Tacoma tanks a season-high five homers in 14-10 Sunday win

Salt Lake City, UT (5/8/22) – The Tacoma Rainiers (9-21) avoided a season-long losing streak on Sunday, defeating the Salt Lake Bees (16-14) 14-10 with their most prolific power display of 2022 to date. The Rainiers improved to 2-0 in road trip-ending games while halting a four-game skid, on getaway day of this 12-game sojourn. A season-high 17-hit attack for Tacoma featured five players with multiple hits; every starter had a hit. 14 runs were also a 2022-high.

Per usual at Salt Lake and in this series especially, home runs ruled the day. Zach Green teed off on his Tacoma-leading sixth homer in the first inning, 416 feet to the left field alley. The three-run shot scored Donnie Walton (error) and Kyle Lewis (walk). Green has now hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games.

In the fourth game of his rehab assignment (3 DH, 1 LF), Lewis went 2-for-4 (double) with an RBI and two runs scored. With Tacoma, Lewis is 6-for-17 with two home runs, six RBI, five runs and a walk in his Triple-A debut.

The Rainiers lead was trimmed to 3-2 in the second, when Austin Romine lifted his first dinger of the year for the Bees, a two-run shot to centerfield. It was 4-2 Tacoma when Steven Souza (3-for-5) hit his fourth in the fourth, a solo shot to right-center.

Tacoma starter Daniel Ponce de Leon turned in a solid performance over five complete innings: 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. He threw 87 pitches before turning it over to Matt Brash, the recently optioned Mariners top prospect who made his Triple-A debut: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K.

Brendon Davis hit his fifth homer and his third in three days, a wall-scraping solo shot in the sixth, the only run off Brash, drawing Salt Lake within a run. Bees starter Davis Daniel worked six innings and officially logged a quality start: 5 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K.

The Rainiers attack was relentless into the late innings however, as they roughed up the Bees bullpen for seven runs on six hits in the seventh inning, sending 10 batters to the plate. It got started with a Mason McCoy double, who scored on a double down the left field line into the corner by Forrest Wall. Sam Haggerty (2-for-6) followed with his fifth homer, a two-run shot to right field. After Walton walked and scored on a Lewis double to left, Lewis scored on a Souza liner to right. It was 11-3 Rainiers after Erick Mejia (3-for-5) wrapped a two-run shot around the right field foul pole, his second homer. It was Tacoma’s fourth half-inning of the year scoring five or more runs (all on the road).

McCoy now has an eight-game hit streak, which matches Green for Tacoma’s longest this season; McCoy has also reached base in 14 consecutive games, hitting safely in 13. Souza’s four-RBI game was his second such effort in as many days, and the third four-RBI performance for the Rainiers this season.

Joe Odom’s fifth homer (3-for-5), a 443-foot solo shot in the eighth inning, was the longest-traveling ball of the day. The visiting scoring closed with Souza’s third hit, a two-run single to left that scored Haggerty (double) and Walton (single) to cap a three-run frame. A three-run homer in the eighth by Jake Palomaki, his first in Triple-A, and a two-run double from 2021 champion Rainier Dillon Thomas in the ninth accounted for the bulk of the final Salt Lake runs of the afternoon.

The Pacific Coast League off day is on Monday. The Rainiers will return to action on Tuesday against the Reno Aces, with RHP Darren McCaughan on the mound to open a six-game homestand. First pitch is scheduled for 11:35 a.m. at Cheney Stadium.

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 home 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.