Rainiers Win Second Straight

TACOMA, WA – The Tacoma Rainiers (41-31) took an early lead and never looked back, beating the Las Vegas Aviators (36-36) by a score of 6-2, Thursday at Cheney Stadium.

Tacoma got on the board with four runs in the first inning, scoring on an RBI single by Jake Slaughter and a three-run double from Leo Rivas. Las Vegas came back with a run in the second on a sacrifice fly from Drew Lugbauer to make it 4-1.

They tacked on another run in the fourth on a solo home run from Seth Brown, but that is all they would score. Michael Mariot earned his fourth win of the season, tossing five innings of two-run ball.

He was followed by Matt Tabor, Matt Bowman, Kirby Snead and Brett de Geus who all threw scoreless innings to keep the Aviators off the board. The Rainiers padded their lead in the sixth on a two-run home run from Isiah Gilliam, bringing it to 6-2.

That was all either team would score, as Tacoma went on to win their second consecutive game to take a 2-1 series lead.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• In his first game since being designated for assignment by Seattle, Kirby Snead struck out a batter over a scoreless eighth inning.
• Jake Slaughter went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI tonight, raising his average on the year to .289.

Tacoma and Las Vegas will play game four of their six-game series tomorrow night, with first pitch from Cheney Stadium set for 7:05 pm. For more information and tickets, visit https://www.milb.com/tacoma.