July 11 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers @ Albuquerque Isotopes

TACOMA RAINIERS (50-39) @ ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES (33-56)
Thursday, July 11 • 5:35 PM PT • Isotopes Park • Albuquerque, NM
LHP Jhonathan Diaz (8-2, 4.05) vs. RHP Noah Davis (1-2, 6.34)

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Rainiers and Isotopes will play game three of their six-game set tonight, with the series now even at one game apiece. Tacoma will send lefty Jhonathan Diaz to the mound, looking to get back on track. Diaz suffered just his second loss of the season last time out, entering play tonight with an 8-2 record and a 4.05 ERA through 15 games (14 starts) with Tacoma. The southpaw has struggled as of late, walking at least five batters in each of his last four starts. Despite the struggles, he is still among Pacific Coast League leaders in ERA (3^rd), wins (t-1^st), strikeouts (5^th), innings pitched (5^th), batting average against (3^rd), WHIP (3^rd) and winning percentage (1^st). Opposite Diaz will be Noah Davis taking the ball for Albuquerque, set to pitch in his 12th game and ninth start for the Isotopes. The right-hander enters play tonight with a 1-2 record and a 6.34 ERA, allowing 35 earned runs on 58 hits and 22 walks while striking out 54 batters over 49.2 innings pitched. Since his first start of the season on Opening Day, Davis has gone at least 5.0 innings in six of his last 10 games.

AT THE TOP: Cade Marlowe swiped his 40^th bag of the season yesterday for the Rainiers, leading all Pacific Coast League players. The outfielder had been stuck on 39 bases since he stole one on July 2, as he went five consecutive games without a stolen base. Five games without swiping a bag was tied for the third-longest stretch all year for Marlowe, as he didn’t steal a base in eight straight games from April 26-May 4 and seven games from June 11-21. Marlowe’s base was one of five total bases for the Rainiers yesterday, moving their season total to 186.

JUST SHY: The last Rainiers player to hit for the cycle was Carlos Triunfel back in 2013, but first baseman Tyler Locklear was just a home run shy of a cycle in yesterday’s game. Locklear singled in the first to drive in a run, doubled in the sixth, and tripled in the ninth, making him one of the top offensive performers of the matchup. Locklear has been an asset to Tacoma’s offense in July, recording at least one hit in six of his last eight games, driving in five runs on his own.

FIND THE ZONE: Jhonathan Diaz has struggled with finding the zone recently, as he’s walked at least five batters in each of his last four outings. Diaz began the season with back-to-back walk-free games and allowed no more than two in eight of the following nine appearances. His strikeout rate per game has also declined, as he is walking more batters than strikeouts. Diaz has recorded a total of 17 strikeouts against Albuquerque compared to just five walks over 13.2 innings, so he will look to break his streak tonight and get back to his early season numbers.

BATTLE BACK: Despite striking first, the Rainiers had to battle back after a big fourth inning from the Isotopes. Tacoma tied the game at 8-8 in the top of the fifth, but Albuquerque battled back in the bottom of the fifth to retake the lead. The next four innings were back-and-forth scoring from each team, but Tacoma’s efforts just weren’t enough to take the victory. Following last night’s 14-12 loss, the Rainiers are now 12-2 when scoring 10 or more runs, and 2-7 when allowing 10 or more.

GO FOR EXTRAS: Eight of the Rainiers’ eighteen hits yesterday went for extra bases. Four doubles, one triple, and three home runs contributed to eight of the 12 runs for Tacoma. Back-to-back doubles from Jake Slaughter and Michael Papierski drove in three runs within a five-pitch span. Extra-base hits gave some padding to Albuquerque’s lead as well, as they had three doubles and three home runs to score six of their 14 runs.

AGAINST ALBUQUERQUE: The Rainiers and Isotopes will play game three of their six-game set tonight, with the series tied at 1-1 following yesterday’s loss. Last season, the clubs split both series, with each team going 3-3 at home and on the road for a 6-6 record on the year. Yesterday’s loss set the Rainiers 15 games back of Albuquerque in their all-time series, at 269- 284-1, reversing the improvement Tuesday’s win gave them.

SHORT HOPS: Jason Vosler extended his hitting streak to thirteen games after going 3-for-6 at the plate yesterday…Heath Hembree didn’t allow a batter to reach base in his second appearance of the season with the Rainiers…Michael Papierski allowed three stolen bases by the Isotopes yesterday; his third highest of the season…Tacoma dropped to 30-7 when out-hitting their opponent with yesterday’s loss…today is Samad Taylor’s 26^th birthday, the utility-man rejoined Tacoma’s roster and went 2-for-6 with two runs scored and a double yesterday.