Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - 5/17 vs. Sugar Land
PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - 5/17 vs. Sugar Land

Published on May 17, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


TODAY'S GAME - 5/17 vs. Sugar Land

FIRST PITCH - 1:35 PM at Cheney Stadium - Tacoma, WA

PITCHING MATCHUP - Tacoma LHP Jhonathan Díaz (3-4, 7.29) vs. Sugar Land RHP Brandon McPherson (AAA Debut)

BROADCAST - TV: Bally Sports Live App/MiLB.TV RADIO - KIXI 880

DIGITAL PRESS BOX - Digital game notes and rosters can be found at the Rainiers Virtual Press Box

Today's game notes and starting lineups are attached.

THE RAINIERS: Fell 6-3 to Sugar Land in 10 innings on Saturday night...Tacoma took a 3-0 lead after five innings, as Colt Emerson scored on a fielder's choice in the fourth and Brennen Davis drove in a pair of runs on a double in the fifth...Gabe Mosser tossed 5.2 innings of shutout baseball, taking a no-decision...Sugar Land broke through in the seventh inning, scoring a pair of runs and tied the game in the ninth on a solo home run from Cavan Biggio...the Space Cowboys plated three in the 10th and kept the Rainiers off the board in the bottom of the inning to win 6-3.

TWO-BAG BRIAN: C Brian O'Keefe picked up his 10th double of the season on Saturday night, tied for the most among all Triple-A catchers...O'Keefe also ranks sixth among Triple-A backstops with a .535 SLG, eighth with a .310 batting average and 10th with an .899 OPS (min 50. PA)...O'Keefe is hitting .467 (7x15) with a pair of doubles and a home run in four day games this season.

COLT'S CONNECTING: Over his last 10 games, INF Colt Emerson is hitting .333 (14x42) with one double and three home runs, 12 RBI, and a team-best 12 runs scored...Emerson has scored 13 runs in May, tied for the second-most in the PCL, trailing only the 18 scored by Albuquerque's Cole Carrigg...Emerson has reached base in each of his last eight games, collecting a hit in seven of those games.

SIMPSON'S SHUTOUT STRETCH: LHP Josh Simpson has not allowed a run in each of his last eight outings with Tacoma, allowing just two hits over his last 8.1 innings...it's the second-longest active shutout streak in the PCL...Simpson also has not allowed a hit in each of his last six appearances with Tacoma, the third-longest streak in the PCL this year and the longest active streak, allowing just three walks in the that stretch... Simpson's .094 batting average against this season is the lowest among PCL lefties with at least nine appearances.

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 a league-best .422 (19x45), with a league-leading 19 hits, seven doubles, a .778 SLG and 1.278 OPS, while tied for the lead with 10 extra-base hits...in that time, Davis also ranks second with a .500 OBP and 35 total bases... Davis has collected hits in nine of his 11 games in that stretch...Davis ranks second among PCL hitters (min. 150 PA) with a 52.7% hard hit rate (Baseball Savant).

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 44 games of the 2026 season, the Rainiers have played plenty of close games, with 28 of the 44 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.

MARINERS UPDATE: The Mariners fell 7-4 to San Diego on Saturday...J.P. Crawford went 2-for-5 with a home run, while Cole Young drove in a pair of runs, going 1-for-4...Logan Gilbert took the loss, allowing seven runs over 6.2 innings...Nick Davila and Domingo González threw 2.1 innings of shutout relief in the loss.

Check out the Tacoma Rainiers Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 17, 2026


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