Skid extends to three as Tacoma drops series to Las Vegas

Tacoma’s losing streak stretched to three games Thursday night as the Rainiers lost 5-2 to the Las Vegas 51s for their first series loss in three weeks.

Las Vegas jumped on Tacoma starter Christian Bergman early, both in the game and in at-bats. Matthew den Dekker led off the game with a home run, then Jeff McNeil doubled the lead later in the first with a solo shot of his own. Both homers came on the third pitch of the respective at-bats — an 0-2 pitch to den Dekker and a 1-1 offering to McNeil.

“Those were two pretty good pitches, they just got out in front and got good wood on them,” manager Pat Listach said. “They had a good gameplan against him today.”

The 51s added on to the deficit in the top of the fourth with a 2-RBI single by Ty Kelly and an RBI from Christian Colon. Once again, the Las Vegas batters attacked Bergman early; Kelly on the first pitch and Colon on the second.

Bergman lasted four innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and a walk. Matt Tenuta started off the relief train, throwing 2 ⅓ innings of no-hit ball, allowing just two walks and striking out a pair. Ryan Garton and Shawn Armstrong added scoreless outings.

Tacoma finally clawed back with a two runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth, but it was too little, too late. A day after going 1 for 16 with runners in scoring position, the Rainiers improved, but only just, going 3 for 13 and leaving 10 runners left on base.

“The story of the game was that we’re not scoring runs,” Listach said. “We’ve got to score more than two.”

True utility

Gordon Beckham started in the outfield for just the second time in his career Thursday night, in a move that was more-than-partially directed by the Mariners’ front office.

“They said bounce him around,” Listach said. “If he’s going to be true utility guy, he has to be able to play first base, we know he can play second, he’s played some shortstop… he’s played third. They said when we had a chance to throw him in the outfield, throw him in the outfield.”

Beckham made his outfield debut on May 20 in left field. Thursday in left, Beckham made a nice play in the fop of the fourth inning, robbing Patrick Kivlehan of extra bases with a catch crashing against the wall. Just two batters later, though, he looked more like a newcomer to the grass, overrunning Kelly’s 2-RBI single and allowing him to take second.

Happier here

No offense to Double-A Arkansas, but for Andrew Aplin, there’s just something different about playing in Tacoma.

“All these guys like to compete and have fun. I’m not saying we didn’t in Arkansas,” Aplin said at Cheney Stadium before Thursday’s game. “There’s a lot of energy in this group; there’s no lead we can’t come back from, and when we’re ahead, we keep piling on.”

Aplin, who started the 2018 season with the Travelers after a bit of a slow end to his 2017 season in Tacoma, didn’t get off to a blazing start to the season, hitting .170 in 15 games, and an injury limited him to just two games in May.

Coming back from the disabled list, Aplin got the call back to Triple-A ball June 2. In 17 games in 24 days since, it’s been a completely different season.

“When I came here, I was excited to be back with the team I was with last year,” Aplin said. “I’m just having a lot more fun with the game, coming out and going day-by-day, at-bat-by-at-bat.”

Aplin simplified his approach at the plate, working with hitting coach David Berg to shorten his swing and use the entire field.

“He’s brought some stuff to my attention, I’ve brought some stuff to him, and we just bounce ideas off each other,” Aplin said.

The changes has paid off; Aplin has raised his batting average by over 40 points since coming to Tacoma, hitting .267 this season with the Rainiers. He hit his first home run of the season leading off the bottom of the first inning in Tacoma’s June 17 win over Iowa, then hit his second five days later as part of a 3 for 4 game at Salt Lake City.

“It’s just been little swing adjustments and a little more confidence at the plate,” Aplin said.

All-Star Armstrong

Shawn Armstrong was named as the only Tacoma representative to the 2018 Triple-A All-Star game, which will take place in Columbus, Ohio on July 11.

It’s the third time in four years that Armstrong, who pitched for the Columbus Clippers in the Cleveland Indians organization, has been named a Triple-A All-Star. This season, Armstrong leads the Rainiers with five saves, four of which have come in June.