PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: at Salt Lake (5:35 PT)

May 7, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


Tacoma Rainiers (8-20) @ Salt Lake Bees (15-13)

Saturday, May 7, 2022, 5:35 p.m. PT | Smith's Ballpark: Salt Lake City, UT

RHP Asher Wojciechowski vs. RHP Janson Junk

THREE STINGS: The Rainiers dropped their third consecutive game at Salt Lake on Friday night by a 9-5 final score, after taking the series-opener. Tacoma dropped to 0-5 in fourth games of a series this season, and are 0-4 on Friday (4/8 at home vs. Salt Lake was rained out).

Donnie Walton (2-RBI double), Cal Raleigh (2 H, RBI) and Mason McCoy (solo HR) paced the Rainiers in defeat.

David MacKinnon went 4-for-4 (3 RBI) for Salt Lake, with a pair of solo home runs. A Brendon David three-run homer in the first inning gave the Bees a lead they would not relinquish.

LOCAL JUNK: Tonight's Salt Lake starting pitcher Janson Junk is a native of Federal Way, WA and a graduate of Decatur High School, its first alum to reach the Major Leagues. Junk pitched three seasons at Seattle University (2015-17) before being the Yankees' 22nd round draft pick in 2017. Last season on July 30, Junk was traded by the Yankees to the Angels while at Double-A, in a deadline deal along with RHP Elvis Peguero for RHP Andrew Heaney.

THE REAL: Rainiers middle infielder and defensive wizard Mason McCoy is on a heater offensively as well; his solo homer last night (2) extended his on-base streak to 12 games, and he's hit safely in 11 of those games. His season-long hit streak was also extended to six games. In those 12 games dating to April 20, McCoy is batting .325 (13-for-40), with six RBI, five walks, eight runs and two stolen bases. His OPS is .838 (.413/.425) during that stretch.

GREEN'S DAY: Tacoma corner infielder Zach Green saw his club season-long eight-game hit streak snapped on Wednesday (0-2, 2 RBI), but drove in both Rainiers runs with sac flies. He's homered, tripled, doubled, scored five times and driven in eight runs in his last 10 games, hitting safely in nine. Green has the 10th-most RBI in the PCL, with 18. He's accumulated 45 total bases in 24 games played.

RUN OF SAM (& HAM): Through the first 10 games of this road trip, Rainiers infielder Sam Haggerty is 14-for-37 (.378) with two homers, two doubles and 10 RBI (6 R, 3 SB). Haggerty has lifted his average to .310 during the trip. Rs outfielder Billy Hamilton is 10-for-28 (.357, 4 RBI, 2 BB) on this trip, with six runs scored and two stolen bases.

WALKMAN JUNIOR: With two more free passes last night, Tacoma outfielder Steven Souza, Jr. has drawn 17 walks this season, tops on the Rainiers and tied for third in the PCL, three behind Sugar Land's David Hensley. Souza's OBP is .395 entering today's action, which also leads Tacoma's active roster among players who have played in at least 10 games.

MÁQUINA DE DOBLES: Rainiers utility man Erick Mejia is tied for fifth in the PCL in doubles, with seven. He's only one off the pace; there's a four-way tie between Alex De Goti and Pedro Leon (Sugar Land) and Alek Thomas and Stone Garret (Reno) with eight.

EXPLORING FOR HITS: Rainiers starting pitcher Daniel Ponce de Leon is currently holding down the fourth-lowest batting average against in the PCL (.202); the right-hander has allowed only 17 hits over 23.0 IP thus far.

R SPEED: The Rainiers have stolen 44 bases in 28 games, and lead all of Triple-A in steals; the Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays) of the International League are second with 43. Caught only eight times as a club so far, the Rainiers are stealing bases at an .846 clip, while swiping 1.57 bags per game. A Sam Haggerty steal last night snapped a streak of five consecutive games without a stolen base for Tacoma, however.

Tacoma outfielder Forrest Wall is tied for second in the PCL in steals with 10; last season, Wall had the third-most steals in the International League with 35, for Buffalo.

Rainiers super-utility men Haggerty (T-5th, 8 SB) and Erick Mejia (7th, 7 SB) are on the league leaderboard as well. It's a fast start to the year throughout the organization, as Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez led the Major Leagues - by two - with nine stolen bases entering today's action.

UNI WATCH: The 2022 Tacoma Rainiers have the following record by uniform top: Home white (3-4), red (2-8), navy blue (1-2), road grey (1-2), "La Familia de Tacoma" (1-2, Copa de la Diversion), "Fauxback" (0-2, Throwback Weekend).

After three road appearances, Tacoma will wear their "Copa" uniforms for the first time this season at Cheney Stadium on May 28 vs. Las Vegas ("Reyes de Plata").

Check out the Tacoma Rainiers Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from May 7, 2022


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