July 19 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Reno Aces

TACOMA RAINIERS (51-42) vs. RENO ACES (49-43)
Friday, July 19 • 7:05 PM • Cheney Stadium • Tacoma, WA
RHP Casey Lawrence (5-7, 6.20) vs. RHP Cristian Mena (3-2, 5.08)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Tacoma and Reno will play game one of their three-game series tonight, with both teams resuming play after their four-day All-Star Break. The Rainiers will send right-hander Casey Lawrence to the mound, looking to bounce back after his last start at Albuquerque. The veteran allowed 11 earned runs on 10 hits and four walks, giving up two home runs while striking out two batters over 4.1 innings pitched. Those numbers raised his season numbers on the year to a 5-7 record and a 6.20 ERA through 17 starts entering play tonight. He has allowed 68 earned runs on 124 hits and 28 walks, striking out 70 in 98.2 total innings for Tacoma this year. Opposite Lawrence will be Cristian Mena toeing the rubber for the Aces, also making his 18th start of the season. Coming into tonight’s game, Mena is 3-2 with a 5.08 ERA, allowing 48 earned runs on 92 hits and 40 walks, striking out 91 batters in 85.0 innings. He has made three starts against Tacoma this year and is 0-0 with a 7.47 ERA in those games, giving up 13 earned runs on 16 hits and seven walks while striking out 17 over 15.2 innings.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN: Tacoma currently sits in fourth place in the Pacific Coast League West Division in the second half of the season with a record of 8-10. Realistically, they should have a much better record than this, however. In the second half alone (18 games), five different pitchers have combined to blow seven save opportunities for the Rainiers. Entering play on June 25, the first day of the second half, Tacoma was 35-2 when leading after seven innings, 37-1 when leading after eight innings, 8-8 in one-run games and had been walked off four times. Entering play tonight, they are 42-7 when leading after seven innings, 44-5 leading after eight, 11-13 in one-run games and have been walked off seven times. It started on June 27th when they led 6-3 entering the eighth, allowed six runs in that frame and lost 9-6. On June 29th they held a 2-0 lead, allowed a run in the seventh and two in the ninth to lose 3-2. It continued the next series, losing on July 3 after allowing four runs in the ninth inning, blowing a three-run lead. They got walked off in back-to-back games on July 11 and 12, giving up two runs in the ninth on the 11th to lose 4-3 and three in the ninth on the 12 to lose 7-6. In the last game before the break, the Rainiers held a one-run lead entering the eighth inning and gave up two solo home runs that frame to lose 5-4. If they had closed out those six late leads, the Rainiers would be 14-4 in the second half as opposed to 8-10, right in the running with the Reno Aces, who enter tonight’s game at 14-3.

FRIENDLY CONFINES: After dropping four of six at Albuquerque leading up to the break, the Rainiers will look to get back to their winning ways tonight at Cheney Stadium. Tacoma has thrived at home, holding a 7-1 series record and going 28-14 overall, compared to 3-6 in road series and 23-27 in games away from Cheney. Moreover, the Rainiers have played very well on Friday’s, holding a 6-2 mark at home and 13-4 overall, including 3-0 against Reno this season.

TO RUN, OR NOT TO RUN: So far this season, the Rainiers and Aces have deployed distinctly opposite approaches to baserunning, with Tacoma leading all of Triple-A with 189 stolen bases (43 more than second-place Scranton/Wilkes-Barre), while Reno ranks dead-last with 44 bags swiped. Entering play today, four Rainiers stand atop the PCL stolen base leaderboard – Cade Marlowe (43 – first), Samad Taylor (31 – second), Ryan Bliss (28 – third), and Jonatan Clase (26 – tied fourth). Meanwhile, Albert Almora Jr. has paced the Aces with 13 pilfered bags, while nobody else has swiped more than five. This contrast of styles will be particularly interesting to watch, especially as Tacoma ranks last in the PCL in opposing runners caught stealing (20).

PACKING A PUNCH: Since being called up to Triple-A for the first time in mid-June, Tacoma outfielder Spencer Packard has had a strong stint at the plate, hitting .298 with an OPS of .834. On a heater of late, Packard finds himself amid an eight-game hitting streak (started July 5th at Salt Lake), tied for the fifth-longest active mark in the PCL. Throughout the streak, Packard is slashing .400/.474/.600 with four extra-base hits (three doubles and a homer), 11 RBI, six runs scored, and six walks. He’ll look to continue his streak tonight against Reno, a team he has yet to face in his career.

ZEROES FOR KELLEY: Rainiers reliever Trevor Kelley has been dominant of late, not allowing an earned run in his last 10 outings, the second-longest active streak in the PCL, trailing only Kaleb Ort’s 12 scoreless appearances. Over those 10 games dating back to June 13th at Round Rock, Kelley has struck out 16 in 12.0 innings of work, with a WHIP of 1.08. Moreover, of those 10 outings, three have extended over an inning, with Kelley logging six strikeouts compared to just four baserunners (two hits and two walks) in those longer appearances.

HE GETS ON BASE: Tacoma infielder Leo Rivas enters Friday riding a 27-game on-base streak dating back to June 14th at Round Rock, the longest active and the third-longest streak overall in the PCL this season. During these 27 games, Rivas has maintained an OBP of .459 and an OPS of .938. Rivas has reached a variety of ways, with 20 singles, seven doubles, a triple, two homers, 25 walks, and even a hit-by-pitch. This streak has been part of a larger trend for Rivas, as he ranks second in the PCL with a .422 OBP, trailing just El Paso’s Bryce Johnson (.430). Furthermore, once Rivas has reached base, he has been a problem for opposing defenses, going 11-for-13 in stolen base attempts during the streak.

MR. RELIABLE: Throughout the season, Tacoma’s offense has been paced by utilityman Jason Vosler. Entering play today, the lefty hitter leads Rainier hitters in many categories, including runs scored, hits, total bases, extra-base hits, home runs, and RBI. Vosler’s offensive prowess has propelled him to rank near the top of the PCL in RBI (75 – first), runs (67 – third), home run (19 – tied fifth), hits (96 – seventh), total bases (174 – tied seventh), extra-base hits (37 – tied eighth), and slugging percentage (.518 – ninth). Vosler is currently riding a 16-game on-base streak (which started June 25th at Sugarland), with nine extra-base hits, 15 runs scored (including at least one in 10 of his last 11 games), and 16 RBI.

AGAINST RENO: Tonight’s game against Reno marks the 19th time these two clubs have faced off this season, with the Rainiers holding an 11-7 edge in the season series. Tacoma has been particularly successful at home, having gone 9-3 against the Aces at Cheney this season (as opposed to a 2-4 mark at Greater Nevada Field). After a six-game series against each other in April, May, and June, the two sides meet for this three-game set in Tacoma, before a six-game finale August 6-11 in Reno. Despite Tacoma’s recent success (13-11 against Reno in 2023 and 11-7 so far this season), the Rainiers trail the all-time series 112-150.

SHORT HOPS: Tacoma leads the entire Pacific Coast League in run differential entering play tonight, at +93 on the year, 21 better than the next closest team (Sugar Land at +72)…the Rainiers trail the Aces in the second half standings by 6.5 games entering play tonight, with Reno sitting at 14-3 and Tacoma at 8-10…tonight marks one of just eight home games for the Rainiers in the month of July, entering play 2-1 so far at home this month.