August 1 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Salt Lake Bees

TACOMA RAINIERS (57-47) vs. SALT LAKE BEES (52-51)
Thursday, August 1 • 7:05 PM • Cheney Stadium • Tacoma, WA
LHP Rob Kaminsky (0-0, 4.02) vs. LHP Kenny Rosenberg (5-4, 3.74)

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: Tonight’s game between the Bees and the Rainiers marks the third contest in this six-game set at Cheney Stadium, the final series between the two clubs on the season. Salt Lake’s offense powered the Bees to 17-6 and 10-6 victories on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, part of a larger 12-game win streak for the club. Meanwhile, the Rainiers enter tonight’s game in the midst of a four-game losing streak, hoping to change their luck with the turn of the calendar. Southpaw Kenny Rosenberg will take the ball for the Bees tonight, making his fifth start of the season against Tacoma. On the year, the lefty is 2-1 against the Rainiers, having allowed 10 runs (eight earned) over 23.0 innings pitched, good for a 3.13 ERA. Meanwhile, Tacoma will counter with a bullpen game, as projected starter Jhonathan Diaz is currently up with Seattle. Starting the game will be Rob Kaminsky, coming off the development list to make tonight’s start. Kaminsky has started three of his four games for the Rainiers, going 0-0 with a 4.02 ERA. He has allowed seven earned runs on 20 hits and four walks, striking out 16 batters over his 15.2 innings. One of his four games was against Salt Lake, when he allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk while striking out four over 4.2 innings back on July 2.

BULLPEN BRIGHT SPOTS: Rainiers reliever Trevor Kelley has been dominant of late, not allowing an earned run in his last 14 appearances dating back to June 13th at Round Rock, the longest such streak in the Pacific Coast League this season. Over those 14 games, Kelley has maintained a WHIP of 1.34, striking out 24 batters compared to just six free passes issued in 15.2 innings pitched. The righty continued his hot streak in game one of this series, striking out all three batters he faced in the eighth inning of Tacoma’s 17-6 loss. Similarly, fellow righty Brett de Geus has held opponents scoreless in his past seven outings beginning July 6th at Salt Lake, including the eighth inning of last night’s defeat. In his past seven appearances, de Geus has struck out six across 7.0 innings pitched, with a 1.29 WHIP. On the year, de Geus is tied for fifth in the PCL with seven saves.

NEW MONTH, NEW OPPORTUNITY: July was filled with ups and downs for the Rainiers, going 2-0 in series at home and 1-1-1 in their three road sets. Although Tacoma started the month strong with back-to-back series wins, they ended on a rougher note, currently amid a four-game skid, one shy of their season-long slide which extended from April 18th through the 23rd. While the Rainiers thrived during the weekend, going 3-1 on both Fridays and Saturdays, the midweek contests were more of a struggle, at a combined 1-6 on Wednesday’s and Thursday’s. Overall, Tacoma finished 12-11 in July, their fewest wins and second-worst winning percentage in a single month this year. The Rainiers will look to turn the page tonight and slow down a red-hot Bees squad.

BLISSTERING RUN: Since being optioned by Seattle on July 22nd, Rainiers utility-man Ryan Bliss has swung a hot bat, slashing .310/.382/.621 across seven games while playing all over the diamond, including his first career stint in the outfield. Of Bliss’ nine hits, five have gone for extra bases – three doubles and two home runs – including a grand slam in last night’s contest against the Bees. That four-bagger marked the first grand slam for the Rainiers since Jason Vosler’s shot on May 25th vs. Las Vegas. The righty has helped generate offense for Tacoma, with four runs scored and nine RBI, not to mention being five-of-six in stolen base opportunities since returning to the Rainiers. His four RBI performance brings him to 44 on the season and puts him tied with Samad Taylor for third on the team.

HITTING IT HARD: Rainiers righty Nick Solak has been hot of late, hitting .344 (11-of-32) over his past nine games, dating back to July 20th against Reno. The outfielder has two extra-base hits (both doubles), six runs, and two RBI over that time, while also drawing five walks. Moreover, of his seven balls in play against Salt Lake this series, four have had exit velocities above 105 mph (109.5, 108.6, 107.7 and 105.6), as he is 4-for-8 with an RBI and two runs scored in these past two contests.

PROTECT CHENEY: Tacoma has lost each of the first two games of this series, going down 2-0 in a series at home for the first time all year. They had previously lost the first game of a home series just twice this year, on April 23 to El Paso and June 18 against Las Vegas. They ended up coming back to win both of those series four games to two, as they have won eight of their nine series here at Cheney Stadium this year. Their lone series split came against this Salt Lake team, back on May 14-19. After losing each of the first two games to the Bees, falling in four straight as Salt Lake has won 12 in a row, Tacoma is in danger of losing their first homestand of the year unless they take three of the next four.

WEDNESDAY WOES: After last night’s loss, the Rainiers finished the month of July without taking a single game that fell on a Wednesday. Tacoma dropped their first two Wednesday games of the month in nail biters to Salt Lake and Albuquerque before finishing the month with brutal losses to Oklahoma City and Salt Lake again. Heading into the month, they were a strong 10-3 on midweek tilts including an impressive 6-0 at home.

AGAINST THE BEES: Tonight’s game marks the 21st meeting of the season between the Bees and Rainiers and the third contest in the year’s final series between the two clubs. In the current series, Tacoma is 0-2, having been outscored 27-12 by Salt Lake in this six-game set. For the season, the Rainiers are 11-9 against the Bees and 5-6 at home, holding the edge in the all-time series over Salt Lake with a record 400-386-1.

SHORT HOPS: The Rainiers are 16-25 when allowing their opponents to score first, compared to a 41-22 mark when Tacoma gets on the board first; Salt Lake has scored in the first inning of both games so far this series...with his single yesterday, Tyler Locklear extended his on-base streak to 16 games, the fifth-longest active streak in the PCL…tonight marks Tacoma’s first Thursday game at home since their June 20th win against Las Vegas - the Rainiers are 3-3 in Thursday games at Cheney this year and 6-10 overall.