Rainiers notes: Tacoma heads into second half having won or split 7 of past 8 series
Triple-A Tacoma wrapped up the first half last weekend with a win.
After falling behind early to the visiting Oklahoma City Dodgers — who entered the All-Star break tied for the Pacific Coast League East lead — at Cheney Stadium, the Rainiers (38-51) rallied from a three-run deficit, eventually closing out a 6-3 win to secure a series split.
Tacoma starter Konner Wade, after allowing the three runs in the second inning, went on to retire 16 consecutive batters to end his afternoon and earn the win, while Danny Young and Matt Koch both pitched scoreless innings in relief, and Koch earned fourth save of the season.
Mason McCoy hit a run-scoring single in the second to get the Rainiers on the board. They tied the game up in the fifth, when Marcus Wilson and Joseph Odom both walked with the bases loaded.
Then Trey Amburgey’s single pushed across both Kyle Lewis and Wilson to give Tacoma a lead it never lost.
Lewis later hit into a fielder’s choice in the sixth, allowing Forrest Wall to score the club’s final run of the first half of the season.
The Rainiers took three of the final four games of the series from Oklahoma City to enter their four-day break trending back toward a .500 record.
“It feels great,” said Wilson, one of the starters currently on Tacoma’s roster who helped the Rainiers to the Triple-A West title last fall. “We’ve been working hard the past three, four months, so it’s just good to go out there with these guys every day and try to win, and that’s what we did today.”
Tacoma will look to continue this recent stretch of success when the second half of the club’s season begins Friday evening in Salt Lake City.
As the months have progressed, the Rainiers have started to find more consistent results. Tacoma opened its spring with a victory, but dropped six consecutive series before winning its first of the season on a road trip to Sacramento midway through May. The Rainiers lost seven of their first eight sets the first two months.
Since then, though, the club has lost only one series, while winning three and splitting four of its past eight.
After finishing 7-16 in the month of April and 10-15 in May, the Rainiers went 13-13 in June and have a winning record so far in July at 8-7.
“I think a lot of the guys are starting to gel and feel more comfortable,” said Rainiers bench coach Zach Vincej, who is Tacoma’s acting manager for the upcoming weekend series.
“Everybody’s kind of clicking now,” Wilson said.
The Rainiers remain in fifth in the PCL West standings, a few games back of both Salt Lake (42-48) and Sacramento (40-50), but enter the second half this weekend with some momentum. Las Vegas (49-40) is the division leader, just ahead of Reno (49-41).
“I think the pitching has been awesome for us and we’ve come up with some timely hits as well, and we’ve kind of put it together as a team,” Vincej said of Tacoma’s recent run. “I think everyone’s doing their part, everyone’s understanding their roles on the team, and I think it’s helping us out.”
Now, with 61 games remaining on the schedule, the Rainiers open the second half Friday looking to add to their win total.
“I think we have a great group of guys that can do it,” Wilson said. “ … We’ve got to take it day by day.”
TACOMA TO SEATTLE
Six players have made their major league debuts with the Mariners this season, including five who have also appeared for the Rainiers during the first half.
Three of them — Penn Murfee, Young and Wilson — got the call while playing for the Triple-A club.
Murfee, who was drafted by the Mariners in the 33rd round in 2018, debuted for Seattle on April 29 after opening the season with the Rainiers, and has since compiled a 1-0 record and 2.65 ERA in 35 relief appearances with the big league club, striking out 48 and walking eight across 37 1/3 innings.
Young, who the Mariners signed in February, also opened the season with Tacoma before debuting with Seattle on May 9 and tossing 2 1/3 scoreless frames. He has appeared in two games with the Mariners this season.
Wilson, after playing eight seasons in the minors, made his debut with the Mariners on June 29, has played in three games for the big league club this season and collected his first career hit on July 4 against the Padres in San Diego.
Rookie right-handers Matt Brash and George Kirby also made their big league debuts with the Mariners this spring and later made their first Triple-A appearances.
Brash started the season in Seattle’s rotation, but was optioned to Tacoma on May 5, where he moved into a bullpen role and posted a 0-1 record and 3.46 ERA in 22 games, striking out 41 and walking 14 in 26 innings.
He was recalled by the Mariners on July 9, and is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in the four games he has appeared in since, striking out five while walking three across 4 1/3 frames.
Kirby, the Mariners’ first-round pick in 2019, was promoted to Seattle from Double-A Arkansas this spring, and debuted in the starting rotation on May 8.
He is 2-3 with a 3.78 ERA in 12 starts for the Mariners this season, striking out 62 while walking nine across 64 1/3 innings.
Kirby made a stop in Tacoma last week ahead of the All-Star break, and tossed a pair of innings Saturday night in his Triple-A debut.
He is expected to rejoin Seattle’s rotation when the second half begins.
SHORT HOPS
▪ Mariners outfielder Kyle Lewis (concussion) has appeared in 10 games with Tacoma and High-A Everett since beginning a rehab assignment on July 3.
He hit 6-for-23 (.261) during that stretch with eight runs scored, five home runs, 12 RBI and six walks to six strikeouts.
Lewis, the 2020 American League Rookie of the Year, hit two of those home runs in Tacoma’s most recent series against Oklahoma City.
▪ Outfielder Jarred Kelenic, a former top prospect in Seattle’s system, has appeared in 46 games with Tacoma since he was optioned by the big league club on May 13.
He entered the break hitting .294/.357/.582 with 31 runs scored, 17 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs, 35 RBI and 17 walks to 56 strikeouts in 213 plate appearances.
Kelenic ranks among the top five on the Triple-A club in hits (fifth, 57), runs scored (fifth), doubles (tied-second), triples (team leader), home runs (tied-third) and RBI (tied-third) after playing in only 46 of Tacoma’s first 89 games.
ON DECK
The Rainiers resume their season Friday when they travel to Salt Lake for a short three-game series. They return home Tuesday to begin a six-game set against El Paso (52-38), which is tied for first in the PCL East.
