PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: at OKC (12:05 PT)

September 17, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


Today is Tacoma's final regular season road game of 2023, as they'll finish a 12-game trip. Following Monday's off day, the Rainiers will begin a six-game homestand to conclude the regular season schedule, with a 6:05 PT first pitch vs. Round Rock on Tuesday.

Tacoma Rainiers (74-69, 37-31) @ Oklahoma City Dodgers (87-54, 37-31)

Sunday, September 17, 2023, 12:05p.m. PT | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark: Oklahoma City, OK

LHP Logan Allen vs. LHP Robbie Erlin

FOUR SCORE, AND 63 YEARS AGO: Tacoma's Triple-A franchise (est. 1960) has four 20-home run hitters in a single season for the first time. Jake Scheiner (30 HR), Brian O'Keefe (22 HR), Zach DeLoach (21 HR) and Taylor Trammell (21 HR) have achieved the franchise-first.

BLISS-FUL MILESTONE: Rainiers middle INF Ryan Bliss has hit seven home runs and has stolen 17 bases over 40 games with the Rainiers, and has hit 20 homers and swiped 52 bags this season between Double-A Amarillo (12/30), Reno (1/5) and Tacoma. Bliss is only the fifth player since 1995 to record a 20 HR/50 SB season in MiLB (all levels), four of which have come since last season (three this year): Jonatan Clase ('23, Mariners, 20/76), Blake Dunn ('23, Reds, 23/54), Anthony Volpe ('22, Yankees, 21/50) and Andruw Jones ('95, Braves, 25/56). Bliss was the lone minor league prospect in Seattle's July 31 trade deadline deal with Arizona for RHP Paul Sewald (OF Dominic Canzone and INF Josh Rojas).

THE REAL DELO: Tacoma OF Zach DeLoach leads the Rainiers with 139 hits (Jake Scheiner, 116) through the first 131 games of his Triple-A debut; he has the third-most hits in the PCL (52 XBH, T-8th). DeLoach's 235 total bases and 29 doubles each rank top-6 in the league, and he's climbed to eighth in RBI with 83; DeLoach's 21 HR and 83 RBI are both new career-highs (14 HR & 73 RBI at Double-A Arkansas last season).

HUMMING ALONG: Tacoma super-utility man Cooper Hummel has hit safely in 15 of his last 17 games, batting .314 (22x70). Hummel has doubled 7x and hit three homers in this span, while playing first base, left field, and catching. His OPS is .928 (.385/.543) over his last 17 starts, with six walks, 11 runs scored and 13 RBI. Hummel is sporting the seventh-highest OBP in the PCL overall (.404), and is eighth in steals (26).

SEVY TIME: Rainiers catcher Pedro Severino batted .362 in August (16 GP), and is batting .321 (34x106) over his last 29 games, dating to July 19. He has 14 extra-base hits in this span (eight doubles, six homers), with a .929 OPS (.363/.566) and 23 RBI. Severino has homered in four of his last 12 games played (grand slam 8/25 vs. LV).

GREEN LIGHT: Tacoma leads the PCL in stolen bases with 200 (El Paso- 198), and is second to only Omaha (215) at Triple-A. Oklahoma City has allowed the most stolen bases at Triple-A with 202, +27 over the next worst club (Sugar Land).

JR PHONE HOME: Rainiers Manager John Russell was born in OKC (1/5/61), and played three seasons at the University of Oklahoma (1980-82) before being selected 13th overall in the 1982 draft by Philadelphia. Russell, a veteran of 448 MLB games, also played briefly for the Oklahoma City franchise in 1990 (six games), then known as the 89ers and Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, competing in the American Association. On 6/11/90, Russell caught Nolan Ryan's sixth career no-hitter, with Texas winning 5-0 at Oakland (hit solo homer).

GET YOUR SCHEIN ON: Tacoma corner INFJake Scheiner leads the Pacific Coast League in home runs (30) and RBI (105). He's fifth in the PCL in total bases (234) and tied for fourth in both extra-base hits (55) and runs scored (91). Scheiner is batting .307 (46x150) with runners in scoring position (15 HR). His 105 RBI are already ninth-most in a season for Tacoma, equal his career-high (last season at Double-A Arkansas), and are the most for the Rainiers since 1997, when Dan Rohrmeier set the franchise record with 120 RBI. Scheiner needs one RBI to tie Carmen Fanzone (106) of the 1971 Tacoma Cubs for eighth on the single-season list.

JAKE RHYMES WITH RAKE: Jake Scheiner is homering once every 4.13 games over the first 124 games of his Triple-A debut, has achieved the seventh 30-home run season in Tacoma's Triple-A history (since 1960), and the first since Alex Liddi (30) for the 2011 Rainiers.

MAYBE TAKE A PITCH: The Rainiers lead all of Triple-A in walks drawn *by 29* with 801 (5.60 BB/game); Reno is a distant second with 772 walks. Zach DeLoach (3rd, 82 BB), Jake Scheiner (4th, 81 BB) and Cooper Hummel (6th, 76 BB) are all atop the PCL free pass leaderboard.

RILED UP: Over 24.0 IP (23 G) since July 5, Rainiers RHP Riley O'Brien is holding PCL hitters to a .176 average with 10 saves. O'Brien has struck out 40 batters during this span, walking only seven (15 H) for a WHIP of 0.92 dating to 7/5 (5 ER, 1.88 ERA). O'Brien's 14 saves - the first 14 of his career - are third-most in the PCL. His 49 games are second-most in the league.

Check out the Tacoma Rainiers Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from September 17, 2023


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