PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: vs. Reno (DH, 5:05 PT)

Published on May 10, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


The twin-bill will make up the Sunday, April 9 rainout at Cheney Stadium.

Tacoma Rainiers (16-17) vs. Reno Aces (19-14)

Wednesday, May 10, 2023, 5:05p.m. PT | Cheney Stadium: Tacoma, WA

RHP Darren McCaughan vs. RHP Slade Cecconi (Game 1)

Rainiers Bullpen vs. RHP Peter Solomon (Game 2)

#DarrenDay: 2023 is the fifth season in which right-hander Darren McCaughan has pitched for Tacoma. His 65th career start for the Rainiers tonight will tie him for the 10th-most in Tacoma's Triple-A history (since 1960), with Danny Rivas (1961-63 Tacoma Giants) and Cha-Seung Baek (2004-07 Rainiers). A 66th start by McCaughan would equal Brian Sweeney for ninth all-time; Sweeney first pitched for Tacoma from 1999-2000, a second time 2002-03, again in 2010 and had a fourth stint from 2012-13.

FORD'S LEAD LAP: With three more homers (9, T-3rd PCL) and 15 RBI during the recent 12-game road trip, Mike Ford leads all of North American professional baseball with 45 RBI (31 GP); Las Vegas's Cody Thomas and Adolis Garcia of the Texas Rangers are the closest to Ford, with 36 RBI apiece. Ford's career-high 86 RBI came in 2017, over 126 games between Double-A Trenton (Eastern League) and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (International League) while in the New York Yankees organization.

GREEN LIGHT: Mike Ford's eye-popping RBI numbers come with another double-take stat; the lefty is 10-for-14 (.714) with the bases loaded this season, with two grand slams, two doubles, 18 total bases and 22 of his 45 RBI. Ford hit both grand slams in 10 days, on 4/21 vs. El Paso (3 HR, career-high 8 RBI) and 4/30 at Las Vegas. His OPS is an even 2.000 with the bases loaded.

GET YOUR SCHEIN ON: Rainiers INF/OF Jake Scheiner spent last week at Salt Lake going 12-for-25 (.480) over six games, with a home run (9, T-3rd PCL), five doubles, five RBI, three walks and seven runs scored. Scheiner's solid .270 average is still misleading, considering his .962 OPS (.388/.574); he racked up 20 hits over 11 GP during the recent two-week road trip. The Triple-A rookie began this season by starting and finishing each of Tacoma's first 24 games.

YOU DOWN WITH OBP?: Tacoma ranks second in Triple-A with a .389 team on-base percentage (Reno, .402). Tacoma's 217 walks in 33 games (6.58 BB/game) lead all of Triple-A baseball, by *23* (Oklahoma City, 194). This series vs. Reno is now scheduled for seven games with today's doubleheader (makeup of Sunday, April 9 rainout at Cheney Stadium). The teams behave very differently once on base however; Tacoma's 44 stolen bases (9 CS) are 32 more than Reno, who's been caught 50% of the time while running (12 & 12).

COOP SCOOP: It's already Tacoma's second (home) series against Reno this season (4-2), but the first for former Aces outfielder Cooper Hummel, who in spring training earned a spot on Seattle's 2023 opening day roster (10 GP) before being optioned on April 22. Hummel debuted as a Major Leaguer in 66 games with the Arizona Diamondbacks last season, and appeared in 79 games for Reno between 2021 and 2022 (.334, 12 HR, 56 RBI). Hummel was traded straight up by Arizona for outfielder Kyle Lewis on 11/17/22.

CADE PARADE: Despite losing a nine-game hit streak last Friday, Rainiers outfielder Cade Marlowe has reached base safely in 17 of his 18 games played since returning from a strained oblique on April 18. Even with his delayed start, Marlowe is one of seven players in the PCL with at least three triples, his six stolen bases are league top 10 (1 CS) and his OPS is .854 (.348/.506). The nine-game streak equaled Brian O'Keefe for the 2023 Tacoma club-long. Marlowe looks to catch up in order to drive in 100 runs for a third straight season (107 RBI/106 GP in 2021, 102 RBI/120 GP in 2022). The lefty has also posted consecutive 20-HR/20-SB seasons.

A CESARED VET: Sporting Triple-A's fifth-highest OBP at .470, Rainiers infielder Cesar Hernandez is leading the Pacific Coast League (by 3) with 32 walks in 27 games. Hernandez has already walked 3x in a game on five occasions this season, including during Sunday's win at Salt Lake; he reached base 5x with two hits and scored 3x in the 8-6 victory. The veteran of 1,186 MLB GP since 2013, mostly with Philadelphia, won the 2020 AL 2B Gold Glove with Cleveland.

RUN IT BACK: In 2022 Tacoma led Triple-A (by 13) with a franchise record 205 stolen bases. This year, they're atop the PCL again; 44 steals trail only Las Vegas (45 SB) for the league lead; the Rainiers have been caught only 9x (83%)...Las Vegas has been captured only 6x (88%). At six SB apiece, Mason McCoy (0 CS) and Cade Marlowe (18 GP, 1 CS) trail Cooper Hummel with seven swipes (14 GP, 0 CS) for the club lead.

Check out the Tacoma Rainiers Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 10, 2023


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