Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - vs. El Paso
Published on March 31, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
TODAY'S GAME - 3/31 vs. El Paso
FIRST PITCH - 6:05 PM at Cheney Stadium - Tacoma, WA
PITCHING MATCHUP - Tacoma RHP Randy Dobnak (2-8, 5.84 in 2025) vs. El Paso LHP JP Sears (1-0 3.29 ERA in 2025)
BROADCAST - TV: Bally Live App/MiLB.TV RADIO - KIXI 880
ROSTER MOVES: The Tacoma Rainiers, in conjunction with the Seattle Mariners, have made the following roster moves:
ADD SS J.P. Crawford (#0) - sent to Tacoma on a Major League rehab assignment
ADD RHP Gunner Mayer (#38) - transfer to Tacoma from Double-A Arkansas
DEL LHP Austin Kitchen - placed on the 7-Day Injured List
DIGITAL PRESS BOX - Digital game notes and rosters can be found at the Rainiers Virtual Press Box
Today's game notes, updated roster and starting lineups are attached.
THE RAINIERS: Open the home portion of their schedule tonight with the first game of a six-game series against El Paso Chihuahuas...Tacoma won their first series of the season, taking two of the three games against Reno...Patrick Wisdom homered twice in the series finale, including a three-run home run in the first inning...the Aces tied the game in the bottom of the third inning, but Tacoma took the lead back as Will Wilson and Alejo Lopez drove in runs in the fourth inning and Connor Joe drove in a run in the fifth to lead 6-3...Reno got one back in the sixth inning, but Tacoma added insurance as Wisdom homered again in the eighth inning and Brock Rodden and Joe added drove in another pair in the ninth...the Rainiers bullpen allowed just one run over 6.0 innings of work in the win.
THREE CHEERS FOR CHENEY: The Rainiers play their first of 75 games at Cheney Stadium tonight...the Rainiers, who went 52-29 at home last season were one of two Triple-A teams to win 50 games at home (also: Indianapolis - 50 wins)...Tacoma's .642 win percentage at home last year was the second-best in Triple-A, trailing only Indianapolis' .667 and the second-best for the club in the last 20 seasons, trailing only the .667 home winning percentage by the 2005 Rainiers (48-24).
CRAWFORD'S COMEBACK: SS J.P. Crawford was sent to Tacoma on a Major League rehab assignment on Tuesday...Crawford, 31, was placed on the Mariners' 10-Day Injured List on March 25 (retro March 22) with right shoulder inflammation...in 2025, Crawford hit .265 with 24 doubles, 12 home runs and 58 RBI...stole eight bases, a Major League career-high over 157 games...Crawford is the Mariners franchise leader with 855 games played at shortstop...Crawford joins the Rainiers for the first time since 2024, when he played on a pair of rehab assignments with Tacoma.
ROLLING WITH RANDY: RHP Randy Dobnak will make his Rainiers debut tonight...the 31-year-old made his first appearance of the season on March 30 with Minnesota, his lone Major League appearance of the season, throwing 5.1 innings of one-run baseball on March 30 at St. Louis...he spent the remainder of the season with Triple-A St. Paul and Triple-A Toledo, going a combined 2-8 with a 5.84 ERA in 26 appearances (18 starts)...Dobnak was signed by Seattle to a minor league contract on November 17, 2025
CHIHUAHUAS CHECK-IN: The El Paso Chihuahuas make their way to Cheney Stadium for the first of 12 games in Tacoma this season and first of 18 overall...the Rainiers went 10-5 against El Paso last season and 2-1...Tacoma hit .301 against El Paso last year, the Rainiers' third-best average against one opponent last season...in the 15 meetings against Tacoma last season, El Paso had a .348 on-base percentage, their worst against a single opponent, as was their .780 OPS against Tacoma.
INSTILLING WISDOM: INF Patrick Wisdom connected on three home runs over the weekend in Reno, the most in the Pacific Coast League after three games...Wisdom hit a pair of long balls on Sunday, the first multi-homer game by a Rainier this season...it's the 20th multi-homer game of career and the first since May 28, 2023 against Cincinnati...it's the earliest in the season a Rainier has recorded a multi-homer game since Brian O'Keefe hit two home runs in Tacoma's third game of the season on April 2, 2023 at Oklahoma City...Wisdom also ranks among the early league leaders in: TB (T2nd - 13), RBI (T3rd -7), SLG (3rd - 1.182) and OPS (4th - 1.682).
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.
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.
MARINERS UPDATE: The Mariners picked up their first walk-off win of the 2026 season on Monday night, beating the New York Yankees 2-1...Cole Young collected the first of his three hits with an RBI single in the second inning to give Seattle a 1-0 lead...Luis Castillo fired 6.0 innings of shutout baseball with two walks and seven strikeouts in the no-decision...the Yankees tied the game in the seventh, but it was Cal Raleigh who delivered the winning hit, an RBI single in the ninth inning to finish off the 2-1 victory.
Pacific Coast League Stories from March 31, 2026
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