September 8 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Albuquerque Isotopes

TACOMA RAINIERS (75-62) vs. ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES (56-81)
Sunday, September 8 • 1:35 PM • Cheney Stadium • Tacoma, WA
RHP Blas Castano (4-3, 4.85) vs. LHP Carson Palmquist (1-1, 4.85)

TODAY’S GAME: Tacoma and Albuquerque will play the final game of both the current and season series today, with a pitching rematch from Tuesday’s series opener. Blas Castano will toe the rubber for Tacoma, entering play with a 4-3 record and a 4.85 ERA through his first 11 starts with the Rainiers this year. He will face Albuquerque for the second time this week and the third of the season, holding a 2.38 ERA through his first 11.1 innings against the Isotopes. Opposite Castano will be Carson Palmquist getting the starting nod for Albuquerque, entering today’s start with a 1-1 record and a 4.85 ERA. The southpaw came one out away from a quality start in the opener on Tuesday, allowing three earned runs on six hits including a home run. He walked three and struck out four in his 4.2 innings, throwing 47 of his 82 pitches for strikes.

BACK IN THE LINEUP: After leaving Tuesday’s game early, Jason Vosler is expected to be back in Tacoma’s lineup for the finale today. Vosler tried to tag up on a shallow pop fly in the opener against Albuquerque and was thrown out at the plate. The utility-man pulled up early on the play and ended up coming out of the game when the Rainiers took the field defensively. He has been sidelined with the injury ever since, leaving a big hole in the middle of Tacoma’s lineup. The 31-year-old leads the Rainiers in many different offensive categories, including hits (126), doubles (23), home runs (27) and runs batted in (96).

DOUBLE-TAKE: Last night was an odd game for many reasons, as Tacoma lost by a final score of 5-2 to Albuquerque. Tacoma scored just two runs on 15 total hits, going 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Typically, 15 hits and going 6-for-13 yields much more than just two runs, but Tacoma ran into four different outs on the basepaths. They twice got caught stealing and had two runners thrown out at the plate, costing them at least two runs. With a 4-2 lead and the bases loaded in the top of the ninth, Zac Veen scored a fifth run for the Isotopes by a straight steal of home plate, another rare feat.

GOT CAUGHT: The top two base runners on Tacoma’s roster, Ryan Bliss and Samad Taylor, each got caught attempting to steal a base in their 5-2 loss last night. Bliss and Taylor each have 44 stolen bases this year, but that was Bliss’ 12th time getting caught and Taylor’s 13th time getting caught. They are tied atop the league leaderboard with Greg Jones, who has now stolen 44 bases for Albuquerque this year. Jones stole two bases last night to get to 44 on the year but was caught once himself, as all three stolen base leaders got caught.

WHAT AN ARM: Tacoma rallied for six hits including five straight in the home half of the fifth inning last night, driving in two runs in the process. They ran into two different outs, as Ryan Bliss was caught stealing second after reaching on a single. The final single of the inning, off the bat of Rhylan Thomas, also resulted in an out, as center fielder Greg Jones hosed Dominic Canzone at the plate to preserve a one-run lead. The following inning, Jones ended the inning by throwing yet another runner out at the plate, taking two potential runs off the board for the Rainiers. Jones’ two throws each registered above 97 miles per hour (97.7 & 97.4), both in the 99th percentile for MLB arm strength.

BIRTHDAY BOY: Blas Castano will get the start today, the same day he is celebrating his 26th birthday. In his second season playing at the Triple-A level, Castano has been a nice boost to the Rainiers’ rotation. He is 4-3 with a 4.85 ERA through 11 starts for Tacoma, striking out 59 batters in 59.1 innings. Today will mark the first time in his professional career pitching on his birthday. It has been a week full of birthdays for the Rainiers, as Rob Kaminsky turned 30 on Monday and both Jason Vosler and Logan Warmoth had birthdays on Friday, turning 31 and 29, respectively.

A LITTLE SLOPPY: Tacoma’s defense has been relatively solid all year, leading the Pacific Coast League with 143 double plays entering tonight’s game. Prior to this last week they had been in the top three among PCL teams in errors as well but have gotten sloppy over their last seven games. The Rainiers have committed at least one error in each of their last eight games played dating back to May 30. Entering play a week ago, they were third in the PCL with 90 errors committed and enter tonight’s game fifth with 102 errors as a team. They have had two or more errors in three of their last six games, a category in which they are 10-14 this year.

AGAINST ALBUQUERQUE: Last night’s loss gave Albuquerque a 3-2 lead in the current series, ending Tacoma’s two-game winning streak over the Isotopes. Albuquerque has now officially won the season series between the two teams, as they have won seven of the first 11 games this year. Today is not only the finale of the current series but also the season series, as it is the final matchup against the Isotopes in 2024. Tacoma trails the season series 7-4 and the all-time series by 18 games entering play tonight, at 272-290-1. They have a chance to earn at least a series split with a win today, looking to salvage the series before they head to Oklahoma City.

SHORT HOPS: The top three hitters in Tacoma’s lineup all had multi-hit efforts, combining for seven of the Rainiers’ 15 hits as a team…Tacoma will try to avoid losing back-to-back home series and three in a row today; they had a perfect home series record before losing four-of-six to Sacramento and are now in danger of losing back-to-back series at home…Kobe Kato kept his batting average at .500 with Tacoma this year, going 2-for-4 with a run scored, a double and a stolen base in his seventh game at Triple-A.