Offense sputters again as Tacoma drops second straight
For the second straight night, the Tacoma offense stalled out against Fresno, as the Rainiers couldn’t muster much in a 3-1 loss to the Grizzlies.
“We didn’t swing the bats great tonight, but we faced some pretty good pitching tonight,” Rainiers manager Pat Listach said after the game.
This time, it was Jack Mayfield pacing the Grizzlies, falling a triple shy of the cycle in a 3-for-5 night, driving in two of Fresno’s runs. Fresno starter Josh James, who routinely reached triple-digits on his fastball, struck out six in 4 ⅔ innings.
Casey Lawrence looked good in his first start since being optioned back to Tacoma, allowing one run in the first but following that with four scoreless frames. He scattered five hits through his outing and struck out three Grizzlies on 70 pitches.
“I could have pushed him two more hitters, but that didn’t make sense,” Listach said. “He had already done a good job out there. He put us in a position to go to our bullpen.”
Dan Altavilla replaced Lawrence for his first appearance in Tacoma since May, but two pitches into the sixth, a Mayfield home run gave the Grizzlies back the lead. A throwing error later, JD Davis stretched the lead to 3-1 with a double.
Zach Vincej led the Tacoma offense, going 2-for-2 with a two walks and a pair of singles. The Rainiers’ lone run of the day came on one of his hits, when a two-base throwing error on an infield single drove Seth Mejias-Brean in all the way from first.
Bryan Evans will get the start Sunday afternoon as the Rainiers try to salvage the four-game split against the Grizzlies.
Father, catcher
Apparently, David Freitas has had his occasional issues with Rainiers manager Pat Listach. During their win in the series opener against Fresno, the Tacoma skipper came out to make a pitching change, and Freitas aired his grievance — regarding his three-year-old son, Owen.
“He let me know something about it on the mound where I was making a change,” Listach said after the game Thursday. “He’s like, ‘will you please stop giving him candy?’”
It’s not the only recent instance that the subject of Owen — and the jar of candy Listach keeps on the desk in his office — has come up on the field.
“(One time) on a check swing, Pat thought the guy went around, and the other guys didn’t think he went,” Freitas said before the game Saturday night. “I said ‘Pat, I’ll agree with you all you want if you keep giving my kid candy.’”
With Dario Alvarez no longer on the roster, Freitas is the only player in Tacoma bringing a child to Cheney Stadium. According to Listach, it’s just another facet to one of the Rainiers’ most experience leaders.
“It’s big, because you can see he leads by example,” Listach said. “He’s got his priorities straight, he really does. He’s fun to be around. He’s all business, and away from baseball, it’s all about his family, which is perfect. That’s the way it should be.”
Freitas, in his first season with the Mariners organization, has bounced back and forth between Seattle and Tacoma as the third catcher on the 40-man roster. After Saturday, he’s played 29 games with each, hitting .362 with the Rainiers and .192 with the Mariners.
“Down here, I get the opportunity to play everyday, and when you do that, you get in a little better rhythm,” Freitas said.
As the catcher on the taxi squad, Freitas has had to pretty much work with two different pitching staffs, a process that started in the early days of March.
“It starts in Spring Training, and when you start there, you start to get to know them. You hang out with guys before and after games, but I honestly think the more in-game that you catch them, you get a really good feel with the positive and negatives of what they can do.”
In just about two weeks, Freitas is set to take his talents back north to Seattle when rosters expand, but until then, the eight-year veteran backstop will remain the backbone of the Tacoma lineup.
“He prepares like nobody else,” Listach said. “You can tell he’s got a gameplan, and his gameplan is to get back to get back to the major leagues. I watch him work, and it’s fun to watch.”
New face in the rotation
David Rollins’ first start for Tacoma may not have been the prettiest in terms of the box score, but going past the numbers, it could have been a much worse debut.
“In reality, he did do a lot of good things in that game,” pitching coach Lance Painter said.
Most importantly, Rollins ate innings, throwing 95 pitches and getting the Rainiers through 5 ⅓ innings and limiting the amount of work the bullpen had to do.
After two seasons as a reliever with the Rainiers, this was a slightly different experience for Painter, but it also wasn’t nearly a completely new face to get acquainted with quickly.
“He’s still that guy that wants to go out there and compete,” Painter said. “When you have familiarity with a guy, you know what you can expect and what you can’t.”
Rollins will stay in the Tacoma rotation going forward. With an off-day Tuesday, he’ll get an extra days’ rest before going out again.