PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: vs. Round Rock (6:05 PT)

Published on September 19, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


Today begins the final six-game homestand of the regular season. Tacoma is 3.0 GB of Round Rock for the PCL's lone second half playoff spot with six to play.

Tacoma Rainiers (75-69, 38-31) vs. Round Rock Express (85-58, 41-28)

Tuesday, September 19, 2023, 6:05p.m. PT | Cheney Stadium: Tacoma, WA

RHP Adam Oller vs. RHP Scott Engler

FOUR SCORE, AND 63 YEARS AGO: Tacoma's Triple-A franchise (est. 1960) has four 20-home run hitters in a single season for the first time. Jake Scheiner (30 HR), Brian O'Keefe (22 HR), Zach DeLoach (22 HR) and Taylor Trammell (21 HR) have achieved the franchise-first.

BLISS-FUL MILESTONE: Rainiers middle INF Ryan Bliss has hit eight home runs and has stolen 19 bases over 41 games with the Rainiers, and has hit 21 homers and swiped 54 bags this season between Double-A Amarillo (12/30), Reno (1/5) and Tacoma. Bliss is only the fifth player since 1995 to record a 20 HR/50 SB season in MiLB (all levels), four of which have come since last season (three this year): Jonatan Clase ('23, Mariners, 20/79), Blake Dunn ('23, Reds, 23/54), Anthony Volpe ('22, Yankees, 21/50) and Andruw Jones ('95, Braves, 25/56). Bliss was the lone minor league prospect in Seattle's July 31 trade deadline deal with Arizona for RHP Paul Sewald (OF Dominic Canzone and INF Josh Rojas).

THE REAL DELO: Tacoma OF Zach DeLoach leads the Rainiers with 142 hits through the first 132 games of his Triple-A debut; he has the third-most hits in the PCL (54 XBH, T-6th). DeLoach's 242 total bases rank second in the league (29 doubles are sixth), and he's climbed to sixth in RBI with 85; DeLoach's 22 HR and 85 RBI are both new career-highs (14 HR & 73 RBI at Double-A Arkansas last season).

HUMMING ALONG: Tacoma super-utility man Cooper Hummel has hit safely in 16 of his last 18 games, batting .315 (23x73). Hummel has doubled 7x and hit three homers in this span, while playing first base, left field, and catching. His OPS is .932 (.398/.534) over his last 18 starts, with eight walks, 12 runs scored and 13 RBI. Hummel is sporting the sixth-highest OBP in the PCL overall (.406), and is T-9th in steals (26).

SEVY TIME: Rainiers catcher Pedro Severino batted .362 in August (16 GP), and is batting .315 (35x111) over his last 30 games, dating to July 19. He has 14 extra-base hits in this span (eight doubles, six homers), with a .911 OPS (.361/.550) and 23 RBI. Severino has homered in four of his last 13 games played (grand slam 8/25 vs. LV).

"R"UN IT BACK: Tacoma leads the PCL in stolen bases with 205 (El Paso- 200), and is second to only Omaha (217) at Triple-A. Last season, the Rainiers led the level (by 13) with 205 stolen bases, which set a new franchise record.

TRAM IS ON TIME: Rainiers OF Taylor Trammell drove in eight runs over six games last week at Oklahoma City, while homering twice and doubling twice (8-for-26, 3 BB, 6 runs scored).

GET YOUR SCHEIN ON: Tacoma corner INFJake Scheiner leads the Pacific Coast League in home runs (30) and RBI (105). He's fifth in the PCL in total bases (234), with the second-most extra-base hits (55) and fourth-most runs scored (91) in the league. Scheiner is batting .307 (46x150) with RISP (15 HR). His 105 RBI are already ninth-most in a season for Tacoma, equal his career-high (last season at Double-A Arkansas), and are the most for the Rainiers since 1997, when Dan Rohrmeier set the franchise record with 120 RBI. Scheiner needs one RBI to tie Carmen Fanzone (106) of the 1971 Tacoma Cubs for eighth on the single-season list.

JAKE RHYMES WITH RAKE: Jake Scheiner is homering once every 4.13 games over the first 124 games of his Triple-A debut, has achieved the seventh 30-home run season in Tacoma's Triple-A history (since 1960), and the first since Alex Liddi (30) for the 2011 Rainiers.

Scheiner has homered 18x during home games, and is threatening Adrian Garrett's record of 19 homers in a season at Cheney Stadium (1971). Garrett, an OF for the 1971 Tacoma Cubs, still holds the franchise single-season home run record, 43 (131 GP). Six home games remain.

MAYBE TAKE A PITCH: The Rainiers lead all of Triple-A in walks drawn *by 31* with 806 (5.60 BB/game); Reno is a distant second with 775 walks. Zach DeLoach (4th, 82 BB), Jake Scheiner (5th, 81 BB) and Cooper Hummel (6th, 78 BB) are all atop the PCL free pass leaderboard.

RILED UP: Over 24.0 IP (23 G) since July 5, Rainiers RHP Riley O'Brien is holding PCL hitters to a .176 average with 10 saves. O'Brien has struck out 40 batters during this span, walking only seven (15 H) for a WHIP of 0.92 dating to 7/5 (5 ER, 1.88 ERA). O'Brien's 14 saves - the first 14 of his career - are third-most in the PCL. His 49 games are second-most in the league.

UNI-WATCH: The 2023 Tacoma Rainiers have the following record by uniform top...Rainiers Red (20-25), Home White (20-12), Road Grey (5-4), Navy (17-19), 1960 Fauxback (4-6), La Familia de Tacoma (5-0), Special Auction (4-3).

Check out the Tacoma Rainiers Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from September 19, 2023


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