Bergman tosses gem as Tacoma demolishes Reno

Coming off a close, low-scoring loss in which they used most of the bullpen, the Rainiers needed an offensive bounceback and a good outing from Christian Bergman.

As it turned out, they got both, beating up on Reno 11-1 to even up the penultimate home series of the season.

Bergman retired 15 of the first 17 batters he faced, walking two but keeping a no-hitter intact through five innings. Kristopher Negron led off the top of the sixth with a ball that fell just out of the reach of right fielder Cameron Perkins, but Bergman sent down six of the next seven batters, capping off a seven-inning, one-hit outing.

“It doesn’t get much better than that,” Bergman said after the game. “I was scuffling there for a bit, but I figured some mechanical things out, and it just came together.”

Coming off of yesterday’s sampler of relievers, Bergman gave a winded Tacoma bullpen a much-needed easy day.

“He was really out of sight today,” Rainiers manager Pat Listach said. “It was good to see the old Bergman back in his form again.”

Cameron Rupp went 2-for-4 with his first home run in a Rainiers jersey and two more runs scored to lead the offense. Adam Law also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 and logging a pair of RBIs.

On more than one occasion, the Tacoma offense came gift-wrapped directly from the Aces. With the Rainiers already up 2-0 in the bottom of the third, Reno starter Neftali Feliz walked a pair of batters to load the bases, then hit David Freitas to bring another run home.

The next inning, another bases-loaded hit batsman, followed by a bases-loaded walk made it 5-0.

“I would rather have a double in the gap, but I’ll take the hit-by-pitch and the run scored,” Listach said.

Daniel Vogelbach launched his team-leading 20th home run of the season to give the Rainiers a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Cameron Perkins capped off the scoring on the night with his eighth, a three-run shot.

“It’s good to see us hit home runs,” Listach said. “I haven’t looked at the stats, but I would say we’re near the bottom in home runs.”

James Pazos made his first cameo out of the Tacoma bullpen, walking the first man he faced in the ninth, but getting the next three to end the day on a drama-free note.

Uber squad

That new reliever’s name is Zavolas. Zuh-vaw-lus.

At least, Rainiers pitching coach Lance Painter is pretty sure that’s how you say it. Not that Noah Zavolas himself has had the chance to clarify it with his coach.

“I’m sure I’ll have a conversation with him at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later,” Zavolas joked before his second game at Cheney Stadium on Wednesday.

With Ross Detwiler getting a late call-up Tuesday afternoon, the Rainiers needed a quick fill-in, and went all the way down to short-season Single-A Everett to get it. When Zavolas got his call, it was past 4:30 p.m., and he was already at batting practice — at Everett Memorial Stadium.

“I just had to run from BP to my locker to collect everything I needed, and get over here,” Zavolas said.

One two-hour, $120 Uber ride later (don’t worry, he got reimbursed), Zavolas got his cap, got his jersey, and was in the Tacoma bullpen. Though it turned out that he had missed his chance for an even crazier afternoon.

“I came thinking I was going to start, but it was clear that if I wasn’t here by 6:20, I wasn’t going to have a chance to do that,” Zavolas said. “Especially with a close game, it was basically be ready from the second inning on. Once you get out there in the bullpen, things don’t really change. It’s very similar to anywhere else I’ve been.”

With the Tacoma bullpen having to cover an entire 10-inning game Tuesday, Painter expected Zavolas to be called into action Wednesday, before ultimately moving back down.

“That’s the way things happen around here,” Painter said. “You try to greet a guy, you don’t know much about him. Then you get him on the mound, watch him pitch, and get him back to Everett at the level that he should be pitching.”

Near-start for Higgins

With its scheduled Tuesday starter pitching at Safeco Field yesterday instead of Cheney Stadium, Tacoma ended up extending a few of its relievers well beyond their usual inning. Mike Morin ended up starting, throwing 46 pitches in 2 ⅔ innings of work. Ryan Garton threw 40 later in the game. Tyler Higgins — the fourth of six Rainiers pitchers — ended up leading Tacoma in outs.

“I just felt that I was in a situation where I could try and stretch it out a little bit,” Higgins said. “[Manager Pat Listach] asked me how I felt, and I told him I felt great and I would go for as many as he wanted me to go.”

Higgins lasted three innings, throwing 44 pitches; both were season highs. But he almost got the chance for a very random anniversary.

On Aug. 22 of last year — almost exactly one year to the day before Tuesday — Higgins had the first and only start of his professional career, throwing 65 pitches and striking out seven in 4 ⅓ innings of work for Double-A Jacksonville.

Three hundred and sixty-four days later, he almost got to do it again.

“I told them yesterday when Ross got called up, ‘Hey, I’ll start,’” Higgins said. “I want it. I like to do stuff like that, whatever the team needs. If they want me to go five, I’ll go five.”

In the end, it was Morin who started. But after his longest outing in over a calendar year, Higgins said he still felt it afterward.

“I’m a little tired,” Higgins said. “I normally don’t sleep very much, but I woke up at 11 a.m. this morning, and I was like ‘Holy cow, I must have been tired.’”

Pazos begins in Tacoma

James Pazos was optioned from Seattle on Sunday, and saw his first action in Tacoma on Wednesday.

“I think the plan right now is just have him throw an inning, and then a couple days later throw another one,” Painter said before Wednesday’s game.

This story was originally published August 22, 2018 at 6:48 PM.