Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - vs. Round Rock
Published on July 25, 2025 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
TODAY'S GAME - 7/25 vs. Round Rock
FIRST PITCH - 7:05 PM (PT) at Cheney Stadium - Tacoma, WA
PITCHING MATCHUP - Tacoma RHP Blas Castaño (5-2, 4.46) vs. Round Rock RHP Cory Abbott (1-2, 7.27)
ROSTER MOVES: The Tacoma Rainiers, in conjunction with the Seattle Mariners, have made the following roster moves:
DEL LHP Brandyn Garcia (retro July 24) - traded to Arizona
DEL RHP Trevor Gott - placed on 7-Day Injured List
ADD RHP Michael Mariot (#38) - activated from Development List
BROADCAST - TV: Bally Live App/MiLB.TV RADIO - KIXI 880
THE RAINIERS: Took a 6-1 victory over Round Rock thanks to a complete game from Casey Lawrence, the first time a PCL pitcher has gone the distance in a nine-inning game this season...the Express took an early lead as Billy McKinney homered with two outs in the first inning, but that was the only run Round Rock scored...Tacoma pounced on Michael Plassmeyer, hitting back-to-back home runs to start the game as Samad Taylor and Rhylan Thomas went deep in to open the bottom of the first inning...after Leo Rivas flied out to the warning track, Tyler Locklear clubbed his fourth home run in three games, clearing the scoreboard in right field to give Tacoma a 3-1 lead...Spencer Packard drove in the Rainiers' fourth run of the inning on a fielder's choice...Tacoma scored another run in the sixth inning on a bases loaded walk to Leo Rivas and one more in the eighth on a Rivas RBI single to lead 6-1...Lawrence retired 20 consecutive Express hitters from the third into the ninth inning before giving up a one-out single in the ninth, retiring the next two batters to finish the complete game.
CASEY'S COMPLETE GAME: RHP Casey Lawrence fired the PCL's first nine-inning complete game on Thursday night (LV's Kade Morris threw a seven-inning CG on June 19)...the only other Triple-A complete game this year came from Louisville's Adam Plutko on June 20... Lawrence has now thrown three of the Rainiers' last four complete games (also: June 5, 2018 and July 3 2017)...Tacoma's last nine-inning complete game came from Emerson Hancock who went the distance in a complete-game shutout on July 21, 2024 against Reno... The two hits allowed by Lawrence are the fewest in a nine-inning complete game at Triple-A since Gwinnett's Kyle Wright threw a two-hit shutout against Nashville on September 19, 2021...the last nine-inning complete game with fewer than two hits allowed was on August 19, 2019 when Buffalo's TJ Zeuch threw a no-hitter against Rochester...Zeuch's catcher that day was current Rainiers' coach Beau Taylor... Lawrence is the first Triple-A pitcher at 37-years-old to pitch a complete game since Cesar Valdez threw one for Salt Lake on May 5, 2022...Lawrence is the first 37-year-old to throw a nine-inning complete game with two-or-fewer hits allowed since Ramon Ortiz went the distance for Buffalo on July 30, 2010 (9.0 IP, 2H).
STARTING WITH A BANG: The first two Rainiers to step to the plate on Thursday night hit home runs, as UTL Samad Taylor and OF Rhylan Thomas went back-to-back...it's the fifth time this year in Triple-A that a team's first two batters of the game have hit home runs and the second time in the PCL (Reno, April 15 against Round Rock)...it's the first time the Rainiers have accomplished the feat since May 22, 2021, also against Round Rock...it's the third time since 2005 Tacoma has led off the game with back-to-back home runs (the other: September 1, 2013 against Sacramento)...it marks the second time this season the Rainiers have hit back-to-back home runs (also: Austin Shenton/Dominic Canzone, April 29 at Las Vegas).
TALK ABOUT TYLER: INF Tyler Locklear reached base in 11 consecutive plate appearances from June 22-24, going 9-for-9 in that time with a double and three home runs before snapping the streak by grounding into a double play in the second inning of Thursday's game...it continues a hot streak for Locklear dating back to June 1, where he leads all minor leaguers with 54 RBI, ranking second with 15 home runs (hitting 15 of his 18 on the year since June 1), he also ranks second among all minor leaguers with a .724 slugging percentage and 118 total bases in that time and tied for the second-most extra-base hits with 59...Locklear's .457 batting average and 1.383 OPS in July are the best for any Triple-A player this season (min. 70 AB in the month) and his 32 July RBI are the third-most for a Triple-A player in a month this season.
CHENEY HOME COOKING: OF Rhylan Thomas and INF Tyler Locklear are putting up two of the best seasons for a Rainier at Cheney Stadium in the last 20 years...Locklear is hitting .356 (68x191) at home this season, the third-best home batting average in the PCL this season...Thomas is hitting .355 (70x197) in 50 home games this season, the fourth-best home batting average of any PCL hitter...Locklear's .356 and Thomas' .355 average are the second and third-best, respectively, for any Rainier in a single season at Cheney Stadium since 2005 (minimum 150 at-bats)...they trail only the .392 (65x166) that Shin-Soo Choo hit in 2006...Thomas' 70 hits at Cheney Stadium are tied for the sixth-most by a Rainier since 2005, nine shy of the 79 hits Bryan LaHair recorded in 2007...Locklear's 68 knocks are the 10th-most.
ON THE HUNT FOR WALKS: C Blake Hunt has drawn a walk in each of his last six games, the fourth Rainier to draw a walk in six consecutive games this season...Hunt has been on a hot stretch since the start of June, hitting .323 (21x65) in his last 19 games with two doubles, one triple and two home runs, drawing 18 walks to 16 strikeouts...Hunt logged his third three-hit game of the season (and second against Round Rock) on Thursday night...in July, Hunt has drawn 10 walks and struck out just three times, the fourth-best ratio (3.333) by a Triple-A hitter in a single month this season (min. 30 plate appearances).
SHENTON STAYS HOT: INF Austin Shenton tied his career-high with three walks on Tuesday afternoon, doing so for the eighth time in his career and the second time this season (also: June 27)...it's the second time this season that a Rainier has drawn three walks out of the ninth spot in the order (also: Blake Hunt, April 25 vs SUG)...Shenton's two walks on Wednesday extended his on-base streak to 21 games, becoming the fifth Rainier with a 20-game on-base streak this season...over his streak, he's hit .321 (22x69) with five doubles and four home runs, driving in 15 runs...he's drawn 21 walks to 19 strikeouts in that span, sporting a .478 on-base percentage, a .565 slugging percentage and a 1.043 OPS in that time.
MARINERS UPDATE: The Mariners opened up the 2025 trade deadline by acquiring INF Josh Naylor from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for LHP Brandyn Garcia and RHP Ashton Izzi...Garcia had made eight appearances with Tacoma, going 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA...the Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-2 on Thursday night, as Logan Evans threw 5.0 innings of one-run baseball...Julio Rodriguez, Randy Arozarena and Jorge Polanco all homered in the victory.
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