September 17 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Round Rock Express

TACOMA RAINIERS (78-66) vs. ROUND ROCK EXPRESS (69-73)
Tuesday, September 17 • 6:05 PM • Cheney Stadium • Tacoma, WA
LHP Rob Kaminsky (1-0, 6.98) vs. RHP Adrian Sampson (8-10, 5.57)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Tacoma and Round Rock will play game one of their six-game series tonight, with Rob Kaminsky taking the ball for the Rainiers. Kaminsky is set to make his seventh start of the season in his 14th game with Tacoma, entering play with a 1-0 record and a 6.98 ERA. Over his first 13 games, he has allowed 30 earned runs on 56 hits including six home runs while walking 14 batters compared to 38 strikeouts in 38.2 innings. Opposite Kaminsky will be former Rainiers’ pitcher Adrian Sampson toeing the rubber for the Express. Sampson leads Round Rock with 8 wins this year, entering play tonight with an 8-10 record and 5.57 ERA through 26 games (25 starts). He has allowed 79 earned runs on 159 hits and 42 walks while striking out 112 batters over 127.2 innings for the Express, as opponents are hitting .302 against him. In two starts against Tacoma earlier this year, Sampson is 0-1 with a 7.88 ERA, allowing seven earned runs on 16 hits including two home runs, walking one and striking out five over 8.0 innings.

DOUBLE OR NOTHIN’: Jake Slaughter has hit safely in seven of his last eight games, hitting .394 (13-for-33) dating back to Sept. 7. Over that stretch, he has clubbed seven doubles, hitting a two-bagger for 54% of his total hits in his last eight games. He has one home run and 11 runs batted in with five walks compared to seven strikeouts over that span, reaching base at a .474 clip with a .697 slugging percentage. Slaughter has 24 total doubles on the season between his 32 games with Triple-A Iowa and his 79 games with Tacoma, hitting 18 two-baggers with the Rainiers.

END ON A HIGH NOTE: Tacoma enters the last scheduled series of the 2024 regular season with a record of 78-66, looking to reach the 80-win mark for the first time since 2016 and just the fifth time since becoming a Seattle Mariners affiliate in 1995. The Rainiers haven’t won a series since taking five-of-six from Sugar Land back on Aug. 13-18, losing three and splitting one since then. They return home for the final six games of the season where they are 9-3-1 in series and 44-25 overall, looking to end the season on a high note with a series victory.

SLIPPING AWAY: After dropping four-of-six to Oklahoma City last week, Tacoma’s playoff hopes are quickly fading, as they now trail the Reno Aces by 4.5 games with just six games to play. Tacoma is 35-34 in the second half of the season after going 43-32 in the first half. Overall, a very successful season that sees them holding a one game lead in the overall standings of the PCL West, but likely just missing playoffs in both the first and second half of the season in the new Triple-A playoff format. Entering play today, the Rainiers have the fourth-most wins of any team in Triple-A this year, trailing Sugar Land (90), Omaha (86) and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (84).

COMING DOWN TO IT: Ryan Bliss stole two bases in Tacoma’s 6-4 loss to Oklahoma City in the series finale on Sunday, giving him 47 on the year. His 47 stolen bases lead the Pacific Coast League and are just one more than teammate Samad Taylor, who enters play tonight with 46 swiped bags. Cade Marlowe, who hasn’t played with Tacoma since being recalled to Seattle on July 23 and since being placed on the injured list, is third on the team and fourth in the PCL with 43 stolen bases. These three have combined to steal 136 bases, more than 14 Triple-A teams have stolen this year. Their 136 swiped bags are part of Tacoma’s league-leading 269 stolen bases on the season, 12 shy of tying the modern-era PCL record of 281 set by the 1981 Albuquerque Dukes. The Rainiers will need to average two stolen bases a game to tie the record in the final week of the season.

TURNING TWO: Tacoma’s defense turned three more double plays in the series finale against the Baseball Club on Sunday, giving them 153 on the year. Their 153 double plays turned leads all of Triple-A, nine more than the next closest team, the Louisville Bats, with 144. Despite committing more errors lately, the Rainiers have still helped their pitching staff by averaging just over a double play per game.

POWER UP: Jason Vosler played all six games against Round Rock in their lone series this year, hitting .333 (9-for-27) over that span. Three of his nine hits left the yard, as he hit three home runs and drove in 10 for a slugging percentage of .667. Entering the last series of the season, Vosler needs two home runs to reach the 30-home run mark for the first time in his career, entering play tonight with 28 deep flies on the year.

AGAINST ROUND ROCK: Tacoma and Round Rock will play game one of their six-game series tonight and game seven of 12 overall between the two teams this season, with the Rainiers currently holding a 5-1 series lead. Tacoma took five-of-six from Round Rock at Dell Diamond back from June 11-16 and enter play tonight on a four-game winning streak against the Express. Not only does Tacoma hold the season series record over Round Rock, but they also have the all-time series lead over the Express by 18 games, at 59-41.

SHORT HOPS: Tonight’s starter for Round Rock, Adrian Sampson, started 20 games for Tacoma from 2015-16, including nine starts as the home pitcher here at Cheney Stadium…Tacoma enters tonight’s game with the fourth-most wins among any team in Triple-A this season, yet look likely to be eliminated from playoff contention this week, trailing Reno by 4.5 games with just six games remaining on the season…four wins this week would make Tacoma the winningest Rainiers team since the 2001 team that went 85-59; they have won 80 games in 2005 and 2008, earning 81 victories in 2016.