April 30 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers @ Sacramento River Cats

TACOMA RAINIERS (17-10) @ SACRAMENTO RIVER CATS (17-10)
Tuesday, April 30 • 6:45 PM • Sutter Health Park • Sacramento, CA
RHP Casey Lawrence (0-3, 8.06) vs. RHP Tommy Romero (2-0, 2.66)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Tacoma and Sacramento are set for game one of their six-game series, with Casey Lawrence taking the ball for the Rainiers. Lawrence is still in search of his first win of the season, entering play tonight with an 0-3 record and an 8.06 ERA. The right-hander has allowed 20 earned runs on 34 hits and six walks over his 22.1 innings this season, striking out eight batters along the way. Opponents are hitting .354 against him in his four starts this year. Opposite of Lawrence will be righty Tommy Romero getting the nod for the River Cats. Romero is 2-0 with a 2.66 ERA in six games for Sacramento this year, set to make his second start of the season. Through six games, the 26-year-old has allowed seven earned runs on 21 hits and 14 walks, striking out 19 batters in 23.2 innings.

EARLY AND OFTEN: Tacoma’s offense has been on fire in each of their last two games, scoring nine runs on 10 hits in Saturday’s win and 12 runs on 16 hits in Sunday’s rain-shortened victory. The Rainiers have jumped on their opponents early in the game, scoring in each of the first three innings on Saturday and in all six innings played on Sunday. In Saturday’s victory, Tacoma scored eight runs over the first three frames, getting two in the first, one in the second and five in the third. In their most recent game on Sunday, they scored three runs in the second, third and sixth innings while putting one on the board in the first, fourth and fifth.

GOING DEEP: Blake Hunt hit his first two home runs of the season on Sunday, going yard in both the second and third innings. The two deep flies were his first two home runs since June 28 of last season, a game in which he also hit two home runs, as a member of the Durham Bulls against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. With the two home runs, Hunt also drove in five runs, both of which were season highs. The catcher is now hitting .357 (15-for-42) on the season with two doubles, a triple and two home runs. He has driven in eight runs and taken three walks compared to just six strikeouts in his 13 games played. His two-home run game was the second consecutive game a Rainiers player hit two home runs in a single game, as Nick Solak did so in Saturday’s contest. It was the third time it has happened for Tacoma this year.

TOP DOGS: The Rainiers and River Cats start their current series tied at the top of the Pacific Coast League West division standings, both with records of 17-10. They play a similar style of baseball, coming in in the middle of the pack in hitting statistics, while ranking first and second in ERA in the PCL. Although Triple-A Playoffs take into account the entire Pacific Coast League, this series could shake up the top of the standings in the Western division.

BACK ON THE ROSTER: The Seattle Mariners optioned outfielder Jonatan Clase back to Tacoma after Sunday’s game, recalling Sam Haggerty from the Rainiers in his place. Clase started the year with Tacoma, hitting .311 (14-for-45) with nine runs scored, four doubles, two triples and two home runs in his 12 games with the Rainiers. He drove in 11 runs and took seven walks compared to 12 strikeouts over that time, earning a promotion to Seattle. The Mariners recalled him on April 15 and he made his Major League debut that day, checking in with his first MLB hit against Cincinnati. The 21-year-old hit .222 in nine games with Seattle before getting optioned back to Tacoma after Sunday’s game. He enters play tonight with a nine-game hitting streak as a member of the Rainiers, dating back to April 2. Over the nine-game stretch prior to getting recalled, the No. 10 prospect in the Mariners’ system was hitting .353 (12-for-34) with an OPS of 1.146.

BACK AT IT: Jason Vosler had his 12-game hitting streak snapped in game two of the doubleheader Friday night against El Paso, going 0-for-1 with a walk and a hit by pitch in his two other plate appearances. Since the streak was snapped, the utility-man has gotten even more hot at the plate, collecting five hits over his last two games. In those two games, Vosler is hitting .714 (5-for-7) with four runs scored, two doubles, four runs batted in with one walk and one strikeout. Three of his last six hits have gone for two-baggers, as the 30-year-old is slugging .517 on the season and .643 over his last 15 games.

AGAINST SACRAMENTO: Tacoma and Sacramento will play game one of their six-game series tonight and game one of 18 between the two teams this season. The Rainiers and River Cats split their 18 games evenly last year, going 6-6 at Sacramento and 3-3 in Tacoma. Entering play tonight, Tacoma trails the all-time series against Sacramento by seven games, at 241-248.

SHORT HOPS: Tacoma won Sunday’s finale in a rain-shortened six inning game, earning their third series win at home and fourth of the year overall…Blake Hunt hit two home runs in Sunday’s series finale, giving Tacoma two straight games with a player hitting two home runs in the same game, as Nick Solak clubbed two long balls in Saturday’s game…despite allowing five earned runs on three hits and two walks, Jhonathan Diaz earned his fourth win of the season on Sunday, moving to a perfect 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA…the bottom three hitters in Tacoma’s lineup on Sunday combined to go 7-for-11 with five runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and eight runs batted in.