Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: at Las Vegas (7:05 PT)
April 26, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
Tacoma Rainiers (5-13) @ Las Vegas Aviators (9-9)
Tuesday, April 26, 2022, 7:05 p.m. PT | Las Vegas Ballpark: Summerlin, NV
RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon vs. RHP James Kaprielian (MLB rehab)
R SPEED: The Rainiers have stolen 33 bases in 18 games, and lead all of Triple-A in steals by seven; Indianapolis (Pittsburgh) of the International League is second with 26. Caught only five times as a club so far, the Rainiers are stealing bases at an 87% success rate and swiping 1.83 bags per game. Tacoma outfielder Forrest Wall is tied for the PCL lead in steals with Sacramento's Bryce Johnson, after Wall's eighth theft on Saturday.
Rainiers infielders Erick Mejia (4th, 6 SB), Sam Haggerty (5th, 5 SB) and Kevin Padlo (T-6th, 4 SB) also rank in the league's top 10 in steals.
ODOMETER: Rainiers catcher Joe Odom's four home runs tie him for fifth in the PCL, and his .591 slugging percentage ranks him 10th in the league coming into today's action.
11TH (HOME RUN) HEAVEN: Ben Ramirez's first Triple-A home run, in the second inning on Sunday at home vs. Sugar Land, extended a Tacoma club homer streak to 11 games. Ramirez's (solo) blast traveled an estimated 408 feet, ricocheting off the Cheney Stadium scoreboard in right-center field during a 2-for-4 afternoon.
The Rainiers have hit back-to-back homers twice in that span (since 4/13); Mike Ford and Kevin Padlo on 4/14 and Marcus Wilson and Arturo Guerrero on 4/17.
Tacoma's longest homer streak last season was 20 games, May 21 through June 14.
ANOTHA ONE: While the Rainiers currently have three Seattle-area locals on their roster, 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. Mondou joins Rainiers outfielders Steven Souza (Everett, Cascade High School) and Stuart Fairchild (Seattle, Seattle Prep) as well as Tacoma RHP Riley O'Brien (Seattle/Shoreline, Shorewood High School) as Puget Sound natives in this series. Mondou and Fairchild were teammates at Wake Forest for two seasons (2015-2016).
Against Tacoma last season, 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.
HAPPY FLIGHT: Las Vegas is one of three current PCL member cities that the Tacoma franchise (est. 1960) has an all-time winning record against (284-275, since 1983); the others are Salt Lake (365-353-1, since 1960) and Round Rock (44-26, since 2005).
During the Rainiers era and Seattle Mariners affiliation (since 1995), Tacoma is 206-179 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.
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