Rainiers Beat Bees, 5-2, Sweep Series

TACOMA, Wash. - The Tacoma Rainiers (16-11) pushed their winning streak out to a season-high five-games with a 5-2 victory over the Salt Lake Bees (15-13) on Thursday night at Cheney Stadium.

The win gave the Rainiers their first sweep of the Bees since July 4-7, 2010, and their first sweep of a four-game series since running the table against Oklahoma City June 21-24, 2014.

Tacoma starting pitcher Cody Martin (4-2) worked 6.0 innings and allowed one run (unearned) on four hits en route to his fourth win of the year. He surrendered one walk and struck out three.

Center fielder Boog Powell (2x4), third baseman Chris Taylor (2x4), and right fielder Stefen Romero (2x2) all posted multi-hit efforts in the series finale while combining for four runs and two RBI.

The Bees opened the scoring with a single run in the top of the first inning. Todd Cunningham smacked a two-out double and came around to score on an RBI single from Kaleb Cowart, giving Salt Lake a 1-0 lead.

The Rainiers responded quickly with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first. Powell led off the frame with a single and crossed the plate after a double to left field by Taylor and a fielding error by Bees left fielder Kyle Kubitza. Three batters later, designated hitter Mike Baxter poked an RBI single that plated Taylor, giving the Rainiers a 2-1 edge.

Three consecutive singles by Taylor, first baseman Efren Navarro, and Romero to lead off the bottom of the third brought around the Rainiers third run, expanding their lead to 3-1.

An RBI single by Powell in the sixth inning and a sharply hit RBI double from second baseman Ed Lucas in the seventh inning accounted for the remainder of the Rainiers offense, giving the club a 5-1 edge heading into the eighth.

Salt Lake made one final push in the top of the eighth - Quintin Berry led off the frame with a single, stole second, moved to third as Sherman Johnson reached on a fielding error, and came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Todd Cunningham.

Jonathan Aro closed out the ninth inning for the Rainiers, earning his first save of the season.

The Rainiers kick off an eight-game road trip with a four-game set against the Albuquerque Isotopes that opens tomorrow, Friday, May 6. Left-hander James Paxton (3-2, 3.42) will start for Tacoma against Albuquerque right-hander Jeff Hoffman (2-0, 1.52). First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. PT.

All tickets, group outings and suites packages for the 2016 season are available for purchase in-person at the Cheney Stadium Box Office, online at www.tacomarainiers.com, or over the phone at (253) 752-7707. The most up-to-date news and notes about the Rainiers throughout the season can be found by following the Rainiers on Twitter (@RainiersLand) or liking the team on Facebook.