Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: at Salt Lake (5:35 PT)
August 24, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
Tacoma Rainiers (54-64) at Salt Lake Bees (55-63)
Wednesday, August 24, 2022, 5:35 p.m. PT | Smith's Ballpark: Salt Lake City, UT
LHP Justus Sheffield vs. LHP Adam Seminaris
TURN-R-OUND: Tacoma began this season 9-23 (through May 11), but is 45-41 since. The Rainiers' low-water mark was 16 games under .500 at 28-44 on June 28. They're 26-20 since, 16-13 post-break and 24-20 in the second half.
BARRELED KELENIC: In 64 games this season with Tacoma, outfielder Jarred Kelenic has 78 hits (.294 AVG). 41 of those knocks have gone for extra bases (13 HR), a staggering 52.6% of his Triple-A hit total this season (.558 SLG, .924 OPS). Kelenic's 25 doubles are T-6th in the PCL.
MEJIA MASH: Tacoma INF/OF Erick Mejia is 18 for his last 51 (.353) with a homer (12), 11 runs scored and seven walks. Mejia currently has a 17-game on-base streak dating to July 28, during which he's hitting .328 (20-for-61), with an .843 OPS (71 PA). He's on a current club-high 12-game hit streak (since 8/4), which is one shy of Jarred Kelenic's team-high streak for this season, 13 games between May 24 and June 8.
A REAL MCCOY GOOD MONTH: Rainiers infielder Mason McCoy is on a tear in August, OPSing 1.144 (.379/.765) over 16 games. McCoy has six homers, two doubles and a triple this month, driving in a club-best 13 runs thus far. He's batting .314 over 59 PA (16-for-51, 6 BB).
WHITE, OUT: First baseman Evan White is putting on a power display during this extended MLB rehab assignment with Tacoma, as he recovers from hip and sports hernia injuries with his first extended action of this season. White homered four times in eight games on the recent homestand, and OPS'd 1.011 (.344/.667) with five walks over the nine games he appeared in over the season-long 13-gamer (32 PA).
White is returning to his 2020 American League Gold Glove-winning form; in that abbreviated season he led all AL first baseman with seven defensive runs saved, two more than any other AL player at the position en route to the award.
A FAMILIAR BUZZ: Salt Lake (City) is one of three current PCL member locales (Las Vegas, Round Rock) that the Tacoma franchise (est. 1960) has an all-time winning record against (375-362-1, since 1960). The Rainiers are 202-218 against the Salt Lake Buzz ('94-'00), Stingers ('01-'05) and Bees ('06-pres.), who were affiliated with the Minnesota Twins ('94-'00) prior to partnering with the Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim) in 2001.
Tacoma's 375 wins over Salt Lake (City) are second only to their 383 since 1960 against teams from Portland, Oregon (383-352). The Rainiers are slated to play the Bees a schedule-high 30 times, or one out of every five games this season. The Salt Lake Buzz logos and uniforms were featured in the 1998 film Major League: Back To The Minors. Editor's note: The movie was terrible, and the vast majority of baseball and cinema fans do not consider it part of the "Major League" (and II) universe.
THE OPEN-R: Tuesday's 2-0 win was Tacoma's PCL-leading eighth shutout victory this season. The Rainiers improved to 8-1 in road trip-opening games, 15-7 in series-opening games, and 9-2 in series openers on the road. 27.8% of Tacoma's 54 wins have come in a game one.
THE O'B RELIEVER: Rainiers RHP Riley O'Brien (Seattle-born, Shorewood High School) has struck out 48.3% of batters faced over his last seven appearances (7.2 IP); he's K'd 14 of the last 29 hitters he's faced.
STEAL A BASE, STEAL A TACO(MA): The Rainiers lead all of Triple-A in stolen bases with 150; Omaha (147) and Buffalo (146) of the International League rank second and third. Tacoma outfielder Forrest Wall is second in the PCL with 34 steals, and became the first to steal 30 bases for the Rainiers since Ian Miller (33) in 2018. Wall is striving to be the first Tacoma player to steal 40 since Lance Blankenship of the 1988 Tacoma Tigers (Oakland A's affiliate).
Last season, Wall swiped 35 bags for Buffalo while in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, third-most in the IL (Triple-A East). Jimmy Sexton (56, 1981 Tigers- OAK), Rusty McNealy (43, 1983 Tigers- OAK) and Del Alston (43, 1979 Tugs- CLE) own the top three stealing seasons in Tacoma's Triple-A history.
DEFENDERS OF THE DIAMOND: The Rainiers have committed the fewest errors in the PCL entering today's action (63), and the second-fewest in Triple-A (Nashville, 58). Tacoma leads the PCL with a .985 fielding percentage...Reno (.984, 66 errors) ranks second in the league.
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