May 14 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Salt Lake Bees

TACOMA RAINIERS (21-18) vs. SALT LAKE BEES (16-22)
Tuesday, May 14 • 6:05 PM • Cheney Stadium • Tacoma, WA
RHP Emerson Hancock (0-0, -.--) vs. RHP Zach Plesac (1-5, 6.44)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Tacoma and Salt Lake will meet for game one of their six-game series tonight and game seven between the two teams on the season. Emerson Hancock will take the ball for the Rainiers, set to make his Triple-A debut. The right-hander started the year with Seattle, where he went 3-3 with a 5.24 ERA in seven starts. Opposite Hancock will be Zach Plesac getting the start for the Bees, coming into play tonight with a 1-5 record and a 6.44 ERA through his first seven starts of the season. Plesac has allowed 26 earned runs on 38 hits and 17 walks, striking out 27 batters over his 36.1 innings pitched. He suffered a loss in his first matchup against the Rainiers this season, back on April 5, when he allowed four earned runs on four hits including two home runs. He walked and struck out five batters over his 4.2 innings pitched.

HOME COOKIN’: Tacoma returns home for game one of their 12-game homestand tonight, after playing their last 12 games on the road. The Rainiers went 4-8 on their road trip to Sacramento and Reno, putting their road record at 10-14 this season. They are still three games over the .500-mark overall coming into play tonight, thanks to their stellar play at home so far in 2024. Through their first 15 home games of the season, Tacoma is 11-4 at Cheney Stadium.

ON THE MEND: Outfielder Dominic Canzone will continue his Major League rehab with the Rainiers tonight, after playing two games in Reno. In those two games, Canzone went 3-for-8 with two doubles and a run batted in. He landed on the injured list back on April 15 with a left AC joint sprain. Tacoma will add another Major League rehabber tonight, shortstop J.P. Crawford. Crawford will make his first start on Major League rehab with Tacoma tonight, recovering from a right oblique strain suffered back on April 24. The shortstop played in 31 games with the Rainiers back in 2019 and that was the last time he was in Triple-A. Over those 31 games, he hit .319 (37-for-116) with seven doubles, three home runs and 15 runs batted in. He took 19 walks compared to 25 strikeouts on his way up to Seattle that season.

LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN: Michael Chavis increased his hitting streak to a season-long seven games with two more hits in the finale at Reno on Sunday. The infielder is now hitting a team-leading .311 through his 34 games this season. He also leads the team with 13 multi-hit games, collecting two hits 11 times and three hits twice. Over his current seven-game streak that started back on May 5, the 28-year-old is hitting .414 (12-for-29) with two doubles, five runs batted in and two walks compared to four strikeouts.

EMERSON’S DEBUT: Tonight’s starter for the Rainiers, Emerson Hancock, will be making his Triple-A debut when he toes the rubber at Cheney Stadium. The 24-year-old began the year with Seattle, filling the fifth starter role in place of the injured Bryan Woo. In seven starts with the Mariners, Hancock with 3-3 with a 5.24 ERA, allowing 20 earned runs on 34 hits including six home runs. He walked 11 batters compared to 23 strikeouts, allowing opponents to hit .256 against him in his 34.1 innings pitched. The former first-round draft pick of Seattle skipped Tacoma on his way to his Major League debut last season, getting his contract selected on Aug. 9 from Double-A Arkansas. He was placed on the 15-day injured list on Aug. 21 and transferred to the 60-day on Aug. 22 with a right shoulder strain, ending his 2023 season.

BACK ON TRACK: Tacoma went 2-4 in each of their six-game series on their 12-game road trip, giving them back-to-back series losses. Their last series win came at Cheney Stadium went they took four-of-six from El Paso from April 23-28. Tacoma is a perfect 3-0 in their three series at home, taking 2-of-3 from Oklahoma City to start the year, five-of-six from Reno and four-of-six from El Paso. Their lone road series win came against Salt Lake on their first road trip of the year, when they took four-of-six from the Bees. They will look to keep their hot play at home alive and get back on the winning track with six games against Salt Lake beginning tonight.

AGAINST SALT LAKE: Tacoma and Salt Lake will meet for game one of their six-game set tonight, with the Rainiers leading the season series 4-2. The two teams played a six-game set back from April 2-7 at Smith’s Ballpark in Salt Lake City, a series in which Tacoma took four-of-six from the Bees. They enter tonight’s game with a 4-2 record this year against Salt Lake and a 393-379-1 all-time record against the Bees.

SHORT HOPS: Tacoma’s starters have allowed exactly 200 hits and 100 earned runs through their first 189.2 innings pitched entering play tonight…tonight will mark the first home game in May for the Rainiers after going 4-7 in their first 11 games of the month, all on the road…Tacoma has committed at least one error in seven straight games, their longest streak of errorless ball was three games; they accomplished that twice, most recently from April 5-7…Tacoma is 3-4 in their first game of a series overall this season, going 2-1 in the first game of a series at home.