBI in July, the most he's recorded in a single month in his career, surpassing the 17 he tallied in July of 2021

Leo Rivas drew a pair of walks on Friday night, his third consecutive game with multiple walks drawn...he's the second Rainier this year to draw multiple walks in three-straight games this year, joining Blake Hunt, who did so from July 11-20...Rivas is the eighth PCL hitter this year to draw multiple walks in three-straight...only one PCL player has done so in four in a row: Sugar Land's Zack Short...the last Rainier to do so in four-straight is Jose Caballero, who did so from March 31-April 4, 2023

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