September 6 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Albuquerque Isotopes
September 6, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
TACOMA RAINIERS (74-61) vs. ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES (55-80)
Friday, September 6 - 7:05 PM - Cheney Stadium - Tacoma, WA
RHP Emerson Hancock (6-3, 3.59) vs. RHP Karl Kauffmann (5-10, 8.72)
TONIGHT'S GAME: The Rainiers and Isotopes will play game four of their six-game series tonight, with Emerson Hancock taking the ball for Tacoma. Hancock is set to make his 17th start of the year for the Rainiers, going 6-3 with a 3.59 ERA through his first 16 games. Over that time, he has allowed 35 earned runs on 79 hits and 36 walks, striking out 60 batters over 87.2 innings pitched. Tonight will be his second career game against Albuquerque, earning the win his first time out. Opposite Hancock will be Karl Kauffmann getting the starting nod for the Isotopes, entering tonight's game with a 5-10 record and an 8.72 ERA through 26 starts. The right-hander has allowed 113 earned runs on 169 hits and 68 walks, striking out 68 batters in 116.2 innings pitched. Kauffmann leads Albuquerque in starts and made one against Tacoma back on July 13, allowing five earned runs on seven hits and four walks, striking out five batters over 4.1 innings.
GO AHEAD: With the game tied in the eighth inning, Dominic Canzone stepped to the plate. He was hitless at that point, putting his five-game hitting streak on the line. The outfielder won the game for the Rainiers, clubbing a go-ahead solo home run to put them in front. Josh Fleming closed the game out in the ninth, snapping Tacoma's three-game losing streak and earning their first win in the month of September. The hit extended Canzone's streak to six games, in which he is hitting .348 (8-for-23) with a double, home run and three runs batted in. The 27-year-old now has at least one hit in 15 of his 16 games with Tacoma this year.
THE RETURN OF KATO: Kobe Kato made his Triple-A debut with Tacoma back on July 23 this year after playing just one game at Double-A Corpus Christi. In his debut at Oklahoma City, the infielder went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three runs batted in. That was just the start for the 25-year-old, as he recorded another three-hit game the following day. Kato played in just five games with Tacoma, recording at least one hit in all five games and multi-hit efforts in three of the five games. He hit .556 (10-for-18) with eight runs scored, two doubles and a triple, driving in seven runs while walking twice and stealing four bases. Following his hot week, Kato was optioned to Double-A Arkansas where he hit .074 over nine games and spent time on their development list but is back with the Rainiers now as they continue to try and make the PCL playoffs.
CLEAN IT UP: Tacoma's defense has been relatively solid all year, leading the Pacific Coast League with 139 double plays entering tonight's game. Prior to this last week they had been in the top three among PCL teams in errors as well but have gotten sloppy over their last six games. The Rainiers have committed at least one error in each of their last six games played dating back to May 30. Entering play a week ago, they were third in the PCL with 90 errors committed and enter tonight's game fifth with 100 errors as a team. They have had two or more errors in three of their last four games, a category in which they are 10-14 this year.
A STRONG EFFORT: After starter Rob Kaminsky allowed two earned runs over 3.0 innings, it was up to Tacoma's bullpen to hold down Albuquerque's offense. The first man out, Jesse Hahn, allowed one earned run on two hits and a strikeout in his first outing with the Rainiers. At that point in the fourth inning, Tacoma trailed 3-1. That was all they would allow, however, as each of the next five men out of the bullpen tossed a scoreless inning of relief. Tacoma's offense got two runs in the fifth and a run in the eighth, just enough to propel them to victory. The six relievers combined to allow just one earned run on four hits and no walks, striking out four batters over 6.0 total innings.
GOT THE FIRST ONE: The Rainiers earned their first win in the month of September last night after starting the month with an 0-3 record. It was the first time they had lost the first three games of a single month since July 1-3 of 2021. Tonight, they have the chance to win back-to-back games for the first time since their season-long six-game winning streak from Aug. 14-20. Since that streak ended, they have lost 11 of their last 14 games entering play tonight.
TIME FOR A REMATCH: Tacoma and Albuquerque will play game four of their current series and game 10 of their season series tonight, with the Isotopes leading both categories. They lead the current series 2-1 and the season series 6-3 through the first nine games. Tonight provides a pitching rematch of one of the two games the Rainiers won at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park back in July. On July 13, Emerson Hancock faced off against Karl Kauffmann in a game that resulted in a 13-5 victory for Tacoma. Each starter allowed five earned runs, but the Isotopes' bullpen gave up eight earned runs over their 4.2 innings for the loss.
AGAINST ALBUQUERQUE: After losing each of the first two games of the series, Tacoma earned a win last night, cutting their series deficit back to one game, at 2-1. They trail the season series by three games entering play tonight, at 6-3, with just three games remaining between the two teams this year. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak to Albuquerque dating back to their series at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park from July 9-14. Despite winning last night, the Rainiers trail the all-time series to the Isotopes by 18 games entering play tonight, at 271-289-1.
SHORT HOPS: Last night's win improved Tacoma to 5-0 in games that Rob Kaminsky starts this year...Friday is Tacoma's winningest day of the season, going 9-3 at home and 18-6 overall; their next best day is Saturday with a record of 13-9...last night was Tacoma's fourth win of the year when tied after seven innings, going 4-6 in such contests...Emerson Hancock has thrown a quality start in exactly half of his starts for Tacoma this year, tossing eight quality starts out of his 16 games.
• Discuss this story on the Pacific Coast League message board...
Pacific Coast League Stories from September 6, 2024
- All-Around Effort Leads Bees To Third Straight Win Over River Cats - Salt Lake Bees
- OKC Blanks Space Cowboys - Oklahoma City Comets
- Space Cowboys Left Scoreless in Friday Night Loss - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - September 6, 2024 - Oklahoma City Comets
- September 6 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Albuquerque Isotopes - Tacoma Rainiers
- Aviators Use Five Homers to Beat Express, 11-2 - Round Rock Express
- Sacco Jr.'s First Triple-A Homer the Difference in 85th Win - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- Canzone Powers Tacoma to Victory - Tacoma Rainiers
- Isotopes Fall on Canzone's Eighth Inning Blast, 4-3 - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Reno Edges El Paso, 4-3 - El Paso Chihuahuas
- Aces Take Down Chihuahuas in Close 4-3 Victory - Reno Aces
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
