Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - at Reno
PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - at Reno

Published on March 29, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


TODAY'S GAME - 3/29 at Reno

FIRST PITCH - 1:05 PM at Greater Nevada Field - Reno, NV

PITCHING MATCHUP - Tacoma RHP Dane Dunning (4-2, 4.67 in 2025) vs. Reno LHP Yu-Min Lin (5-7, 6.64 in 2025)

BROADCAST - TV: Bally 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: Look to secure a series victory today in Reno after splitting the first two games of the series...after winning the season opener 7-6, Tacoma fell 8-4 on Saturday...Reno opened the scoring with three runs in the fourth inning, holding the lead for the remainder of the ballgame...the Rainiers chipped away, plating a run in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, getting a home run from Connor Joe in the seventh, but Reno scored two in the sixth, one in the seventh and two in the eighth inning to maintain the lead...Joe, along with Spencer Packard, Jhonny Pereda and Rhylan Thomas all tallied multi-hit games in the loss.

JOE KNOWS: OF Connor Joe has recorded a pair of hits in each of his first two games this season, going 4-for-10...all four of Joe's hits have gone for extra bases (three doubles and one home run), the most extra-base hits in the PCL through two games, and he's one of five PCL hitters to tally an extra-base hit in each of the first two games...Joe, who made his professional debut in 2015, has recorded multiple hits in each of his first two games of the season for the first time in his career...among Triple-A players who have at least 10 plate appearances this season, Joe ranks fifth with his average exit velocity of 96.7 mph.

DANE DAY: RHP Dane Dunning will make his Rainiers debut today in Reno...Dunning, who represented Team Korea in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, made three relief appearances in the WBC, allowing two runs on three hits in 3.0 innings with one walk and two strikeouts...Dunning split the 2025 campaign between the Rangers and Braves organizations, pitching in the Major Leagues and Triple-A, going 4-2 with a 6.27 ERA in 18 appearances (14 starts) between Round Rock and Gwinnett and 0-0 with a 6.97 ERA in 12 Major League relief outings with Texas and Atlanta...Dunning has made one start at Greater Nevada Field in his career, allowing two runs on four hits over 5.1 innings with no walks and five strikeouts on April 17, 2025.

OPENING DAY ODDS AND ENDS: The Rainiers won their fifth consecutive Opening Day game on Friday, the second-longest active streak in the league, trailing the six consecutive Opening Day victories by El Paso (who won 9-3 on Friday)...the Rainiers have connected on multiple home runs in four of the last six season openers and have not allowed a home run in the last three Opening Day games and in seven of the last eight...Tacoma have now won their last two times they've opened the season on the road...Alex Hoppe recorded the save in Friday's win, the first Rainier to record a save on Opening Day on the road since LHP George Sherrill did so on April 7, 2005 at Fresno (W 6-2).

COLT CONNECTS ON OPENING DAY: INF Colt Emerson hit the first Rainiers home run, hitting a two-run blast to left field in the third inning on Friday...Emerson (20 years, 250 days), became the youngest Rainier to homer on Opening Day in at least 20 years and the fifth Triple-A player in that time to hit an Opening Day home run before turning 21 (others: Jackson Holiday - 2024 with Norfolk, Luis Garcia Jr. - 2021 with Rochester, Billy Butler - 2007 with Omaha, Prince Fielder - 2005 with Nashville).

TOP TALENT IN TACOMA: Tacoma's Opening Day roster features four of the Mariners' Top-30 prospects (per MLB Pipeline)...No.1 prospect Colt Emerson (No. 9 overall) returns to the Rainiers after closing the 2025 season with Tacoma...he is joined by No. 18 prospect INF Brock Rodden, No. 23 OF Rhylan Thomas and No. 24 LHP Robinson Ortiz.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN: The Rainiers Opening Day roster is comprised of 16 pitchers, two catchers, six infielders and four outfielders...10 of the 28 players on the roster suited up for the 2025 Rainiers (RHP Blas Castaño, OF Colin Davis, LHP Jhonathan Díaz, INF Colt Emerson, RHP Domingo Gonzalez, LHP Austin Kitchen, RHP Casey Lawrence, OF Spencer Packard, RHP Troy Taylor and OF Rhylan Thomas...the 18 newcomers are: RHP Randy Dobnak, RHP Dane Dunning, RHP Alex Hoppe, OF Connor Joe, INF Alejo Lopez, RHP Gabriel Mosser, C Jhonny Pereda, C Jakson Reetz, RHP Michael Rucker, LHP Josh Simpson, INF Carson Taylor, RHP Brendan White, RHP Cole Wilcox, INF Will Wilson, INF Patrick Wisdom and RHP Yosver Zulueta...the Rainiers open the season with three players on the Injured List (OF Brennen Davis, OF Victor Labrada and RHP Ryan Loutos), as well as one on the Development List (C Brian O'Keefe).

RETURN TO RENO: Tacoma opens the 2026 season on the road, just the second time doing so since 2021 (also: 2023 at Oklahoma City)...Tacoma's first road trip in 2025 was also to Reno, where they won two of six games...the Rainiers, in total, went 15-9 against Reno and 7-5 at Greater Nevada Field in 2025...Tacoma's 30 doubles at Greater Nevada Field in 2025 were the most they hit at any road venue last season, however, the club's .779 OPS was the second-lowest of any venue they played in last year...including this weekend's results, Tacoma has posted a 40-31 record at Greater Nevada Field in the last six seasons, the best mark for any visiting team at Greater Nevada Field in that time.

RUNNING IT BACK WITH RUSSELL: Manager John Russell returns to lead the Rainiers in 2026, joined by Bench Coach Eric Farris, Hitting Coach Seth Mejias-Brean, Pitching Coach Mike McCarthy and Coach Jacob Nottingham...Farris returns to Tacoma for his fourth season on the staff and third as bench coach. Mejias-Brean played for the Rainiers from 2017-18 and served as the Tacoma's bench coach in 2022...McCarthy joins the staff with stops in Triple-A Rochester (2018-19), St. Paul (2021), El Paso (2022), Gwinnett (2024), as well as a stop in the Major Leagues with the Athletics as their bullpen coach in 2023...Nottingham joins the staff after playing for Tacoma in 2025, appearing in 17 games, hitting .193 with six doubles and seven RBI.

RAINIER RECORDS: The Rainiers closed the 2025 regular season with their 86th victory, the most in the Pacific Coast League and the most in the "Rainiers Era," which began in 1995 when Tacoma changed from the Tacoma Tigers to the Rainiers and began their affiliation with the Seattle Mariners...the previous high in the "Rainiers Era" was 85 wins in 2001, when they were declared "Co-Champions" of the Pacific Coast League with New Orleans...Tacoma has reached 86 wins for the third time in franchise history (also: 1961 - franchise record 97, 1969 - 86).

MARINERS UPDATE: The Mariners fell 6-5 to the Guardians in 10 innings on Saturday night...Bryan Woo threw 6.0 innings of two-run baseball with nine strikeouts, but did not factor into the decision...trailing 3-2 in the ninth, Julio Rodríguez tied the game with a two-out single, but Cleveland scored three in the top of the 10th to lead 6-3...Luke Raley hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning, his third consecutive game with a home run, to make it 6-5, which would be the final score.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from March 29, 2026


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