Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - vs. El Paso
July 20, 2025 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
TODAY'S GAME - 7/20 vs. El Paso
FIRST PITCH - 1:35 PM (PT) at Cheney Stadium - Tacoma, WA
PITCHING MATCHUP - Tacoma RHP Sauryn Lao (0-3, 3.69) vs. El Paso LHP Jackson Wolf (4-2, 5.76)
BROADCAST - TV: Bally Live App/MiLB.TV RADIO - KIXI 880
THE RAINIERS: Scored a series victory with a 9-7 win over El Paso on Saturday night...both teams traded punches early as at least one team scored a run in each of the first six innings....the Chihuahuas plated a run in the first inning, but Tacoma promptly responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning, scoring a run on an errant pickoff throw and plating two more on a Leody Taveras double and a Spencer Packard single to lead 3-1...El Paso scored another run in the top of the second inning, trimming Tacoma's lead to 3-2...the Rainiers responded again in the bottom of the third with a two-run home run from Tyler Locklear, his 14th of the year, to lead 5-2...El Paso got both runs back in the fourth on a Rodolfo Duran single, getting within a run at 5-4...Samad Taylor hit his 15th home run of the season with two outs in the bottom of the inning...El Paso tied the game at six in the fifth on a two-run home run from Yonathan Perlaza...the Rainiers took the lead back in the sixth inning as Austin Shenton scored on a fielder's choice and Taylor scored on a double steal, taking home to lead 8-6...Shenton padded the lead with his 14th homer in the eighth inning to lead 9-6...El Paso rallied for one run in the ninth, but that would be all as Tacoma held on for the win, taking the first two games of the series.
NINE IS FINE: The Rainiers have plated at least nine runs in each of their last five games and in 12 of their 14 July games...the five-game streak of nine runs is Tacoma's best since at least 2005...no other PCL team has a such streak of more than three games this season, while Tacoma is on their second streak in July of at least four games (July 5-9 and July 11-active)...the last PCL team to score nine runs in five consecutive games was the Round Rock Express, who did so from August 24-28, 2023...the last PCL team to score nine runs in six consecutive games was the 2022 El Paso Chihuahuas, who did so from May 8-14, 2022.
SAMAD SWIPES HOME: In the sixth inning of Tacoma's 9-7 victory on Saturday, Rhylan Thomas (first base) and Samad Taylor (third base) pulled off a double steal, with Taylor swiping home...it's the first time this year that a Rainier has stolen home, marking the third consecutive season a Rainier has stolen home...Taylor was also responsible for the lone theft of home in 2024, making him only the second Rainier since 2005 with multiple steals of home, joining Hunter Brown, who did stole home in once in 2005 and 2006...Taylor is one of 20 PCL players since 2005 to record multiple steals of home.
SUNDAY SLUGGERS: Winners in eight of their last 10 Sunday games, the Rainiers have gotten it done with the bats...the Rainiers lead all full-season minor league teams with 116 runs scored on Sundays and a .500 Sunday slugging percentage, ranking second with a .297 Sunday batting average, a .388 on-base percentage and with an .888 Sunday OPS... Samad Taylor leads all minor leaguers with 24 Sunday hits and tied for the lead with seven doubles...Tyler Locklear and Rhylan Thomas are tied for the fourth-most hits among all minor leaguers with 22 Sunday knocks.
RHYLAN CRUISES AT CHENEY: Following his 1-for-4 effort on Saturday night, OF Rhylan Thomas continues his hot hitting at Cheney Stadium...Thomas is hitting .348 (62x178) in 46 home games this season, the third-best home batting average of any PCL hitter...Thomas' .348 average is the third-best for any Rainier in a single season at Cheney Stadium (minimum 150 at-bats)...he trails only the .355 (76x214) that Matt Mangini hit in 2010 and the .392 (65x166) that Shin-Soo Choo hit in 2006...Thomas' 62 hits at Cheney Stadium are the 17th-most by a Rainier since 2005, 17 shy of the 79 hits Bryan LaHair recorded in 2007.
JULY JAMMING: Since the calendar turned to July, the Rainiers have been one of the best teams in Triple-A, going 12-2, best record in the circuit...offensively, Tacoma leads all Triple-A teams with 138 runs (30 more than next-closest), 160 hits, 87 walks drawn and with a .417 on-base percentage...the Rainiers' .313 batting average in July is the second-best, as is their .906 OPS in July...on the mound, the Rainiers' 35 walks issued are the fewest in Triple-A.
TYLER'S LOCKED IN: INF Tyler Locklear is on a season-best, 13-game hitting streak that dates back to July 1...in that time, Locklear is hitting .426 (23x54) with four doubles, four home runs and 23 RBI...since June 1, Locklear's 10 home runs are tied for the second-most in the PCL, his 50 hits and 45 RBI rank third, while his 23 extra-base hits are the fourth-most... since June 1, he ranks fourth in the league in slugging percentage at .653 and with a 1.073 OPS and eighth with a .420 on-base percentage.
MARINERS UPDATE: Cole Young delivered the walk-off single for Seattle, as they beat the Houston Astros 7-6 in 11 innings...the Mariners trailed 5-4 after seven innings, but tied the game in the eighth as Cal Raleigh scored from third on a ball that hit the knob of Dylan Moore's bat to even the score at five, eventually going to extra innings...after both teams scored in the 10th inning, Eduard Bazardo put up a zero in the 11th inning...Miles Mastrobuoni put down a sacrifice bunt to push Dominic Canzone to third base, setting up Young, who singled down the right field line to win the game for Seattle 7-6.
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