Taylor Steals Home for Second Consecutive Game as Rainiers Fall 6-3
PCL Tacoma Rainiers

Taylor Steals Home for Second Consecutive Game as Rainiers Fall 6-3

Published on August 24, 2025 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release


TACOMA, WA - The Tacoma Rainiers (70-56/32-19) got a theft of home plate by Samad Taylor for the second consecutive game and 3.0 scoreless innings out of the bullpen from Michael Mariot, but it was not enough to take down the Oklahoma City Comets (74-52/28-23), who won 6-3, splitting the six-game series.

Oklahoma City began the scoring in the first inning on Sunday. Esteury Ruiz led off the game with a base hit to right field, and Hyeseong Kim grounded into a 1-6 fielder's choice. With Kim on first, Kiké Hernandez doubled off of the left field wall, and Luken Baker walked to load the bases. Nick Senzel got the Comets on the board with a sacrifice fly, but the score stayed at 1-0 after C.J. Alexander flied out.

Tacoma responded in the bottom half of the first. Samad Taylor doubled to right field, and Rhylan Thomas singled to put runners on the corners. For the second consecutive game, Taylor and Thomas executed a double steal where Taylor took home and Thomas took second, tying the game at one. Ben Williamson grounded out to second base and moved Thomas over to third, but he was stranded there as Spencer Packard and Leody Taveras were retired to end the inning.

The Rainiers took the lead in the second inning, which began with back-to-back singles from Miles Mastrobuoni and Cade Marlowe. Blake Hunt laced a ground-rule double to put Tacoma on top 2-1, and with runners on second and third, Victor Labrada grounded out to first to score Marlowe. Tacoma stranded a runner on third for the second consecutive inning, as Taylor and Thomas were set down to send the game to the third inning with the score at 3-1.

The Comets rallied to take the lead in the third inning. Hernandez worked a one out walk, and after Baker struck out, Senzel singled to put runners on first and second. Alexander doubled to score Hernandez, and Austin Gauthier gave Oklahoma City the lead with a single that scored both Baker and Alexander. Tacoma starter Josh Fleming was able to keep it a 4-3 game, as he retired Noah Miller via a fly out to end the frame.

The pitching staff kept the game quiet until the seventh inning. Knack settled down after the second, pitching 6.0 innings and did not allow another run outside of the three he gave up in the first two frames. Tacoma's Michael Mariot went toe-to-toe with him, as he came on in relief in the fourth inning and pitched 3.0 scoreless frames, striking out three and allowing four hits.

Oklahoma City broke through to add to their lead in the seventh. With Michael Fulmer on the mound, Nick Senzel drove a leadoff homer over the left field wall to make it 5-3. Fulmer avoided any further damage, as a one-out single by Austin Gauthier was the only other blemish in the inning; he struck out Miller and induced a ground out from Chuckie Robinson to retire the side.

The Comets added another in the ninth via a two-out rally. Baker and Senzel were retired to begin the inning, but three consecutive singles from Alexander, Gauthier, and Miller made it 6-3. Tacoma reliever Hagen Danner set Robinson down on strikes to escape the inning.

José Rodriguez came on and earned the save for Oklahoma City, giving up a two-out single to Mastrobuoni but inducing a ground out from Marlowe to end the game. Knack got the win for the Comets, his fourth of the year, and Fleming took the loss for Tacoma after allowing four runs in 3.0 innings pitched.

POSTGAME NOTES:

Samad Taylor stole home for the second consecutive game on Sunday, making him the first Rainier to do so in back-to-back games since at least 2005 (furthest records are available). He is also the only Rainier to have multiple thefts of home plate in a season since 2005. It also made him the only player in the PCL with three-or-more thefts of home this season, and was his fourth career steal of home plate with Tacoma, the most by any PCL player since at least 2005.

Tacoma's double-steal in the first inning extended their streak of games with multiple stolen bases to six. They are just the second team in the PCL to reach six consecutive games with multiple stolen bases this season, as Salt Lake also achieved this feat when they stole multiple bases in six games in a row between June 26 and August 1.

Michael Mariot's 3.0 scoreless innings tie a season high for him out of the bullpen, as he also pitched 3.0 scoreless frames in a victory over Salt Lake on May 28. With Mariot's outing, Tacoma became the first team in the PCL this season to have four different relievers have multiple scoreless 3.0-plus inning outings, as Mariot joined Josh Fleming (4x) Blas Castaño (2x), and Sauryn Lao (2x).

Ben Williamson drew two walks on Sunday, which brought him OBP to .477 for the month of August. This is good for the fourth-best OBP in the PCL this month, and is also the highest OBP Williamson has recorded in a single month in his professional career.

Check out the Tacoma Rainiers Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 24, 2025


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