PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: 5/24/22 vs. Las Vegas (11:35 a.m.)

Published on May 23, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


Tacoma Rainiers (15-27) vs. Las Vegas Aviators (22-20)

Tuesday, May 24, 2022, 11:35 a.m. PT | Cheney Stadium: Tacoma, WA

RHP Darren McCaughan vs. RHP Collin Wiles

A WADE SEASON: Rainiers RHP Konner Wade has secured Tacoma's first Player/Pitcher of The Week award of the 2022 season, for his performance on 5/20 at Sacramento: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K. Wade at one point retired 16 consecutive batters during a 2-0 Tacoma victory.

DARREN DAY: Rainiers right-hander Darren McCaughan will make his club-high ninth start today, and leads the PCL in innings pitched with 44.1. His 41 strikeouts tie him for eighth in the league, with teammate Daniel Ponce de Leon, who has started eight times.

WILSON'S WORLD: Tacoma OF Marcus Wilson enters today's action with an eight-game on-base streak, and has an 1.102 OPS (.447/.655) in that span, since May 11 (3 HR, 7 RBI, 9 BB).

E(Ks)PLORATORY: On Saturday (5/21), RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon struck out the first nine Sacramento batters of the game (seven swinging), as the Rainiers reached their first three-game winning streak of 2022. The nine straight punchouts are a Tacoma Triple-A franchise record (since 1960), a PCL record to begin a game, and are believed to equal a league record for most consecutive strikeouts (est. 1903).

Striking out the first nine batters of a game has only been accomplished once in the Major Leagues, and recently. Miami's Pablo Lopez fanned the first nine Atlanta Braves he faced on July 11 of last season - and did not strike out another batter over 6.0 IP - in a 7-4 home win over the eventual World Series champions.

Ponce de Leon had achieved the Rainiers individual season-high for strikeouts by the third inning (Darren McCaughan, 8, 4/16 at ABQ), and his 12 total strikeouts on only 78 pitches (50 strikes) was Tacoma's first 11-strikeout game since Sean Nolin on 9/1/19 at Las Vegas. 12 were the most strikeouts for a Rainiers pitcher since Taijuan Walker's 13 on 8/10/14 at home vs. Fresno. Ponce de Leon is limiting batters to the fourth-lowest average in the PCL, at .224.

SEA US PROMOTED: The selection of INF Sam Haggerty and recall of OF Taylor Trammell to the MLB roster on Sunday made them the 12th and 13th players to wear a Tacoma and Seattle uniform in 2022. Last year, 24 players appeared in a game for both the Rainiers and Mariners.

CHECK THE PASS LIST: Las Vegas infielder Nate Mondou is Tacoma-born, a graduate of Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, and a resident of Lake Tapps, WA. Mondou, the Oakland Athletics' 13th round draft pick in 2016 following three seasons at Wake Forest University, is in his sixth professional season (excluding 2020, DNP) and his second at Triple-A, after spending all of last season with the Aviators.

Against Tacoma last year, Mondou batted .242 (15-for-62) in 17 games, with three home runs, three doubles, eight walks, 14 runs scored and seven RBI, with a .777 OPS (.342/.435). Mondou played in all but one game against his hometown club in 2021. This season, Mondou is batting .273 in six games against the Rainiers (6-for-22), with three doubles and four RBI (BB, 2 R).

A WINNING HAND: Las Vegas is one of three current PCL member cities that the Tacoma franchise (est. 1960) has an all-time winning record against (286-279, since 1983); the others are Salt Lake (367-357-1, since 1960) and Round Rock (44-26, since 2005). During the Rainiers era and Seattle Mariners affiliation (since 1995), Tacoma is 208-183 against Las Vegas and their various nicknames and MLB affiliations. The Tacoma Tigers (Oakland A's) were 78-96 against Las Vegas from 1981 through 1994.

R SPEED: The Rainiers have stolen 68 bases in 42 games, and lead all of Triple-A Baseball in steals by three; the Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays) of the International League are second with 65. Caught only 12 times, the Rainiers are stealing bases at an .850 clip, while swiping 1.62 bags per game on average. Tacoma outfielder Forrest Wall is second in the PCL in steals with 16 after two on Saturday (Round Rock's Bubba Thompson has 21); last season, Wall had the third-most steals in the IL with 35, for Buffalo.

Rainiers infielders Sam Haggerty (3rd, 13 SB) and Erick Mejia (T-8th, 9 SB) are on the league leaderboard as well. It's a fast start to the season throughout the organization, as Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez leads Major League Baseball in steals, with 12 entering action today.

UNI WATCH: The 2022 Tacoma Rainiers have the following record by uniform top: Home white (4-6), red (7-12), navy blue (1-2), road grey (2-3), "La Familia de Tacoma" (1-2, Copa de la Diversion), "Fauxback" (0-2).

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