PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: vs. Las Vegas (7:05 p.m.)

Published on May 26, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


Tacoma Rainiers (16-28) vs. Las Vegas Aviators (23-21)

Thursday, May 26, 2022, 7:05 p.m. PT | Cheney Stadium: Tacoma, WA

RHP Konner Wade (1-0, 2.57) vs. RHP Adam Oller (2-0, 1.38)

TOUGH LUCK TOMMY: Tacoma bats were tame on Wednesday in a 3-1 loss to Las Vegas, evening this series at a game apiece. The quiet night at the plate was despite a one run and five strikeout performance by Rainiers starter Tommy Milone (84 pitches, 5 H, 2 BB, ER, ND). Tacoma dropped to 2-2 in Milone's starts.

The Rainiers avoided the shutout in the eighth when Evan White (1-for-3) drew a one-out walk and eventually scored on a Zach Green RBI double, tying the game at the time. Green leads Tacoma in RBI (30, T-6th PCL), home runs (9, T-8th), extra-base hits (19, T-4th) and total bases (77, T-7th). RHP Matt Brash was electric in the eighth inning on Wednesday, retiring the side in order with two strikeouts, his velocity reaching as high as 99.5 mph.

A WADE SEASON: Rainiers RHP Konner Wade has secured Tacoma's first Player/Pitcher of The Week award of the 2022 season, for his performance on 5/20 at Sacramento: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K. Wade at one point retired 16 consecutive batters during a 2-0 Tacoma victory.

WILSON'S WORLD: Tacoma OF Marcus Wilson enters today's action with an eight-game on-base streak, and has an 1.102 OPS (.447/.655) in that span, since May 11 (3 HR, 7 RBI, 9 BB).

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 fourth-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.

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 .273 in six games against the Rainiers (6-for-22), 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 (287-280, 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 209-184 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 68 bases in 44 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 .850 clip, while swiping 1.55 bags per game on average. Tacoma outfielder Forrest Wall is second in the PCL in steals with 16 after two on Saturday (Round Rock's Bubba Thompson has 23); last season, Wall had the third-most steals in the IL with 35, for Buffalo.

Rainiers infielders Sam Haggerty (T-3rd, 13 SB) and Erick Mejia (T-8th, 9 SB) are on the league leaderboard as well. It's a fast start to the season throughout the organization, as Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez leads Major League Baseball with 13 steals, entering today's action.

Check out the Tacoma Rainiers Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 26, 2022


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