June 19 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Las Vegas Aviators

TACOMA RAINIERS (39-31) vs. LAS VEGAS AVIATORS (36-34)
Wednesday, June 19 • 6:05 PM • Cheney Stadium • Tacoma, WA
RHP Emerson Hancock (2-1, 2.17) vs. LHP Jack O’Loughlin (1-2, 5.53)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Tacoma and Las Vegas will meet for game two of their six-game set tonight, with the Aviators leading the series 1-0 after last night’s comeback win. Emerson Hancock will take the ball for the Rainiers, looking to even the series. Hancock is 2-1 with a 2.17 ERA in five starts for Tacoma, allowing seven earned runs on 21 hits and 10 walks. He has struck out 26 batters over his 29.0 innings pitched, limiting opponents to just a .193 batting average against him. The former first-round pick will face the Aviators for the second time this season, with the first coming back on May 26. He lost that outing, allowing three earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out five in 5.0 innings. Opposite Hancock will be Jack O’Loughlin toeing the rubber for Las Vegas, set to make his ninth start of the year in his 12th game. The southpaw has gone 1-2 with a 5.53 ERA through his first 11 games, allowing 26 earned runs on 52 hits and 18 walks, striking out 48 batters in 42.1 innings pitched. O’Loughlin will be making his third start against Tacoma this season, having allowed just four earned runs on eight total hits through the first 8.2 innings pitched. Over those two starts, he went 0-1, allowing three home runs and three walks while striking out 12 batters.

OUT OF CONTENTION: Last night’s loss officially eliminated Tacoma from the first-half playoffs in the Pacific Coast League Western Division. Sugar Land won their game, growing their lead over the Rainiers to seven games with five games left in the first half. The Rainiers will still have a chance at making the playoffs, but will have to be the best team in the second half of the season which starts on Tuesday. They currently sit in third place behind just Sugar Land and Sacramento.

SNAPPED: Tacoma had their four-game winning streak snapped with their 8-4 loss last night, dropping the opener to Las Vegas. The Rainiers held an early 4-0 lead but allowed eight unanswered runs in the later innings to lose the game. They had won each of their last four games prior to last night, tying their season long streak for the third time this year.

GETTING ON: Despite going hitless twice, Spencer Packard has reached base in each of his first seven Triple-A games with Tacoma. The outfielder is hitting .357 (10-for-28) over that span, as four of his 10 hits have gone for two-baggers. Packard has recorded at least one hit in five of the seven games, including a season-high five hits back on Sunday against Round Rock. He has taken three free passes, with one on each game in which he did not record a base hit. Packard has an on-base percentage of .419 through his first seven games with the Rainiers and has been hitting in the middle of the lineup since his promotion to Triple-A.

KEEP IT ROLLING: Emerson Hancock will make his first start for Tacoma since June 7 at home against Reno. His last start came up with Seattle on June 13 against the Chicago White Sox. Hancock was great in the outing, allowing just two earned runs on two solo home runs. He surrendered six total hits while walking two and striking out one in 7.0 innings of work.

SCORING FIRST: The Rainiers followed their trend of scoring first last night, getting four runs in the third inning to open the scoring. In each of their last five games, Tacoma has gotten on the board first. It started on Thursday in Round Rock, when they scored three runs in the second inning in a 3-0 shutout win. They followed that with two runs in the first on Friday in their 6-5 victory, a run in the first and two in the second in their 4-0 win on Saturday, and three runs in the first in their 13-3 blowout on Sunday. Scoring first has typically been a good sign for the Rainiers, as they are now 30-12 after losing last night.

GOING DEEP: Tacoma took a 4-0 lead into the fifth inning last night, and that is when Las Vegas’ offense came alive. The Aviators scored three in the fifth on a two-run double and a single, but the Rainiers still led. That changed quickly, as Las Vegas hit four home runs over the next three frames to take an 8-4 lead. Three solo home runs and a two-run blast put the Rainiers away, as three of Tacoma’s four pitchers last night allowed a deep fly. The four home runs allowed was shy of their season-high six in a game, but marked just the third time they have allowed four or more.

AGAINST LAS VEGAS: The Rainiers and Aviators will play game two of their current series and game 14 between the two teams this season. After losing last night, Tacoma now trails the current series 1-0 and the season series 7-6, going 4-3 at home and 2-4 on the road against Las Vegas this year. Despite last night’s loss, the Rainiers still lead the all-time series by four games, at 309-305. Through the first two series between the two teams, each home team went 4-2 to win the series, meaning Tacoma would have to win four of their next five to take the series and keep the trend going.

SHORT HOPS: In his first game with Tacoma on his Major League rehab assignment, Jorge Polanco went 1-for-3 with a run scored, a double and a walk last night…Collin Snider allowed three earned runs on two hits (both home runs) and a walk in his lone inning of work last night; the right-hander had allowed just four earned runs and no home runs through his first 14 games combined with Tacoma…Samad Taylor went 3-for-4 with a run scored, a double and a home run last night, collecting his 10th multi-hit game of the year for the Rainiers.