Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - 9/17 at Round Rock
PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - 9/17 at Round Rock

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


TODAY'S GAME - 9/17 at Round Rock

FIRST PITCH - 4:45 PM (PT) at Dell Diamond - Round Rock, TX

PITCHING MATCHUP - Tacoma LHP Jhonathan Díaz (8-9, 6.22) vs. Round Rock LHP Dalton Pence (4-1, 1.82)

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: Evened the series with a 6-5 victory over Round Rock on Wednesday night...the Rainiers hit a pair of home runs in the second inning as Patrick Wisdom and Stuart Fairchild each connected on solo home runs...the Express eventually tied the game in the fifth inning, but Tacoma plated three more runs in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI single from Andy Ibáñez and a two-run single from Nolan Jones...Round tied the game again in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-5...Axel Sanchez gave Tacoma the lead again in the top of the seventh inning with a go-ahead solo home run to make it 6-5...Seth Shuman threw 2.1 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win, while Nick Garcia slammed the door in the ninth inning to hang on for the 6-5 win.

LEO LIVES ON BASE: INF Leo Rivas extended his on-base streak to 28 games with a pair of hits on Tuesday, the longest on-base streak by a Rainiers player this season and the longest since Harry Ford went on a 28-game streak from July 18-August 30, 2025, as well as the second-longest active on-base streak in the PCLRivas has reached base at a .462 clip over the streak, working 30 walks to 31 strikeouts...since September 1, Rivas ranks fourth in the league in on-base percentage at .476, the second-best on-base percentage for a Rainiers hitter in September (min. 50 PA) since at least 2005, trailing only Nick Solak's .477 in 2024...among PCL players with at least 100 plate appearances this season, Rivas leads the league with a 21.9% walk rate (per FanGraphs).

NOLAN'S KNOCKS: OF Nolan Jones extended his hitting streak to seven games with a 1-for-3 game on Wednesday, batting .360 (9x25) with a double, a home run and six RBI in that time...Jones is hitting .300 (15x50) in September, his best month by batting average this season and best (min. 50 PA) since hitting .312 (24x77) in August of 2024 between Albuquerque and Colorado...Jones has hits in 12 of his 14 September games and 17 of his last 21.

LOOK OUT, LEFTIES: The Rainiers will be facing a left-handed starter for the 58th time this season tonight, the most in Triple-A...Tacoma's 33 wins against left-handed starters are the most in Triple-A, pacing the circuit with 65 doubles off southpaw starters, ranking third with 39 home runs...Tacoma's 33 wins against left-handed starters are the club's most in a season since at least 2005, surpassing the 31 wins in 2025.

QUALITY STARTERS: LHP Jhonathan Díaz will make his league-leading (and career-high) 28th start of the season tonight, four of which have been quality starts...Díaz has also thrown at least 100 pitches in each of his last two starts, one of just two PCL pitchers to throw 100 pitches in consecutive starts this season, joined by Rainiers RHP Carson Fulmer (September 3-9)...the last Rainiers pitcher to throw at least 100 pitches in three consecutive starts was LHP Aríel Miranda, who did it in four consecutive starts from May 8-23, 2018...the Rainiers have thrown 36 quality starts on the season, the most in the minor leagues...Tacoma's 36 quality starts are 10 more than the next-closest Triple-A team (Lehigh Valley and Sacramento - 26)...Tacoma's starting pitchers have logged the most innings in the minor leagues (689.0), and have induced the most ground ball double plays in the minor leagues as well, getting 70 on the season.

HURTS SO GOOD: Tacoma batters have been hit by a pitch 94 times this season, breaking Tacoma's single-season franchise record of 88, set in 2025...it's the second-most in the PCL and the second-third in Triple-A, trailing Albuquerque's 95 and Nashville's 101...Victor Labrada has been hit 16 times this season, tied for the second-most in a single season in franchise history with Doug Jennings (1989) and Brian Raabe (1997), trailing only Dillon Thomas' 18 in 2021 for the most in a single season in franchise history.

GARCIA'S GOT IT GOING: RHP Nick Garcia, threw a clean ninth inning on Wednesday to earn his fourth save of the season, lowering his ERA to 2.62 (55.0 IP/16ER)...among PCL pitchers with at least 35 appearances this season, Garcia's 2.62 ERA is the best, ranking ninth with his 64K/23BB ratio...the 27-year-old has been even better at Cheney Stadium, sporting a 1.27 ERA in 21 outings at home this year, allowing just four earned runs in 28.1 innings, the best home ERA for a PCL pitcher (min. 20G), and the third-best in Triple-A...since June 25, Garcia has not given up a run in 22 of his last 26 appearances.

WORDS OF WISDOM: INF Patrick Wisdom hit his 34th home run of the season with Tacoma on Wednesday night, building on a career-high in affiliated baseball (Wisdom hit 35 last year with the Kia Tigers in the KBO)... Wisdom is the second Triple-A hitter since 2005 to tally three 30-homer campaigns, joining Mike Hessman, who hit 31 in 2007, 34 in 2008 and 35 in 2012...Wisdom is the third player in franchise history to hit 34 HR in a single season, here is how his stats stack up against the others:

Player Season G AVG H HR OBP SLG OPS AB/HR

Patrick Wisdom 2026 77 .282 82 34 .367 .684 1.051 8.56

Danny Walton 1974 139 .264 137 35 .352 .533 .885 14.85

Adrian Garrett 1971 131 .289 130 43* .406 .649 1.055 10.46

WINNING WAYS: The Rainiers have won 17 of their last 23 games since August 21 and have 26 wins in their last 37 games since August 5...since August 5, Tacoma's 26 wins are tied for the second-most in Triple-A...Tacoma owns a .650 winning percentage since August 1, which currently ranks as the club's best winning percentage after August 1 in a season since the 2021 Rainiers went 34-18 from August 1 through the end of the year, a .654 winning percentage en route to winning the Triple-A West.

HOMER HAPPY: The Rainiers hit three more home runs on Wednesday, putting them at 195 on the season, the most in the PCL and the fourth-most in Triple-A...Tacoma has hit 17 more home runs than the next-closest PCL team (Albuquerque - 178) and if they finish with the most, would be the first time leading the league in home runs for a season since the 2015 season with 148 home runs, which led all Triple-A teams that season...2026 would mark the fourth time since 2005 that the Rainiers have paced the PCL in home runs (also: 2009 - 166 and 2010 - 185)...Tacoma's 195 home runs this season are the most in a single season since hitting 214 in 2023.

MARINERS UPDATE: The Mariners beat the Angels 7-2 on Wednesday night in Anaheim...Cal Raleigh drove in three of Seattle's runs, going 2-for-3 with a double...Josh Naylor drove in a pair as well, going 2-for-5 with a double...after George Kirby started the game, Carlos Vargas, Jose A. Ferrer, Cooper Criswell and Andrés Muñoz combined for 4.2 innings of shutout relief to finish the victory.

Check out the Tacoma Rainiers Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from September 17, 2026


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