PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: at OKC (5:05 PT)

September 16, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


Tacoma Rainiers (73-69, 36-31) @ Oklahoma City Dodgers (87-53, 37-30)

Saturday, September 16, 2023, 5:05p.m. PT | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark: Oklahoma City, OK

LHP Tommy Milone vs. LHP Mike Montgomery

BLISS-TERING PACE: Rainiers middle INF Ryan Bliss has hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games, during which he's batting .360 (18x50) with four home runs, two doubles and a triple (8 RBI). Bliss has walked 14x in this span, for an OBP of .492; he's slugging .680 for a 1.172 OPS dating to August 31. Bliss is also eight for 10 on stolen base attempts since 8/31. He was acquired in the 7/31 deadline deal with Arizona.

BLISS-FUL MILESTONE: Ryan Bliss has hit seven home runs and has stolen 17 bases over 39 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, 20/75), Blake Dunn ('23, Reds, 23/54), Anthony Volpe ('22, Yankees, 21/50) and Andruw Jones ('95, Braves, 25/56).

THE REAL DELO: Tacoma OF Zach DeLoach leads the Rainiers with 138 hits (Jake Scheiner, 116) through the first 130 games of his Triple-A debut; he has the third-most hits in the PCL (52 XBH, T-7th). DeLoach's 234 total bases and 29 doubles each rank top-6 in the league, and he's climbed to ninth in RBI with 82; DeLoach's 21 HR and 82 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 14 of his last 16 games, batting .323 (21x65). Hummel has doubled 7x and hit three homers in this span, while playing first base, left field, and catching. His OPS is .966 (.397/.569) over his last 16 starts, with six walks, 10 runs scored and 13 RBI. Hummel is sporting the sixth-highest OBP in the PCL overall (.406), and is eighth in steals (26).

SEVY TIME: Rainiers catcher Pedro Severino batted .362 in August (16 GP), and is batting .327 (33x101) over his last 28 games, dating to July 19. He has 14 extra-base hits in this span (eight doubles, six homers), with a .954 OPS (.370/.584) and 22 RBI. Severino has homered in four of his last 11 games played.

GREEN LIGHT: Tacoma leads the PCL in stolen bases with 198 (El Paso- 197), and is second to only Omaha (215) at Triple-A. Oklahoma City has allowed the most stolen bases at Triple-A with 200, +25 over the next worst club (Sugar Land).

WHEN WERE YOU THERE AGAIN?: Four alums of Saugus (California) High School have reached the Major Leagues, including today's Rainiers starting pitcher, left-hander Tommy Milone. All four have played for Seattle: LHP Shawn Barton (1992), RHP Roger Salkeld (1993-94), Milone (2019, 2022-23) and INF Zach Vincej (2018). Vincej, the current manager at Class A Modesto was also Tacoma's 3B/INF coach in 2022, while Milone pitched for the Rainiers (11 G, 10 GS, 40.1 IP). Salkeld pitched 4x (3 GS) for the 1995 Rainiers, during the first season of the franchise's affiliation with the Mariners.

GET YOUR SCHEIN ON: Tacoma corner INFJake Scheiner leads the Pacific Coast League in home runs (30) and RBI (105). He's tied for third in both total bases (234) and extra-base hits (55), and is and fourth in runs scored (91). Scheiner is batting .307 (46x150) with runners in scoring position (15 HR). With eight games remaining, 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.

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 795 (5.60 BB/game); Reno is a distant second with 766 walks. Zach DeLoach (3rd, 82 BB), Jake Scheiner (4th, 81 BB) and Cooper Hummel (T-6th, 76 BB) are all atop the PCL free pass leaderboard.

RILED UP: Over 23.1 IP (22 G) since July 5, Rainiers RHP Riley O'Brien is holding PCL hitters to a .181 average with nine saves. O'Brien has struck out 39 batters during this span, walking only seven (15 H) for a WHIP of 0.94 dating to 7/5 (5 ER, 1.93 ERA). O'Brien's 13 saves - the first 13 of his career - are third-most in the PCL. His 48 games are second-most in the league.

Check out the Tacoma Rainiers Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from September 16, 2023


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