PCL Tacoma Rainiers

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

Published on May 27, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


AT LEAST IT WAS QUICK: The Rainiers managed only three hits on Thursday night against Las Vegas, a 5-2 loss giving the Aviators a 2-1 series edge. Following a 43-minute rain delay, the game was played in 2:06, two minutes shy of the fastest nine-inning Tacoma game this year (5/20 at Sacramento), and the quickest game at Cheney Stadium this season.

Zach Green had the only Rainiers RBI of the night, a two-out single in the first inning, scoring Jarred Kelenic (fielder's choice, SB). Green leads Tacoma in RBI (31, 7th PCL), home runs (9, T-8th), extra-base hits (19, T-4th) and total bases (78, 8th).

After winning four of six at Sacramento last week, their first winning road trip of this season, the Rainiers have dropped four of their last six home games.

MEJIA MASHES: Tacoma super-utility man Erick Mejia has reached base in eight straight games, batting .310 (9-for-29) since May 17 with 4 HR, 11 RBI, 4 BB and a 1.118 OPS (.394/.724) during that stretch. The switch-hitter homered from each side of the plate on 5/24 vs. Las Vegas in a 7-2 Tacoma win (4 RBI), the fifth 2-HR game on the club this season. Mejia is hitting .286 with 6 HR and 19 RBI in May (20 GP, .918 OPS, 14 R).

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.

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 (287-281, 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 209-185 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 45 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 1.53 bags per game. Tacoma outfielder Forrest Wall is second in the PCL in steals with 16 after two on Saturday (Round Rock's Bubba Thompson has 24); last season, Wall had the third-most steals in the IL with 35, for Buffalo, in only 78 GP.

Rainiers infielders Sam Haggerty (T-4th, 13 SB) and Erick Mejia (T-9th, 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 27, 2022


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