Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - vs. Salt Lake
July 2, 2025 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
TODAY'S GAME - 7/2 vs. Salt Lake
FIRST PITCH - 7:05 PM (PT) at Cheney Stadium - Tacoma, WA
PITCHING MATCHUP - Tacoma RHP Casey Lawrence (1-2, 5.28) vs. Salt Lake RHP Victor Mederos (5-3, 3.72)
ROSTER MOVES: The Tacoma Rainiers, in conjunction with the Seattle Mariners, have made the following roster moves:
ADD LHP Josh Fleming (#21) - activated from the Temporary Inactive List
DEL LHP Joe Jacques - contract selected by Seattle
BROADCAST - TV: Bally Live App/MiLB.TV RADIO - KIXI 880
THE RAINIERS: Took the opening game of the series with a convincing 10-1 victory behind 6.2 innings of one-run baseball from Jhonathan Díaz, who logged his league-leading seventh quality start...Tyler Locklear put Tacoma on the board in the bottom of the first inning with a sacrifice fly, taking a 1-0 lead...the Rainiers broke the game open with a five-run third inning, capped off by a three-run home run from Leo Rivas, taking a 6-0 lead...after Salt Lake scored their lone run in the top of the fourth, the Rainiers plated two more runs in the bottom of the frame on a two-run home run from Jack López to extend the lead to 8-1...an RBI groundout from Rhylan Thomas in the fifth and a Leody Taveras RBI single in the eighth got the Rainiers to a 10-1 lead...Tayler Saucedo, Jackson Kowar and Trevor Gott combined to throw 2.1 scoreless innings to finish the victory.
RIVAS ON A ROLL: INF Leo Rivas is on a season-best, six-game hitting streak, dating back to June 25...in that time, Rivas has hit .435 (10x23) with a pair of home runs, driving in six runs...over his last 13 games (dating back to June 17), Rivas is hitting .400 (16x40) with a triple and four home runs, driving in 12...he's also drawn 11 walks while striking out only seven times in that 13-game stretch, owning a 1.286 OPS...the switch-hitter has dominated left-handed pitching this season, hitting .444 (8x18) with three home runs against lefties (batting right-handed), while hitting .250 (19x76) with two doubles, a triple and three home runs against right-handed pitchers (batting left-handed)...Rivas' has a .780 OPS against right-handed pitchers and a 1.587 OPS against lefties.
STARTERS BEWARE: In the Rainiers 10-1 victory over Salt Lake on Tuesday night, they tallied 12 of their 17 hits against the starter Jake Eder...it marks the sixth time this season that the Rainiers have recorded at least 11 hits against a starting pitcher and the second time they've do so against Salt Lake (also: June 1 against Victor Mederos, his season-high in hits allowed)...the six games with at least 11 hits against the opposing starter are the most in Triple-A, as no other team has accomplished the feat more than twice this season...the Rainiers' 407 hits against opposing starters are the second-most in Triple-A.
LAWRENCE LEADS: RHP Casey Lawrence will make his seventh start of the season with the Rainiers tonight...since 2010, when Lawrence made his professional debut, his 277 starts are the most among minor leaguers...he also leads all minor league pitchers since 2010 in innings pitched (1,639.1), wins (106, 17 more than the next-closest) and double plays (158)...his 1,170 strikeouts are the second-most among minor leaguers in that time, only trailing the 1,215 punchouts from Paulo Espino.
THE FUTURE IS FORD: C Harry Ford was named to the American League roster for the 2025 MLB All-Star Futures Game in Atlanta on July 12...Ford, an Atlanta native, will be participating in his third consecutive Futures Game...Ford is the 13th Rainier to be selected for the game and the first since Jarred Kelenic in 2021...Ford is one of three Mariners prospects to be selected for the game, joining switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje and outfielder Lazaro Montes...the Mariners and the Detroit Tigers were the only teams to have three prospects selected to the showcase.
THE BEES ARE BACK IN TOWN: The Salt Lake Bees make their second and final trip to Tacoma this week, last paying visit from May 27-June 1...the Rainiers swept Salt Lake in their last meeting, just the Rainiers' second six-game sweep since the schedule format changed in 2021 to six-game series...the Rainiers had already swept one series this year, a three-game set against Round Rock to open the season...the only other time the Rainiers swept a six-game series was August 26-31, 2021 against Salt Lake at Cheney Stadium...Tacoma hit .362 against Salt Lake in their last meeting, their highest average against any opponent this year...Tacoma's .445 on-base percentage and .970 OPS are also the highest against a single opponent, while their .525 slugging percentage is the second-best.
ON THE HUNT: Over his last 16 games (since May 17), C Blake Hunt has hit .345 (20x58) with six doubles, one triple and one home run, drawing nine walks to 14 strikeouts, sporting a .963 OPS...going back to May 9, 11 of his last 23 hits have gone for extra bases (eight doubles and two triples. one home run)...Hunt is one of seven PCL backstops with multiple triples this season and his 10 doubles on the year are tied for the sixth-most among PCL catchers.
LOCKED AND LOADED: Since June 1 INF Tyler Locklear cracked seven home runs, tied for the fifth-most in the PCL, his 15 extra-base hits in June are also the fourth-most in the league...Locklear ranks seventh in the PCL with a .615 slugging percentage since June 1 and ranks sixth with a 1.010 OPS...Locklear has also driven in 24 runs in that time, tied for the seventh most in the league...he has also drawn a walk and scored a run in each of his last four games.
IT'S A HOT FORD SUMMER: Since May 1, C Harry Ford has been one of the best hitters in the PCL, hitting a league-leading .347 with a .434 OBP, also a league-best, and a .975 OPS (5th PCL)...his 59 hits since May 1 are the fifth-most in the league...Ford has reached base in 57 of his 62 games this season...since May 1, Ford's .347 average is the best among minor league catchers with at least 100 at-bats and his 59 hits are the second-most...his .886 OPS this season is the fifth-best among Triple-A players 22 years old or younger.
MARINERS UPDATE: The Mariners fell 6-3 to the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday, splitting the first two games of the series...Randy Arozarena homered for the third time in two games, getting the Mariners their first run in the second inning...Emerson Hancock took the loss, allowing five runs over 6.0 innings...Juan Burgos made his Major League debut, allowing one run in 2.0 innings of work, striking out a pair.
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