PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: at Las Vegas (12:05 PT)

Published on April 30, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


This 12-game road trip (1-4) will continue on Tuesday at Salt Lake. The Rainiers are off on Monday.

Tacoma Rainiers (13-12) @ Las Vegas Aviators (13-13)

Sunday, April 30, 2023, 7:05p.m. PT | Las Vegas Ballpark: Summerlin, NV

LHP Tommy Milone vs. RHP Micah Dallas

GENERATIONAL TALENTS: 23-year-old RHP Micah Dallas will make his Triple-A debut this afternoon, on loan to Las Vegas from Oakland's Class A affiliate Stockton (California League). Today will be Dallas's 11th appearance as a pro. It's quite the contrast to Tacoma starter Tommy Milone; the 36-year-old lefty turned pro out of USC in 2008, has been in 197 MLB games (147 GS) over 13 big league seasons, and has pitched more innings in the Majors (949.0) than in the minors (892.2). Dallas spent three seasons at Texas Tech (2019-21), before playing his final collegiate year at Texas A&M (2022), and then was the A's 8th round draft pick (244th overall).

SALUTE TO EARL WEAVER: The Rainiers hit three solo shots on Friday, a rarity. 25 of Tacoma's 39 home runs have come with men on base (one grand slam, eight 3-run, 16 two-run). The Rainiers already have five individual two-homer efforts this year, and four in the last 12 days (Brian O'Keefe on 4/2 & Tuesday, Jake Scheiner on 4/18 & Wednesday, and Jacob Nottingham on 4/19). Kean Wong and Taylor Trammell hit Tacoma's first back-to-back homers of 2023 to begin the third inning on Friday.

YOU DOWN WITH OBP?: Tacoma ranks second in the Pacific Coast League with a .396 team on-base percentage (Reno, .405). Tacoma's 170 walks in 25 games (6.8/game) lead all of Triple-A baseball, by *17* (El Paso, 153).

ET TU BB?: Tacoma infielder Cesar Hernandez already has four 3-BB games this year, is sporting a .473 OBP (21 GP), and leads all of Triple-A (by four) with 28 walks. Hernandez aims for a MLB return where he's a veteran of 1,186 GP since 2013 with Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago-AL and Washington; he won the 2020 AL Gold Glove for a second baseman, with Cleveland.

IT'S BEEN DRIVEN BY FORD, LATELY: With two more homers and five RBI in this series, Mike Ford sits atop the PCL leaderboard with 35 RBI already (23 GP); Las Vegas's Cody Thomas is second (33). Ford leads the league in slugging at .718, with a robust 1.154 OPS (4th) and eight home runs (T-2nd with teammates O'Keefe and Scheiner). His 15 extra-base hits and 61 total bases each rank fourth.

Ford's career-high 86 RBI came in 2017, over 126 games between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, with the New York Yankees organization.

TOMASO: Southpaw Tommy Milone will make his fourth start of 2023 tonight, third for Tacoma and his second since tossing 4.2 IP of one-run ball for the Mariners on 4/14 vs. Colorado (3 H, 2 BB, 3 K) in a 5-3 win. Milone was summoned to Seattle when fellow lefty Marco Gonzalez was placed on the paternity list.

Milone continues a true anomaly of the Mariners all-time roster: Four alums of Saugus (CA) High School have reached the Major Leagues, and all have played for Seattle. LHP Shawn Barton (1992), RHP Roger Salkeld (1993-94), Milone (2019, 2022-23) and INF Zach Vincej (2018) is the list...Vincej was also Tacoma's 3B/INF coach in 2022, while Milone pitched for the Rainiers. Salkeld pitched 4x (3 GS) for the 1995 Rainiers.

BRIAN O'FFENSE: Tacoma catcher/DH Brian O'Keefe has reached base safely in 16 of his 19 games thus far. O'Keefe is tied for second in the PCL in home runs with teammates Mike Ford and Jake Scheiner (8), and is sixth in the league in slugging (.667) with a 1.071 OPS (7th).

RILEY ZERO'BRIEN: After 2.0 hitless IP with two strikeouts on Saturday, Rainiers right-hander Riley O'Brien (0.79 ERA) has fired 9.1 shutout IP over his six most recent appearances, allowing only four hits while striking out 16 (4 BB). This stretch includes a save on 4/18 vs. El Paso at Cheney Stadium, when he inherited the bases loaded but closed an 11-7 Tacoma win with a strikeout. O'Brien also helped pitch the Rainiers to two "bullpen day" victories at Round Rock on 4/12 and 4/15, spinning 2.0 shutout IP each time as the opener, with four strikeouts and zero walks in each outing as well (3 total hits).

DESERT RAIN: The Rainiers went 10-14 against Las Vegas last season (6-6 road), but lead the all-time series 295-293 (since 1983). There are now five current PCL locales that the Tacoma Triple-A franchise (est. 1960) has an all-time non-losing record against: Salt Lake (378-364-1, since 1960), Round Rock (52-33, since 2005), El Paso (61-59, since 2014) and Oklahoma City (85-85, since 1963). After four straight losses, Tacoma is 18-19 all-time at the still new "Las Vegas Ballpark" (since 2019).

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 30, 2023


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