Elias leads Tacoma with strong start, R’s win 6-3
Oklahoma City, OK— The Tacoma Rainiers (63-70) took down the first place Oklahoma City Dodgers (74-59) on Friday night with a score of 6-3. Tacoma has now won five of their last seven games dating back to September 2. The Rainiers got started early against RHP Michael Groves. In the
Oklahoma City, OK— The Tacoma Rainiers (63-70) took down the first place Oklahoma City Dodgers (74-59) on Friday night with a score of 6-3. Tacoma has now won five of their last seven games dating back to September 2.
The Rainiers got started early against RHP Michael Groves. In the top of the second, Jonathan Villar was the only Rainier to touch a base in the first two innings. He touched all of them with his third homer of the season giving Tacoma an early 1-0 lead.
In the third Derek Hill led off the inning with a single and proceeded steal second base. With one out, Mason[I1] McCoy hit his fourth triple of the year scoring Hill. The following batter, Luis Torrens scored McCoy with a sacrifice fly putting Tacoma further out in front 3-0.
Tacoma would continue adding on for the third consecutive inning. The fourth frame started with Villar and Marcus Wilson reaching base on a pair of singles. Zach Green would walk two batters later loading the bases with one out. Villar would score via sacrifice fly from left fielder Hill giving the Rs a 4-0 lead. Forrest Wall drove in Wilson with a single up the middle, ending the scoring in the fourth with Tacoma Rainiers leading 5-0.
The Rainiers put one more run on the board in the seventh. Brian O’Keefe notched his second hit of the game with a single to start the inning. Villar and Wilson followed O’Keefe with walks to load the bases. A RBI groundout from Drew Ellis scored O’Keefe cementing the lead at 6-0.
Tacoma starter Roenis Elias went five strong innings, allowing four hits, a single walk and fanned five Dodgers on the night. Brennan Bernardino also worked a scoreless outing, putting up all zeros in the sixth inning.
Oklahoma City got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh off of Tacoma RHP Phillips Valdez. The run would score on a double play hit by Dodgers second baseman Devin Mann which scored James Outman ending the seventh with the score 6-1.
The Dodgers tallied two more runs in the bottom of the eighth as well. A base hit from Andy Burns scored Drew Avans who led off the inning with a hit by a pitch. The following run scored on a sacrifice fly to deep left field by Edwin Rios which scored Ryan Noda who capped the scoring 6-3.
Tacoma will be back in action on Saturday at 5:05 p.m. PT LHP Austin Warner takes the ball for the Rainiers and for the Dodgers RHP Ryan Pepiot.
Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto will have full coverage on TacomaRainiers.com. All 2022 Rainiers games, home and away, can also be heard for free on the MiLB First Pitch app. HD video broadcasts of every game can be viewed with a MiLB.TV subscription.
About the Tacoma Rainiers
The Tacoma Rainiers are the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The Rainiers are a member of the Pacific Coast League and have been a Mariners affiliate since establishing the Rainiers moniker in 1995.
The most up-to-date news and notes about the Tacoma Rainiers and Cheney Stadium can be found at WeRTacoma.com, or by following the Rainiers on Twitter (@RainiersLand), Instagram (@tacomarainiers) and liking the team on Facebook.