Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - 5/16 vs. Sugar Land
Published on May 16, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
TODAY'S GAME - 5/16 vs. Sugar Land
FIRST PITCH - 6:05 PM at Cheney Stadium - Tacoma, WA
PITCHING MATCHUP - Tacoma RHP Gabe Mosser (2-1, 4.15) vs. Sugar Land RHP Ryan Weiss (0-0, 1.93)
ROSTER MOVES: The Tacoma Rainiers, in conjunction with the Seattle Mariners, have made the following roster moves:
ADD LHP Josh Simpson - optioned to Tacoma
BROADCAST - TV: Bally Sports Live App/MiLB.TV RADIO - KIXI 880
THE RAINIERS: Won their third straight game, taking down Sugar Land 4-1 on Friday night...Randy Dobnak threw 5.1 innings of one-run baseball, earning his third win of the season...Tacoma plated three of its four runs in the first inning, as Colt Emerson, Patrick Wisdom and Ryan Bliss all drove in runs in the opening frame...Sugar Land scored its lone run in the top of the sixth inning, but Tacoma got the run back in the bottom of the seventh as Brock Rodden connected on his sixth home run of the season...Michael Rucker and Cole Wilcox retired the final eight hitters of the game, as Wilcox recorded his second save of the season in the win.
FIRST INNING FRENZY: The Rainiers have scored eight runs in the first inning over the course of the series against Sugar Land, tallying a run in the first inning in each of the four games this week...it's Tacoma's longest streak of scoring a run in the first inning since doing so in four straight from August 27-30, 2025, at El Paso...the last time Tacoma plated a run in five consecutive first innings was when they did so in nine consecutive games from July 24-August 2, 2025, the last five of which came at Sugar Land...Tacoma has recorded at least one hit in the first inning over the last nine games, and multiple hits in each of the last four.
GABE'S GOT IT GOING: RHP Gabe Mosser was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Month for April...Mosser will make his 10th appearance and eighth start of the season today...Mosser has recorded four quality starts this season, tied for the most in the minor leagues and the only PCL pitcher to tally three consecutive quality starts this season...Mosser is tied for second in the minor leagues with 47.2 innings pitched, while also ranking among PCL leaders in: WHIP (2nd - 1.20), ERA (3rd - 4.15) and opponent batting average (4th - .246)...Mosser has dominated at Cheney Stadium this season, sporting a 1.96 ERA, the best among PCL pitchers at home this season and the third-best among all Triple-A pitchers, while his 0.87 WHIP at home is the second-best among all Triple-A pitchers at home.
SAVE THE DAY: RHP Cole Wilcox locked down his second save of the season on Saturday night, recording the final five outs of the game...the save was Tacoma's 12th of the season, the most in the PCL and tied for the fifth-most in Triple-A...Wilcox's five-out save was Tacoma's first save of at least five outs since Sauryn Lao recorded a 10-out save on August 13, 2025, against Las Vegas...four different Rainiers have recorded multiple saves this season, tied for the most in the Pacific Coast League (also: Round Rock)...the Rainiers have allowed just five earned runs in the ninth inning this season, the fewest in Triple-A and have not allowed a run in the ninth inning since April 25 at Oklahoma City, a stretch of 15 games.
BOLD AND BRASH: RHP Matt Brash was sent to Tacoma on a Major League rehab assignment on Thursday, striking out the side in his lone inning of work...Brash, 28, was placed on Seattle's 15-Day Injured List with right lat inflammation on May 1 (retro April 30)...the right-hander got off to a dominant start with the Mariners this season, going 2-0 with zero earned runs over 11.1 innings, allowing just three hits and two walks, while striking out eight...Brash appeared in six games with Tacoma in 2025, allowing five earned runs over 5.1 innings, walking two and striking out five...Brash marks the sixth Major League rehab assignment by a Mariners player in Tacoma this season.
BLISS SWIPING BAGS: INF Ryan Bliss stole his fifth base of the season on Wednesday night, the 77th of his Rainiers career, passing Mike Davis (76SB from1981-82) for the fourth-most in franchise history...next up on the list is Cade Marlowe, who stole 91 bases with Tacoma from 2021-25...since his Triple-A debut on July 14, 2023, Bliss' 82 total steals (76 with Tacoma, five with Reno), are the second-most in the PCL, trailing only the 100 by Samad Taylor in that time.
BRENNEN'S BOOMING: Since May 5, OF Brennen Davis is hitting .425 (17x40) with five doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI...in that time, Davis leads the PCL with 17 hits, while ranking second in batting average, slugging percentage (.775) and OPS (1.286), collecting hits in eight of his 10 games in that stretch...Davis ranks third among PCL hitters (min. 100 PA) with a 53.9% hard hit rate (Baseball Savant)...since hitting his first home run on April 17, his eight home runs are the second most in the PCL in that time, while ranking sixth with 32 hits and 21 hits.
THE MAYER OF THE MOUND: RHP Gunner Mayer has been locked in to start the season, allowing one earned run over 13.1 innings...among PCL pitchers with at least 10 appearances this season, Mayer's five hits allowed are the fewest, his 0.68 ERA is the second-best, ranking second with a .114 opponent batting average...Mayer has relied on his fastball, throwing it 71% of the time, the second-highest rate that any PCL pitcher (min. 200 pitches) uses their fastball this season (Baseball Savant).
FEEL SO CLOSE TO YOU RIGHT NOW: Through 43 games of the 2026 season, the Rainiers have played plenty of close games, with 28 of the 43 games being decided by two-or-fewer runs (the most in the league), 19 of which have been one-run games...the Rainiers have gone 13-15 in games decided by two-or-fewer runs and 7-12 in one-run games.
BULLPEN BULLETS: Following Friday's game, Tacoma's bullpen ERA dropped to 2.68, the best among full-season minor league teams and one of two full-season clubs with a bullpen ERA under 3.00 (also: Buffalo - 2.96)...Tacoma's bullpen has not allowed an earned run in 17 of the 43 games this season, and have allowed more than two earned runs just six times...it's the best start (by ERA) for a PCL bullpen through 42 games since the 2016 Rainiers bullpen had a 2.18 ERA...the eight home runs allowed by Tacoma's bullpen are tied for the fewest among full-season minor league teams.
MARINERS UPDATE: The Mariners were blanked by San Diego 2-0 on Friday night...Randy Arozarena went 2-for-4, as did Cole Young, who hit a double...Emerson Hancock threw 6.0 innings of one-run baseball, striking out six.
Pacific Coast League Stories from May 16, 2026
- Comets Beat Isotopes, 10-2 - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Moore's Walk-off Single Seals Bees' First Series Win of the Year - Salt Lake Bees
- Comets Blast off with Freeland and Suwinski's Home-Run Trio - Oklahoma City Comets
- Moore Hits Walk-off Single for the Bees Saturday - El Paso Chihuahuas
- Six-Run Ninth Results in Aces Loss on Top Gun Night - Reno Aces
- Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - 5/16 vs. Sugar Land - Tacoma Rainiers
- OKC Comets Game Notes - May 16, 2026 - Oklahoma City Comets
- Aviators Host Albuquerque Isotopes in Six-Game Homestand from Tuesday-Sunday, May 19-24 - Las Vegas Aviators
- Dobnak Deals as Rainiers Win Third Straight - Tacoma Rainiers
- Price Homer Provides Lone Run in Space Cowboys' Loss - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
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