Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: vs. Las Vegas (5:05 p.m.)
May 28, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
RHP Ken Giles had his MLB rehab assigned to Tacoma today. 1B Evan White's MLB rehab assignment continues with the Rainiers.
Tacoma Rainiers (16-30) vs. Las Vegas Aviators (25-21)
Saturday, May 28, 2022, 5:05 p.m. PT | Cheney Stadium: Tacoma, WA
RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon (4-2, 4.74) vs. RHP Parker Dunshee (1-4, 6.63)
JK, HE WENT 4-FOR-4: Tacoma left fielder Jarred Kelenic hit the two furthest balls of Friday night's game at Cheney Stadium, despite the 6-2 loss to Las Vegas. Kelenic drilled a 416-foot triple off the batter's eye to lead off the game (scored), and hit a 385-foot opposite field home run to left-center in the third; singles in the fifth and eighth gave 22-year-old a perfect night at the plate.
It was Kelenic's second home run for Tacoma since being optioned on May 13 (May 19 at Sacramento), and his second career Triple-A triple, with 15 three-base hits as a professional (since 2018, two MLB triples).
Kelenic has hit safely in the first four games of this series (since 5/24), and is 7-for-14 with two walks and a stolen base on this homestand.
E(Ks)PLORATORY: On Saturday (5/21), RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon struck out the first nine Sacramento batters of the game (seven swinging, 12 K total), as the Rainiers reached their first three-game winning streak of 2022. The nine straight punchouts are a Tacoma Triple-A franchise record (since 1960), a PCL record to begin a game, and are believed to equal a league record for most consecutive strikeouts (est. 1903).
12 were the most strikeouts in a game for a Tacoma pitcher since Taijuan Walker fanned 13 on 8/10/14 vs. Fresno at Cheney Stadium. Ponce de Leon is limiting batters to the fifth-lowest average in the PCL, at .224.
Striking out the first nine batters of a game has only been accomplished once in the Major Leagues, and recently. Miami's Pablo Lopez fanned the first nine Atlanta Braves he faced on July 11 of last season - and did not strike out another batter over 6.0 IP - in a 7-4 Marlins home win over the eventual World Series champions.
HE'S AN O'K PLAYER: Tacoma catcher Brian O'Keefe has reached base with either a walk or base hit in 15 of the 16 games he's played this season, after returning from a broken hamate bone on 4/27 at Las Vegas. O'Keefe is batting .296 with a .961 OPS (.424/.537), with two home runs and 11 walks since returning to action. This is his second season in the Seattle Mariners organization, a 2019 MiLB Rule 5 selection (STL).
CHECK THE PASS LIST: 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.
Against Tacoma last year, 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. This season, Mondou is batting .231 in seven games against the Rainiers (6-for-26), with three doubles and four RBI (BB, 2 R).
A WINNING HAND: Las Vegas is one of three current PCL member cities that the Tacoma franchise (est. 1960) has an all-time winning record against (287-282, since 1983); the others are Salt Lake (367-357-1, since 1960) and Round Rock (44-26, since 2005). During the Rainiers era and Seattle Mariners affiliation (since 1995), Tacoma is 209-186 against Las Vegas and their various nicknames and MLB affiliations. The Tacoma Tigers (Oakland A's) were 78-96 against Las Vegas from 1983 through 1994.
R SPEED: The Rainiers have stolen 69 bases in 46 games, and lead all of Triple-A Baseball in steals; the Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays) of the International League are second with 66. Caught only 12 times, the Rainiers are stealing bases at an .852 clip, while swiping 1.5 bags per game. Tacoma outfielder Forrest Wall is second in the PCL in steals with 16 (Round Rock's Bubba Thompson has 25); last season, Wall had the third-most steals in the IL with 35, for Buffalo, in only 78 games played.
Rainiers infielders Sam Haggerty (T-4th, 13 SB) and Erick Mejia (10th, 9 SB) are on the league leaderboard as well. It's a fast start to 2022 throughout the organization, as Mariners OF Julio Rodriguez leads the AL in steals with 13, tied for the MLB lead with Harrison Bader (STL).
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