September 3 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Albuquerque Isotopes

TACOMA RAINIERS (73-59) vs. ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES (53-79)
Tuesday, September 3 • 6:05 PM • Cheney Stadium • Tacoma, WA
RHP Blas Castano (4-3, 4.89) vs. LHP Carson Palmquist (1-1, 4.68)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Tacoma returns home to face Albuquerque for the first of six games tonight, with Blas Castano taking the ball for the Rainiers. The right-hander is 4-3 with a 4.89 ERA through 10 starts with Tacoma this season, allowing 29 earned runs on 58 hits and 18 walks. He has struck out 52 batters over his 53.1 innings, facing Albuquerque for the second time this year and in his career. In his first game against the Isotopes back on July 14, he allowed two runs, both unearned, on two hits and two walks while striking out two batters over 5.1 frames. Opposite Castano will be Carson Palmquist toeing the rubber for Albuquerque, set to make his sixth start of the year with the Isotopes. The southpaw is 1-1 with a 4.68 ERA through his first five starts, allowing 13 earned runs on 24 hits including three home runs. He has walked 15 batters compared to 20 strikeouts over 25.0 innings, set to face Tacoma for the first time in his career.

ALL OF THE OFFENSE: In Tacoma’s lone win of the series on Saturday, Samad Taylor went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, two home runs and four runs driven in out of the leadoff spot. He hit a leadoff home run to start the game and followed it up with a three-run go-ahead home run in the final inning to help give the Rainiers a two-run win. On Sunday, Taylor provided all of Tacoma’s offense again, using both his speed and power. He led the game off with a single, stole second and third base and scored on a wild throw trying to catch him stealing third. In his next at-bat, he clubbed a bases loaded double to bring in three more and give the Rainiers a 4-0 lead. Their lead didn’t last, as the Chihuahuas scored eight unanswered runs. Samad has been a lightning rod at the top of the lineup though and will look to continue his hot hitting against Albuquerque.

BULLPEN HELP: Tacoma added relievers Gabe Speier and Trevor Kelley to their roster today, hopefully helping the back end of the bullpen for the Rainiers. Speier holds a 2.00 ERA in nine relief appearances with Tacoma this year, allowing just two earned runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four and limiting opponents to a .206 batting average against him in 9.0 innings. Kelley in third on the team in appearances, pitching in 45 games so far for the Rainiers. Over that span, he is 3-2 with a 3.04 ERA, allowing 16 earned runs on 42 hits and 31 walks while striking out 56 batters.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Rainiers return home after their worst road trip of the year, going 1-5 in six games against El Paso. Tacoma has struggled all year on the road, going 32-37 compared to 41-22 here at Cheney Stadium. They are now 4-1-7 in road series compared to 9-2-1 in series at home, coming off their lone home series loss of the year to Sacramento from Aug. 20-25. After winning a season-high six games in a row from Aug. 14-20 including five straight against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, Tacoma lost a season-long six straight games from Aug. 24-31. That is part of a bigger stretch in which they have gone just 2-9 in their last 11 games.

KEEP IT ROLLING: Catcher Seby Zavala and utility-man Jason Vosler are thrilled to see Albuquerque come to town, as they have both had success against the Isotopes this season. In four games against Albuquerque, Zavala is hitting .455 (5-for-11) with four runs scored, two doubles, a home run and six runs batted in. He has drawn more walks (4) than strikeouts taken (3), giving him an on-base percentage of .600. Over five games, Vosler is hitting .348 (8-for-23) with six runs scored, a double, a home run and three runs batted in. The two will look to continue this hot hitting against the Isotopes over this six-game series.

GET THEIR FIRST: After losing in the finale to El Paso on Sunday, Tacoma is still in search of their first win in the month of September. Coming off their best month of the year in which they went 16-11, the Rainiers are now 0-1 to start the month of September. They started both May and June 0-2 before getting their first win, but have yet to lose more than two games in a row to start any month this season.

A TOUGH STRETCH: Reliver Jordan Holloway has struggled this year for Tacoma, holding a 10.68 ERA over 33 relief appearances. A big reason for the disappointing season has been his lack of command, walking 47 batters over just 30.1 innings pitched. Opponents are now hitting .287 against him over that span, as he has allowed 36 earned runs on 35 hits including five home runs. One of those home runs came in Sunday’s game against the Chihuahuas, when he surrendered three earned runs on two hits and a walk, blowing his first save opportunity of the season. Holloway has now allowed at least one earned run in six straight appearances dating back to July 30, giving up two or more in four of those six games. Over that stretch, he has surrendered 14 earned runs on 15 hits and nine walks over 5.1 innings, pitching to an ERA of 23.63 while opponents are hitting .484 against him.

AGAINST ALBUQUERQUE: Tacoma and Albuquerque will play their final series of the season tonight and the first at Cheney Stadium this year. In their first six games of the year at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park, the Isotopes took four-of-six from Tacoma. It was a well played series, as four of the six games were decided by one run. Tacoma actually outscored Albuquerque 48-44 because of one big nine-run victory. Tacoma enters tonight trailing the season series 2-4, the all-time series 270-287-1 and on a one-game losing streak to the Isotopes.

SHORT HOPS: Despite their late struggles, Tacoma is still just 2.5 games out of the top-spot in the second half PCL standings entering play tonight…the Rainiers will face their second straight opponent from the PCL East division, going 11-4 against the PCL East at home while going 13-17 against teams from the East on the road...Samad Taylor took the team and league lead with two more stolen bases on Sunday, giving him 44 on the year; the most stolen bases in a single season in Tacoma’s franchise history was 56 done by Jimmy Sexton back in 1981.