June 29 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers @ Sugar Land Space Cowboys

TACOMA RAINIERS (45-34) @ SUGAR LAND SPACE COWBOYS (51-28)
Saturday, June 29 • 5:05 PM PT • Constellation Field • Sugar Land, TX
RHP Emerson Hancock (2-1, 1.91) vs. LHP Colton Gordon (4-0, 4.67)

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Rainiers and Space Cowboys will play game five of their six-game set tonight, with the series currently tied at two games apiece. Tacoma will send right-hander Emerson Hancock to the mound, set to make his first start since June 19. The 25-year-old enters tonight’s game with a 2-1 record and a 1.91 ERA, allowing seven earned runs on 22 hits and 12 walks over 33.0 innings pitched for the Rainiers. He has struck out 29 batters over that span, limiting opponents to a .180 batting average against him. Opposite Hancock will be Colton Gordon taking the ball for the Space Cowboys, putting his perfect record on the line. The southpaw enters tonight’s game with a 4-0 record and a 4.67 ERA, allowing 23 earned runs on 54 hits and 14 walks while striking out 39 batters over his 44.1 innings pitched. He has allowed seven home runs through his first 10 games (nine starts) of the year with Sugar Land.

HEATING UP: Jonatan Clase added two more hits last night, going 2-for-5 with an RBI and a strikeout. The switch hitter now has at least one hit in each of his last five games and five hits over his last two games. Over his five-game hitting streak dating back to June 23, the 22-year-old is hitting .320 (8-for-25) with four runs scored, a double, a triple, a home run and three runs batted in. The only struggle for Clase has been the strikeout, as he has gotten struck out nine times over his last five games. Over his last eight games dating back to June 20, he has been struck out at least once in each game, fanning 16 times in all.

IMMACULATE: Trevor Kelley has had a good season for Tacoma this year, going 2-1 with a 3.24 ERA in a team-leading 29 appearances. The right-hander has allowed 12 earned runs on 25 hits and 22 walks, striking out 37 batters over his 33.1 innings pitched. He has turned into a late-inning high leverage reliever for the Rainiers, recording eight holds and a save over his 29 relief appearances so far. Last night he did something extremely rare, however, tossing an immaculate eighth inning. The righty threw all nine of his pitches for strikes, striking out the side on the minimum number of pitches. It marked the first immaculate inning for the Rainiers since Matt Koch did so on April 5, 2022, vs Salt Lake in the seventh inning.

EIGHT IS GREAT: With back-to-back multi-hit games, Samad Taylor now has a season-long eight game hitting streak going entering tonight’s game. The utility-man is hitting .370 since June 20, going 10-for-27 with one home run and two runs batted in. He has taken six walks compared to seven strikeouts and has swiped seven bags getting caught just once over the streak. After a walk and two stolen bases last night, Taylor is now second in the Pacific Coast League in walks with 44 and in stolen bases with 29.

LOCK DOWN: After getting a quality start from Case Lawrence last night, Tacoma’s bullpen took over. It started with Kirby Snead, who entered in the seventh inning with a one-run lead. After struggling in his last two outings, the southpaw spun a perfect seventh inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced. He was followed by Trevor Kelley, who tossed an immaculate inning, throwing all nine pitches for strikes and striking out the side in the eighth. With the score still 3-2, Joey Krehbiel entered the game for Tacoma in the ninth. Krehbiel followed suit, striking out two of the three batters he faced in a scoreless ninth to earn his fourth save of the year and even the series against the Space Cowboys. The three relievers combined to throw three perfect innings, striking out seven of the nine batters they faced.

KEEP ADDING ON: Tacoma has led the league all season in stolen bases, as they stole five more in last night’s win. They have four of the top five leaders in stolen bases in the Pacific Coast League including Ryan Bliss, who has been in Seattle since May 27. Cade Marlowe leads the way with 38 followed by Samad Taylor with 29, Ryan Bliss with 28 and Jonatan Clase with 23. Leo Rivas is also nearing 20 on the year with 16 in his 46 games. As a team, Tacoma has 165 steals entering play tonight, 39 more than any other Triple-A team. They are tied for fourth among all professional baseball teams entering play today, as the only teams above them are three teams in the Carolina League and one in the South Atlantic League. Marlowe’s 38 stolen bases this year ranks ninth all-time in Tacoma’s single-season history and his 74 over parts of four seasons with the Rainiers rank fourth in career batting statistics in Tacoma history.

AGAINST SUGAR LAND: Tacoma and Sugar Land will play game five of their six-game series tonight, with the series all square at two games apiece. The Rainiers once again came back after a loss and earned a win to tie the series, moving to 16-18 in the all-time series between the two teams. Tacoma enters tonight’s game outscoring Sugar Land this series by five runs, at 24-19.

SHORT HOPS: All four pitchers for Tacoma struck out at least two hitters last night, as the staff came one strikeout shy of tying their season-high 13…the Rainiers moved to 5-17 this year when they score fewer than four runs with their 3-2 victory last night…both Trevor Kelley and Joey Krehbiel pitched last night, keeping them tied for the team-lead and seventh among PCL pitchers for games played this year, with 29…Cade Marlowe’s 38 stolen bases this year ranks ninth all-time in Tacoma’s single-season history and his 74 over parts of four seasons with the Rainiers rank fourth in career batting statistics in Tacoma history.