Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - vs. Salt Lake
PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - vs. Salt Lake

July 3, 2025 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


TODAY'S GAME - 7/3 vs. Salt Lake

FIRST PITCH - 6:05 PM (PT) at Cheney Stadium - Tacoma, WA

PITCHING MATCHUP - Tacoma RHP Blas Castaño (4-1, 4.05) vs. Salt Lake RHP Dakota Hudson (4-4, 6.62)

ROSTER MOVES: The Tacoma Rainiers, in conjunction with the Seattle Mariners, have made the following roster moves:

ADD RHP Emerson Hancock (#20) - optioned to Tacoma

DEL RHP Logan Evans - recalled by Seattle

BROADCAST - TV: Bally Live App/MiLB.TV RADIO - KIXI 880

THE RAINIERS: Took the second game of the series with a 9-3 victory over Salt Lake, out-scoring the Bees 19-4 in the first two games of this series...Casey Lawrence threw his first quality start of the season, throwing 6.0 innings of three-run baseball...after falling behind 3-0 in the third inning, the Rainiers used another big inning, plating five runs in the fourth to take the lead...Tacoma loaded the bases with one out, then Leo Rivas was hit by a pitch to force in a run, Victor Labrada poked a two-run single to center field, Jack López drove in a run on a groundout and the fifth run scored on a fielding error by Scott Kingery, putting the Rainiers up 5-3...Tyler Locklear added a solo home run in the fifth inning to take a 6-3 lead and Harry Ford clubbed a three-run homer in the seventh for the final blow in a 9-3 victory.

SALT LAKE SERIES IS THE BEE'S KNEES: The Rainiers have taken each of the first eight meetings against Salt Lake, with an opportunity to go 9-0 at home against the Bees with a win today...the Rainiers' eight wins at home against Salt Lake this year ties their most home victories without a loss against a single opponent in one season since 2005 (also: 8-0 at home against Las Vegas in 2005)...only one Triple-A team has gone 9-0 or better against a single opponent at home in one season in the last 20 years: the 2012 Charlotte Knights went 10-0 against the Durham Bulls.

BIG BATS BEATING THE BEES: In the first eight meetings against Salt Lake, Tacoma has hit .357/.442/.533 with a .975 OPS...the .357 average is the second-best for any PCL team against a single opponent this season (trailing Las Vegas' .378 average against Albuquerque)...Tacoma's .442 on-base percentage is the third-best for a PCL team against one opponent and the .975 OPS is the fifth-best...the Rainiers' average, on-base percentage and OPS against Salt Lake are their best against a single opponent and their .533 slugging percentage is the second-best, trailing the .547 Tacoma slugged against Albuquerque.

RAINIERS ON THE RUN: In their 9-3 victory over Salt Lake on Wednesday, the Rainiers stole six bases, their second time swiping six bases in a single game, joining their season-high seven steals on May 29, also coming against Salt Lake...the Rainiers are the third PCL team to log multiple games with at least six steals (also: OKC and Round Rock)...the Rainiers have been successful in 23 of their 24 stolen base attempts against Salt Lake this season, the fourth-most steals for a PCL team against one opponent this year...the Rainiers 95.8% success rate against Salt Lake is the best for any Triple-A team against a single opponent (min 20 SB).

RIVAS ON A ROLL: INF Leo Rivas is on a season-best, seven-game hitting streak, dating back to June 25...in that time, Rivas has hit .440 (11x25) with a pair of home runs, driving in seven runs...over his last 14 games (dating back to June 17), Rivas is hitting .405 (17x42) with a triple and four home runs, driving in 13...he's also drawn 12 walks while striking out only eight times in that 14-game stretch, owning a 1.288 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 .256 (12x78) with two doubles, a triple and three home runs against right-handed pitchers (batting left-handed)...Rivas' has a .798 OPS against right-handed pitchers and a 1.597 OPS against lefties.

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 eight home runs, tied for the second-most in the PCL, his 15 extra-base hits since June 1 are also the fourth-most in the league...Locklear ranks fourth in the PCL with a .615 slugging percentage since June 1 and ranks fourth with a 1.043 OPS...Locklear has also driven in 25 runs in that time, tied for the eighth most in the league...he has also drawn a walk and scored a run in each of his last five 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 .345 with a .433 OBP, also a league-best, and a .985 OPS (4th PCL)...his 60 hits since May 1 are the fourth-most in the league...Ford has reached base in 58 of his 63 games this season...since May 1, Ford's .345 average is the best among minor league catchers with at least 100 at-bats and his 60 hits are the second-most...his .894 OPS this season is the fourth-best among Triple-A players 22 years old or younger.

MARINERS UPDATE: The Seattle Mariners trailed 1-0 after five innings against Kansas City, but tied the game in the sixth inning on a Randy Arozarena home run and took the lead in the seventh inning on an RBI single from Julio Rodriguez and added with an Arozarena sacrifice fly to lead 3-1 and hung on for a 3-2 victory on Wednesday night...Logan Gilbert struck out seven over 4.2 innings as the Mariners' bullpen threw 4.1 innings of one-run baseball, striking out seven batters to hold on for the win.

Check out the Tacoma Rainiers Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from July 3, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central