July 12 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers @ Albuquerque Isotopes

TACOMA RAINIERS (50-40) @ ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES (34-56)
Friday, July 12 • 5:35 PM PT • Isotopes Park • Albuquerque, NM
RHP Michael Mariot (5-5, 5.45) vs. LHP Juan Hillman (1-1, 8.55)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Tacoma and Albuquerque are set to play game four of their six-game set tonight, with the Isotopes now leading the series after back-to-back wins. The Rainiers will send right-hander Michael Mariot to the mound, looking to continue his success from his last start. In his 100th career minor league start last week against Salt Lake, Mariot tossed a quality start, allowing just two earned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five over 7.0 innings. He earned his fifth win of the year with the outing, entering play tonight with a 5-5 record and a 5.45 ERA in 16 games (13 starts) with Tacoma. Opposite Mariot will be Juan Hillman taking the ball for Albuquerque, set to pitch in his ninth game and fourth start of the season. Hillman is 1-1 with an 8.55 ERA entering play tonight, allowing 19 earned runs on 30 hits and 11 walks while striking out 11 batters over 20.0 innings pitched. He has walked at least one batter in seven of his eight games so far this season, throwing more than 2.2 innings in just two games.

HARD TO COME BY: The Rainiers dropped yet another game in which they held a late lead last night, falling to 41-5 when leading after seven innings and 43-4 when leading after eight. This has been a big problem for Tacoma recently, as four of those five losses when leading after seven have come in their last 13 games. They dropped two such games to Sugar Land, one to Salt Lake and now one to Albuquerque. Four of Tacoma’s eight losses in the second half have occurred in games in which they held the lead after seven innings, bringing leads into the ninth inning in three of those games as well.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END: Jason Vosler had his 13-game hitting streak snapped last night, going 0-for-3 with a run scored, a walk and a strikeout. The utility-man had recorded at least one hit in each game from June 25 – July 10 prior to going hitless last night, hitting .321 over that span. Vosler was 18-for-56 with three doubles, a triple and four home runs over those 13 games, driving in 15 runs. He drew three walks, holding an on-base percentage of .367 over that time.

PACKING A PUNCH: Since joining Tacoma on June 11, all Spencer Packard has done is hit. He leads the team with a .343 (23-for-67) batting average over his 18 games played, clubbing seven doubles and two home runs in that short time frame. The outfielder has driven in 11 runs and taken more walks (12) than strikeouts (11), raising his on-base percentage to .438. Packard hasn’t shown much trouble at all adjusting to the new level, collecting a team-high five hits in just his sixth game with the Rainiers. The 26-year-old has gotten at least one hit in all but four games with Tacoma, recording two or more in five of his 18 games, including his two-hit performance last night. In this series against Albuquerque, Packard is hitting .500 (5-for-10) with three runs scored, a double, a run batted in and five walks compared to just one strikeout.

LEADING OFF: Tacoma’s most common leadoff hitter this year has been outfielder Jonatan Clase, hitting first in 57 of the Rainiers’ 90 games. Since Clase got recalled to Seattle, Leo Rivas has taken over the top spot in the order, and for good reason. The shortstop currently leads all Pacific Coast League hitters and is third in Triple-A with a 24-game on-base streak entering play tonight. Dating back to June 14, Rivas has reached base in all 24 games in which he has played, hitting safely in 17 of the 24. Over that span, the 26-year-old is hitting .301 (25-for-83) with six doubles, two home runs and 13 runs batted in. He has walked just as many times as he has struck out, with 21 of each, raising his on-base percentage over the stretch to .439. Tacoma is 0-4 in the four games Rivas has led off this year, but in the two games he has led off this series, he has gone a combined 3-for-10 with two runs scored, a run batted in, a walk and two stolen bases.

FIRST TIME OUT: In his Seattle Mariners organizational debut last night, Chris Devenski spun a scoreless eighth inning for Tacoma. The veteran right-hander signed a major league contract with Seattle back on July 2 and was assigned to Tacoma that day. He made his first appearance with the Rainiers last night, using just seven pitches to throw a perfect inning, striking out a batter along the way. The former American League All-Star and World Series Champion has thrown in 303 Major League games including 19 this year with Tampa Bay.

SO CLOSE: Tacoma was one out away from closing out the victory last night and it looked as if they had that out, when everything turned. Grant Lavigne hit a soft ground ball down the first base line that Carlos Vargas couldn’t cleanly pick up. What looked like a routine third out to end the game turned into a throwing error, allowing Lavigne to reach and keeping Albuquerque alive. On the very next pitch, Hunter Stovall ended the game, clubbing a two-run double to walk-off Tacoma and give the Isotopes their second consecutive win.

AGAINST ALBUQUERQUE: Tacoma and Albuquerque will play game four of their six-game series tonight, as the Rainiers now trail the series two games to one. Tacoma won the opener on Tuesday but have since dropped back-to-back games, falling to 1-2 this year against Albuquerque. Along with their losing record this season, the Rainiers are also trailing the Isotopes in the all-time series by 16 games, at 169-185-1.

SHORT HOPS: Tacoma enters play tonight having gone 7-1 in Friday road games and 13-3 overall on Friday’s this year…Joey Krehbiel and Chris Devenski combined to throw 10 of their 11 total pitches for strikes last night, needing just 11 pitches to record five outs, including two strikeouts...the Rainiers went just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position last night and stranded seven runners on-base.