September 14 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers @ Oklahoma City Baseball Club

TACOMA RAINIERS (78-64) @ OKLAHOMA CITY BASEBALL CLUB (73-69)
Saturday, September 14 • 4:05 PM PT • Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OK
RHP Blas Castano (5-3, 4.68) vs. RHP Carlos Duran (0-0, -.--)

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Rainiers and Baseball Club will play game five of their six-game series tonight, with Blas Castano taking the mound for Tacoma. Castano has made 12 starts and is 5-3 with a 4.68 ERA, allowing 34 earned runs on 64 hits and 21 walks. He has struck out 67 batters over his 65.1 innings with Tacoma this year, limiting opponents to a .260 batting average. He is coming off back-to-back quality starts against Albuquerque last week. Opposite Castano will be Carlos Duran toeing the rubber for the Baseball Club, set to make his Triple-A debut. The right-hander is 0-4 with a 3.05 ERA through 11 starts with Double-A Tulsa, surrendering 13 earned runs on 43 hits and 18 walks while striking out 48 batters in 38.1 innings. In 18 total starts between Single-A and Double-A this year, Duran is 0-6 with a 3.46 ERA.

STILL MADE AN IMPACT: For the first time in 11 games with Tacoma, Kobe Kato was held hitless in last night’s win. The infielder made his Triple-A debut with the Rainiers back in July and has been on a hot streak since then, leading Tacoma with a .395 average. Kato went 0-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI, drawing three walks including a bases loaded walk to start the scoring for Tacoma. Through his first 10 games with the Rainiers, Kato hit .415, recording at least one hit in all 10 games including two three-hit games and three two-hit efforts.

WALK DOWN THE LINE: Tacoma drew 10 walks in their 10-5 win last night, as seven of their nine starters took at least one free pass. Kobe Kato led the way with three and Michael Papierski drew two. Walking has been a common theme for this series, as last night’s 10 walks tied their total for Wednesday’s game. They walked four times in the opener on Tuesday, 10 times on Wednesday, eight times on Thursday and 10 more last night, drawing a total of 32 walks over the first four games of the series. Tacoma has drawn the second-most walks this year among Pacific Coast League teams, entering play tonight having taken 678 walks, eight behind Sugar Land with 686.

RUN IT BACK: Blas Castano’s last start came on Sunday in their series finale against Albuquerque. It was also Castano’s birthday, as the 26-year-old pitched on his birthday for the first time in his professional career. The outing was one of his best of the season with Tacoma, as he threw five no-hit innings before allowing a hit in the sixth. It was immediately followed with a home run, the only two hits and runs he allowed. The right-hander earned his fifth win of the year and lowered his ERA to 4.68, as it was his sixth quality start in 12 games with the Rainiers.

ON A HEATER: Tyler Locklear extended his hitting streak to eight games with his double in the sixth inning last night, tying a season high mark of eight straight games with a hit. Dating back to Sept. 5, Locklear has raised his batting average 16 points, from .249 to .265. He has four multi-hit efforts over that span, including a three-hit game in the series finale against Albuquerque on Sept. 8. The first baseman has another impressive streak going as well that was extended last night, scoring a run in seven consecutive games.

SWING AND MISS: The top five hitters in Tacoma’s lineup last night accounted for 11 of their 13 strikeouts, as all five players had multi-strikeout games. Samad Taylor, Tacoma’s leadoff hitter, struck out three times in his six at-bats, while the next four hitters each fanned two times. Although the Rainiers scored 10 runs on nine hits, they still struck out 13 times and went just 4-for-16 with runners in scoring position, leaving a lot of runs on the bases.

TAKE THE LEAD: After dropping each of the first two games against Oklahoma City this week in extra-innings, Tacoma has now come back to even the series with back-to-back wins of their own. They will go for three in a row and take the series lead tonight, looking to put themselves in position to win the series on Sunday. The Rainiers enter play tonight 3.5 games out of first place in the second half, playing what would be their last two road games of the season if they fall short of making playoffs.

AGAINST OKLAHOMA CITY: After back-to-back wins, the Rainiers evened their current series and took a 7-6 series lead against the Oklahoma City Baseball Club this year. Entering game five of their current six-game series and game 14-of-15 overall between the two teams, the Rainiers can guarantee a season series win with a victory in one of their next two games. Tacoma holds the all-time series lead over the Baseball Club by five games, at 100-95.

SHORT HOPS: In his first game back with the Rainiers since being designated for assignment by Seattle on Monday, Jason Vosler went 1-for-4 with a bases loaded double and drew one walk compared to two strikeouts; the double gave him 101 RBI on the year, second behind Reno’s Kyle Garlick…Jake Slaughter extended his hitting streak to 10 games last night, going 1-for-4 with an RBI and a walk, he has now hit safely in 16 of his last 18 games dating back to Aug. 21…Gregory Santos pitched on Major League rehab for the Rainiers last night, allowing one earned run on one walk and two strikeouts in 0.2 innings…last night’s win was Tacoma’s 100th all-time win against Oklahoma City, leading the all-time series by a record of 100-95.