Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: vs. OKC (1:35 PT)
July 17, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
The Triple-A schedule will honor the same All-Star Break as MLB, beginning tomorrow. Tacoma's schedule will resume on Thursday 7/22 at Salt Lake.
Tacoma Rainiers (37-51) vs. Oklahoma City Dodgers (52-37)
Sunday, July 17, 2022, 1:35 p.m. PT | Cheney Stadium: Tacoma, WA
RHP Konner Wade vs. RHP Mark Washington
GET HOT: Today is the final game before the Major League All-Star Break, and Triple-A will take the same four days off. Tacoma's schedule will resume on July 22 at Salt Lake. A season ago amidst the pandemic-shortened schedule (130 games beginning May 6), Triple-A took no such break, but the Rainiers went a scorching 43-21 after July 22, en route to the 2021 Triple-A West (PCL) regular season championship (no playoffs).
GET A K(LEW): On his latest rehab assignment, outfielder Kyle Lewis (5 HR in 15 games with Tacoma) has homered in five of seven games, three for High-A Everett last week (July 7-8, 10) and twice for Tacoma including a three-run shot on Friday in the third inning of a 7-3 win. Lewis has homered seven times in his last 11 games at all levels including MLB; he went deep on May 28 vs. Houston off Jose Urquidy at T-Mobile Park.
R(EUNIONS): Tacoma manager Tim Federowicz was an active player as recently as last season, finishing his career by splitting 2021 between the U.S. Olympic Team's silver medal-winning effort in Tokyo and the OKC Dodgers (25 GP). In Oklahoma City, Federowicz played for Travis Barbary, who remains the manager. Federowicz debuted as a Major Leaguer for the Dodgers in 2011, the first seven games of 163 career in MLB, after being traded by Boston to Los Angeles at the deadline that season while at Double-A.
OKC has two players rostered who spent time with Tacoma's championship club last season: LHP Daniel Zamora (28 G, 37.0 IP) and INF Ty Kelly (24 G), who hit one of four Rainiers grand slams in 2021, May 24 vs. Round Rock, the difference in a 7-3 win.
MEJIA MASH: Tacoma INF/OF Erick Mejia is 25-for-72 (.347) during his last 18 games (3 HR, 9 doubles). Mejia is OPSing 1.004 during this span (dating to June 22), as he's slugging .597 over his last 81 plate appearances (8 BB, .407 OBP). Mejia's 19 doubles tie him for sixth-most in the PCL; San Diego Padres prospect Eguy Rosario (El Paso) leads the league with 25.
LEAD-R-BOARD: Tacoma has the second-most steals in Triple-A (111), behind only Buffalo of the International League (114). Rainiers outfielder Forrest Wall is third in the PCL in stolen bases, with 25. Tacoma's 122 home runs are fifth-most among the 30 Triple-A clubs and rank fourth in the PCL; El Paso (137) and Albuquerque (133) predictably lead in their high-altitude settings.
IN KEL'S KITCHEN: Tacoma outfielder Jarred Kelenic (23rd birthday yesterday) is batting .322 over his last 20 games, hitting safely in 17. His OPS is 1.042 (.398/.644) in that span (since June 22), thanks to nine doubles, five home runs and two triples (20 RBI, 14 R). Earlier this season, Kelenic compiled the longest Tacoma hit streak of 2022, 13 games between May 24 and June 8. Since being optioned on May 13, Kelenic has 57 hits for the Rainiers (.294 AVG), 31 of which have gone for extra bases, a staggering 54.4% of his Triple-A hit total this season (113 total bases in 46 GP, .582 SLG).
R GUYS HAVE THE POW-ER: Jarred Kelenic's monster week at Reno saw him honored as PCL Player of The Week for the period of July 4-10, the fifth Rainier to win a weekly award this season (RHP Konner Wade, LHP Justus Sheffield, OF Marcus Wilson, RHP Darren McCaughan). In five games played, Kelenic hit .389 (7-for-18) with six walks, OPSing 1.616 for the week with six extra-base hits (2 HR, 2 2B, 2 3B). He drove in six runs and scored six more as Tacoma split the series.
EVERY DAY PATTY: RHP Patrick Weigel's 33 appearances lead Tacoma and tie him for fifth in the PCL. He's limiting batters on the notoriously offensive circuit to a .207 average, and striking out well over a batter per inning (44 K/38.1 IP). Weigel's best stretch was from May 20 through June 3, when he worked five consecutive appearances without a run...or a hit (4.1 IP). He strung together five straight scoreless appearances again from June 22 through July 4 (5.0 IP). A former starter drafted in the seventh round by Atlanta in 2015, Weigel's career-high in games came last season, appearing in 36 for Triple-A Nashville and three more in the Majors with Milwaukee.
DARREN MKKAUGHAN: Rainiers right-hander Darren McCaughan (88 K) ranks sixth in the PCL in strikeouts. McCaughan's 94.0 IP are second-most on the circuit, and his 1.21 WHIP is third-lowest in the league.
UNI WATCH: The 2022 Tacoma Rainiers have the following win-loss record by uniform top:
Home white (11-13), red (15-21), navy blue pullover (4-4), road grey (5-7), "La Familia de Tacoma" (2-2, Copa de la Diversion), specialty auction (0-4). The next "Copa" game scheduled for Cheney Stadium is on Friday, July 29 vs. El Paso at 7:05 PT.
Pacific Coast League Stories from July 17, 2022
- Round Rock Wins Over El Paso - El Paso Chihuahuas
- Space Cowboys Close out 12-Game Homestand - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- Straily Shines against Sugar Land in Reno's 8-1 Win - Reno Aces
- Tacoma Rainiers Top Oklahoma City Dodgers - Oklahoma City Comets
- Rainiers End First Half on High Note with 6-3 Win - Tacoma Rainiers
- Díaz lines 4 hits, Vosler homers late as River Cats fall in Sunday finale - Sacramento River Cats
- Four-Run Seventh Leads Isotopes Past River Cats, 7-5 - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Space Cowboys Game Notes vs. RNO - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 17, 2022 - Oklahoma City Comets
- Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: vs. OKC (1:35 PT) - Tacoma Rainiers
- OKC Dodgers Win Over Tacoma Rainiers - Oklahoma City Comets
- Bees Throw League-Leading Shutout - Salt Lake Bees
- OKC Outlasts Rainiers on Saturday - Tacoma Rainiers
- Krizan Extends On-Base Streak to 14 in Saturday Night Defeat - Sacramento River Cats
- Top of the Order Leads Albuquerque Past Sacramento, 5-1 - Albuquerque Isotopes
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