PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: vs. Salt Lake (6:05 PT)

July 29, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


Tacoma's 5 HR last night were a season-high, and their most in a game since hitting 6 on 9/18/22 at Las Vegas.

Tacoma Rainiers (50-50, 13-12) vs. Salt Lake Bees (47-52, 10-15)

Saturday, July 29, 2023, 6:05p.m. PT | Cheney Stadium: Tacoma, WA

RHP Darren McCaughan vs. LHP Jake Kalish

#DarrenDay: 2023 is the fifth season in which right-hander Darren McCaughan has pitched for Tacoma. His 76th career start for the Rainiers will be tonight, tying him for fifth in franchise history with Tim Harikkala, who pitched for the Rainiers from 1995-98. Steve Luebber is fourth with 86, between 1972-77 for the Tacoma Twins.

McCaughan has accumulated 366 strikeouts with Tacoma, which are fifth-most in Tacoma's Triple-A history (since 1960). Ryan Franklin is fourth, with 388 K for the 1997-2001 Rainiers.

I GOT FIVE ON IT: Friday was a perfect 5-0 night in the Mariners organization, among full-season clubs. Seattle won at Arizona (5-2) as Tacoma defeated Salt Lake (7-6). Double-A Arkansas beat Northwest Arkansas at home (7-4), High-A Everett nipped Vancouver on the road (3-2), and Class A Modesto outlasted Visalia at home (7-3).

MORE FUN WITH AT LEAST ONE: The Rainiers have now gone a season's-worth of games (150)without being shut out. Last season, Tacoma lost 1-0 at Sacramento (8/3) in game #100, and scored in their final 50 contests. They've scored in all 100 games this year, have been held to a single run 9x, and have shutout the opposition 3x (4/5 vs. Reno, 4/12 at Round Rock and 7/1 vs. Salt Lake).

AND THEN BRIAN COMES IN: Catcher Brian O'Keefe's third inning solo shot on Friday was his 44th homer with the Rainiers (since 7/11/21), and tied Daniel Vogelbach (2016-18) for 18th-most in franchise history. O'Keefe's first Triple-A homer was on 7/19/21 at Cheney Stadium off Salt Lake's Packy Naughton (2-run, 5th inning), in a 12-2 Tacoma win. Bill Hain is 17th on the list with 46 HR, for the 1961-63 Tacoma Giants.

O'Keefe has homered in consecutive games, and at 18 home runs is six shy of his career-high. He slugged 24 HR in 2021 over 105 games split between Double-A Arkansas and Tacoma.

SUMMER OF SAM: Sam Haggerty is batting .354 (29x82) over 21 games since July 1, with a 1.056 OPS during this span (.434 OBP/.622 SLG), thanks to 12 extra-base hits (2 triples, 4 HR). He's walked 14x and has 15 RBI since 7/1. Haggerty was optioned to Tacoma on June 6 following 24 GP with Seattle, after making the MLB roster out of spring training; he registered only 48 plate appearances (42 AB) with the M's.

DO THE MATH: Newcomer and utility man Mark Mathias hit safely in his first seven games with the Rainiers, and is batting .308 through 14 games (16x52, 3 2B, 8 BB, 8 runs). Mathias was claimed off waivers by Seattle from Pittsburgh on July 2, and joined Tacoma from Triple-A Indianapolis (IL). He's played in 68 MLB games since 2020 (Milwaukee, Texas and Pittsburgh).

MAKE 'EM COUNT: Tacoma's 78 home runs with at least one runner on base are the most in Triple-A (Las Vegas and Albuquerque, 74). The Rainiers are also top three in Triple-A in both OBP (.395) and slugging (.498) with runners on.

HAPPY FESTAVUS: Rainiers RHP Matt Festa leads Triple-A in saves, with 15 (16 SVO). In 28 games with Tacoma (34.0 IP, 28 K), his ERA is 0.53 (2 ER). Triple-A hitters are batting a meager .101 against Festa (0.79 WHIP).

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?: The Rainiers are at .500 despite being plus-32 in runs (626-594). Tacoma's expected win-loss is 53-47, making them "unlucky" by three full games.

SCHEIN BRIGHT: Rainiers corner infielderJake Scheiner leads all of Triple-A in home runs (25) and RBI (84); his 74 runs scored are third at the level but most in the Pacific Coast League...the PCL MVP candidate ranks top three on the circuit in walks (62), extra-base hits (44) and total bases (186). Scheiner is batting .336 (37x110) with RISP (13 HR). His 84 RBI are already the most in a season for Tacoma since 2016, when Stefen Romero drove in 85 runs.

YO...JAKE!: Rainiers 3B/1B Jake Scheiner has 25 home runs in 91 games of his Triple-A debut season, extending an already career-high total. He hit 21 homers last year at Double-A Arkansas.

Scheiner has homered 15x during home games, and is threatening Adrian Garrett's record of 19 homers in a season at Cheney Stadium (1971). Garrett, an outfielder for the 1971 Tacoma Cubs, still holds the franchise single-season home run record, with 43 (131 GP). Originally a 4th round draft pick of Philadelphia in 2017, Scheiner was traded to Seattle for OF Jay Bruce on 6/2/19.

UNI-WATCH: The 2023 Tacoma Rainiers have the following record by uniform top...Rainiers Red (11-15), Home White (13-11), Road Grey (5-3), Navy (12-14), 1960 Fauxback (3-4), La Familia de Tacoma (5-0), Special Auction (1-3).

Check out the Tacoma Rainiers Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from July 29, 2023


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