Four-Run Second Propels Tacoma to Victory

TACOMA, WA – The Tacoma Rainiers (24-20) put themselves in position to win the series tomorrow, beating the Salt Lake Bees (18-25) by a score of 8-4, Saturday at Cheney Stadium.

Neither team scored in the first inning, but Tacoma got on the board in the second with a solo home run from Nick Solak. They padded their lead with a four-run second inning highlighted by a double from Jake Slaughter.

Already up 5-0, Brian Anderson used a solo home run to grow their lead to six. That was all the run support Casey Lawrence needed, as the veteran tossed six scoreless frames.

Salt Lake scored against Lawrence in the seventh on an inside-the-park home run from Bryce Teodosio for their first run of the game. Tacoma added two more runs in the eighth on another RBI double from Slaughter and a sacrifice fly from Samad Taylor.

A single from Jack Lopez and two-run double from Hunter Dozier in the ninth made it 8-4, but Ty Buttrey ended the rally to earn Tacoma their third win of the series.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Casey Lawrence earned his second consecutive win, tossing seven innings of one-run ball. The right-hander struck out a season-high 10 batters, the most strikeouts he has recorded since April 19, 2023, with Triple-A Buffalo against Iowa.
• Brian Anderson went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, a double, a home run, a run batted in and a walk out of the three-hole for Tacoma tonight. It was his first three-hit game of the season.
• Casey Lawrence became the third straight starter for the Rainiers to toss 7.0 innings. Coming into the series, they had gotten just one such start all year.

Tacoma and Salt Lake will play the series finale tomorrow afternoon, with first pitch from Cheney Stadium scheduled for 1:35 pm. For more information and tickets, visit https://www.milb.com/tacoma.