Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: vs. Reno (7:05 PT)
May 12, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
Notes for Thursday's Tacoma Rainiers game vs. Reno are attached.
Tacoma Rainiers (9-23) vs. Reno Aces (16-16)
Thursday, May 12, 2022, 7:05 p.m. PT | Cheney Stadium, Tacoma, WA
LHP Tommy Milone vs. LHP Tommy Henry
TOMMY TIMES TWO TODAY: Tonight's Tacoma starting pitcher, left-hander Tommy Milone, is on his second tour of duty with the Rainiers (9 G, 8 GS in 2019), and has Tacoma's most-recent complete game shutout, over three years ago. Milone worked all six innings of a rain-shortened 2-0 win at Salt Lake on April 30, 2019 (3 H, 0 BB, 5 K). The most-recent nine-inning complete-game shutout for the Rainiers was on June 30, 2012, when Andrew Carraway defeated Fresno at Cheney Stadium.
Milone is a veteran of 189 MLB games (146 starts), for Washington, Oakland, Minnesota, Milwaukee, New York-NL, Washington a second time, Seattle, Baltimore, Atlanta and Toronto, between his debut in 2011 and last season. He's logged 927.2 Major League innings, after he was Washington's 10th round draft pick in 2008 out of USC.
LOW CARD: Despite the Rainiers winning the division by five games over second-place Reno last season, at 80-121 (.398) since 2009, the Aces are by far Tacoma's worst matchup in that span, since the Reno franchise relocated from Tucson, AZ following the 2008 season. The Rainiers are 38-42 at home against the Aces all-time.
GET A KLEW: 2020 American League Rookie of the Year and Mariners outfielder Kyle Lewis is nine days and five games into a Major League rehab assignment with the Rainiers (knee): He's 7-for-20 (.350) with two homers, six RBI, five runs scored and two walks thus far, with a 1.109 OPS (.409/.700). Lewis has DH'd five times, and played left field once.
When Lewis pulverized a solo home run in his first at-bat of the assignment on 5/3 at Salt Lake, he became the first player to homer in his first plate appearance with Tacoma since Jaycob Brugman, on 6/1/19 at El Paso.
THE REAL: Rainiers middle infielder and defensive wizard Mason McCoy is on a heater offensively as well; by going 2-for-4 (double, run) last night he extended his on-base streak to 15 games, and he's hit safely in 14 of those contests. His season-long hit streak was also extended to nine, surpassing Zach Green for Tacoma's longest this season. In those 15 games dating to April 20, McCoy is batting .310 (18-for-58), with two homers, eight RBI, five walks, 13 runs scored and three stolen bases. His OPS is .858 (.375/.483) during that stretch.
IT AIN'T EASY BEING...: Tacoma corner infielder Zach Green has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games dating to April 24, with four homers, a triple, two doubles, 15 RBI and an .840 OPS (.548 SLG), while scoring 10 times. His seven home runs lead the club, and tie him for seventh-most in the league. Green has the fourth-most RBI in the PCL, with 25. He has the fourth-most extra-base hits in the league as well (15), and the sixth-most total bases (62). He's batting .290 since 4/24.
MÁQUINA DE DOBLES: Rainiers utility man Erick Mejia is tied for sixth in the PCL in doubles with seven, alongside teammate Zach Green and eight others. The pair are only two off the pace; Sugar Land's Pedro Leon and El Paso's Taylor Kohlwey are tied for the top spot with nine.
WALKMAN JUNIOR: With two more free passes last night, Tacoma outfielder Steven Souza, Jr. has drawn 19 walks this season, tops on the Rainiers and tied for fourth in the PCL. Souza's OBP is .417 entering today's action, fourth-highest in the league, which also leads Tacoma's active roster among players who have appeared in at least 10 games. Souza .950 OPS also leads the Rainiers roster, among qualified players, and was bolstered last night by a three-run homer in the seventh inning, his fifth HR.
R SPEED: The Rainiers have stolen 52 bases in 32 games, and lead all of Triple-A in steals by four; Indianapolis (Pittsburgh) of the International League is second with 48. Caught only nine times as a club so far, the Rainiers are stealing bases at an .852 clip, while swiping 1.63 bags per game. Tacoma outfielder Forrest Wall is second in the PCL in steals with 12 in 29 games played (Round Rock's Bubba Thompson has 16); last season, Wall had the third-most steals in the IL with 35, for Buffalo (Toronto).
Rainiers infielders Sam Haggerty (5th, 9 SB) and Erick Mejia (7th, 7 SB) are on the league leaderboard as well. It's a fast start to the season throughout the organization, as Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez currently leads the Major Leagues in steals, with 10.
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