Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: at Las Vegas (7:05 PT)
April 27, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
Tacoma Rainiers (6-13) @ Las Vegas Aviators (9-10)
Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 7:05 p.m. PT | Las Vegas Ballpark: Summerlin, NV
LHP Roenis Elias (Opener) / LHP Ian McKinney vs. RHP Grant Holmes
WALK TO THE STRIP: The Rainiers walked a season-high 10 times last night to open the series, six of which scored, including a pair of bases loaded walks in a 12-5 win.
Around all the free passes, Stuart Fairchild had four hits and was on base five times with a walk, and Tacoma also received multi-hit efforts from Sam Haggerty (3 RBI), Joe Odom (double) and Billy Hamilton (3 runs) in the runaway victory.
The Rainiers flummoxed RHP James Kaprielian, who started on an MLB rehab assignment from Oakland: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 2 K. RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon spun the second quality start in as many games for Tacoma after Asher Wojciechowski did so on Sunday, allowing only two earned runs in 6.0 IP with seven strikeouts on 98 pitches.
Mason McCoy and Steven Souza each drew multiple walks, and were the two to drive in a run with a walk. Erick Mejia smacked a two-RBI double off the right field wall in the second inning, narrowly missing a three-run homer.
OPENING DAY: LHP Roenis Elias will "open" tonight's game, continuing his first action since 2019 after numerous injuries and Tommy John surgery, presumably on his way back to Seattle. Elias has allowed only four hits in 6.1 IP with Tacoma his season, and has not surrendered a run or a walk. The Cuban southpaw is a veteran of 126 MLB games (54 starts) and 388.0 Major League innings pitched between 2014 and 2019 with Seattle, Boston and Washington.
R SPEED: The Rainiers have stolen 37 bases in 19 games, and lead all of Triple-A in steals by 10; Omaha (Kansas City) of the International League is second with 27. Caught only five times as a club so far, the Rainiers are stealing bases at an 88% success rate and swiping nearly two 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 and Sam Haggerty are tied for third on the circuit, one behind Wall, with seven steals apiece.
ODOMETER: Rainiers catcher Joe Odom's four home runs tie him for fifth in the PCL, and his .592 slugging percentage ranks him 10th in the league coming into today's action.
THEY DIG THE...WALK?: In winning last night's game by drawing 10 walks, Tacoma snapped an 11-game home run streak as a club, in one of the PCL's more hitter-friendly environments. 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 (285-275, 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 207-179 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.
UNI WATCH: The 2022 Tacoma Rainiers have the following record by uniform top: Home white (3-4), red (1-3), navy blue (0-1), road grey (1-2), "La Familia de Tacoma" (1-1, Copa de la Diversion), "Fauxback" (0-2, Throwback Weekend). Tacoma has worn their "Copa" uniforms on the road twice; they'll wear them at home for the first time on May 28 vs. Las Vegas.
Pacific Coast League Stories from April 27, 2022
- Round Rock Holds Lead against Salt Lake - Salt Lake Bees
- Villar, Mathisen homer in Wednesday defeat - Sacramento River Cats
- Homers Propel Isotopes to Win over River Cats - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: at Las Vegas (7:05 PT) - Tacoma Rainiers
- Garrett's Homer Secures an 8-2 Aces Win over the Chihuahuas - Reno Aces
- Pillar Helps Blast Dodgers past Space Cowboys - Oklahoma City Comets
- Isotopes to Host Women in Sports Night Saturday, April 30 - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Big Day by Reno's McCarthy Levels Series - El Paso Chihuahuas
- Hunter Brown Strikes out 7 as Space Cowboys Have Winning Streak Snapped - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- Space Cowboys Game Notes - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- Express to Show 'Facing Nolan' at Dell Diamond on May 14 - Round Rock Express
- OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 27, 2022 - Oklahoma City Comets
- "La Familia" Rolls to Road Win in Vegas, 12-5 - Tacoma Rainiers
- Dodgers Can't Make up Five-Run Deficit - Oklahoma City Comets
- Tom homers twice, River Cats score 8 straight in series-opening win - Sacramento River Cats
- Express Rally for 5-3 Victory over Salt Lake - Round Rock Express
- Barreto's 3-RBI Night Pushes Space Cowboys to 5-Game Winning Streak - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- River Cats Hold on for Series Opening Victory, 9-7 - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Aces Drop Series Opener to Chihuahuas, 9-3 - Reno Aces
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