PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: vs. Sugar Land (7:05 PT)

April 22, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


Tacoma Rainiers (5-10) vs. Sugar Land Space Cowboys (5-10)

Friday, April 22, 2022, 7:05 p.m. PT | Cheney Stadium: Tacoma, WA

RHP Darren McCaughan vs. RHP Tyler Ivey

MAURICE?: Steven Souza (8th inning) and Mason McCoy (9th) each hit a solo homer on Thursday at Cheney Stadium against Sugar Land, despite a 6-3 defeat. It was the first home run in a Rainiers uniform for each player.

Space Cowboys first baseman Michael Papierski drove in three runs, on a pair of RBI singles and a sac fly. In a piggyback arrangement, RHPs Shawn Dubin (2.0 IP), Brandon Bielak (4.0 IP) and Jon Olczak (1.0 IP) combined to hold Tacoma scoreless for the first seven innings, combining to strike out 10.

DIRTBAGS: Tonight's Tacoma starting pitcher Darren McCaughan and Sugar Land infielder Alex De Goti were college teammates for a single season at Long Beach State University (NCAA Division I, Big West Conference), in 2015. That was McCaughan's first year at the school, while De Goti departed following his junior year, as Houston's 15th round draft pick. Each player made his MLB debut last season, appearing twice with their respective affiliates: McCaughan logged 9.0 IP between two appearances (one start), and DeGoti went 2-for-6 with an RBI and two runs scored in two games during an April 16-18 series-- at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. De Goti collected his first big league hit, an RBI single, off Yusei Kikuchi in the 5th inning on 4/16.

ASTRONAUTS NEAR THE OCEAN: The Sugar Land franchise is making its first visit to Cheney Stadium this week, in its second season in the PCL and as Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. Originally a member of the Atlantic League as the Sugar Land Skeeters beginning in 2012, they were champions of that circuit twice, in 2016 and 2018 before joining the Houston organization for 2021; the team was re-branded from Skeeters to Space Cowboys this past winter. Sugar Land and Tacoma split their only previous meeting, a six-game series at Constellation Field from July 8-13 last season.

CLOSE QU(AAA)RTERS: Once upon a time, the Tacoma Rainiers and Seattle Mariners stood as the nearest Triple-A to MLB affiliation (36 miles). That title was then shared with the advent of the Atlanta Braves shifting Triple-A operations to Gwinnett County, GA (also a distance of 36 miles) for the 2009 season. When St. Paul (12 miles to the Minnesota Twins) and Sugar Land (22 miles to the Houston Astros) joined the Triple-A ranks prior to last season, the Rs-M's proximity was pushed to a tie for third-shortest.

STRIKE COWBOYS: Sugar Land enters action tonight with the most strikeouts by a pitching staff in all of pro baseball, 173, an average of 11.53 punchouts per game (14 GP). The next closest is Myrtle Beach (Cubs Class A) with 162 in only 12 games (7-5). The New York Mets lead MLB (143 K) in one fewer games (10-4).

LOCALIZE IT: The current Tacoma active roster has three Puget Sound natives: OF Steven Souza, Jr. (Everett, Cascade High School), RHP Riley O'Brien (Seattle, Shorewood High School) and OF Trent Tingelstad (Everett, Marysville-Pilchuck High School). Souza is a veteran of 499 MLB games, and signed with the Mariners at the outset of spring training. O'Brien was traded by the Cincinnati Reds to Seattle for future and/or cash considerations last week, and optioned to Tacoma on Tuesday. O'Brien made his MLB debut last season for the Reds, working 1.1 IP on 9/28/21 at Chicago-AL.

Tingelstad, the Mariners' 22nd round draft pick in 2019, made his Double-A debut earlier this season, playing in four games for Arkansas between April 9-16 (3-for-10, 2B, 2 RBI, R, 4 BB, .900 OPS). Last night, Tingelstad walked twice and crushed a 395-foot triple off the batter's eye in the fourth inning, his first Triple-A hit in his debut at the level.

R SPEED: The Rainiers have stolen 27 bases in 14 games, and lead all of Triple-A in steals by five; Indianapolis (Pittsburgh) of the International League is second with 22. Caught only four times as a club so far, the Rainiers are stealing bases at an 87% success rate and swiping 1.8 bags per game. Tacoma OF Forrest Wall is tied for the individual PCL lead with seven.

H8R: The late-inning home run by Steven Souza last night extended Tacoma's team homer streak to eight games. The Rainiers have hit back-to-back homers twice in that span (since 4/13).

UNI WATCH: The 2022 Tacoma Rainiers have the following record by uniform top: Home white (3-4), red (1-2), navy blue (0-1), road grey (1-2), "La Familia de Tacoma" (0-1, Copa de la Diversion). "Throwback Weekend" is ahead on Saturday and Sunday at Cheney Stadium, complete with cream-colored "faux back" uniforms, which will imagine what the Rainiers brand may have looked like on the field in 1960, the inaugural season for Cheney Stadium and Triple-A baseball in Tacoma.

Check out the Tacoma Rainiers Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from April 22, 2022


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