Tacoma Pitchers Dominate in Doubleheader Sweep Over Sacramento

TACOMA, WA (April 16, 2026) — The Tacoma Rainiers (8-10) swept the doubleheader to take the series lead over the Sacramento River Cats (10-6) with scores of 3-1 in game one and 8-1 in game two on Thursday night. Brock Rodden led the offense going a combined 4-for-7 across the games with a home run, double, four RBI, and a run. Colt Emerson doubled twice, once in both games, while picking up two RBI and two walks. The Rainiers pitching staff allowed only two runs and struck out nine Sacramento hitters across the two games.

Tacoma threw the first punch in game one. With one out in the bottom of the second inning, Victor Labrada lined a single into center field. He got himself all the way to third when he stole second and took the extra 90 feet on a throwing error. Then, Johnny Pereda pounded a ball through the left side of the infield for a single. Labrada trotted home from third, giving the Rainiers an early 1-0 lead.

Sacramento immediately responded in the next half-inning. After Thomas Gavello flied out, Logan Porter worked a walk and moved up to third when Nate Furman doubled to right. With two runners in scoring position, Jesús Rodríguez flied out to center field for a sacrifice fly. Porter scored from third without a throw, knotting it up at 1-1.

Tacoma retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth, as Brock Rodden (1) connected on his first Triple-A home run to give the Rainiers a 2-1 lead.

The Tacoma offense added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Rhylan Thomas beat out an infield single, stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error. After Ryan Bliss struck out, Colt Emerson smacked a double into left, his fifth of the season. Thomas trotted home from third to extend the Tacoma lead to two, 3-1.

Dane Dunning was relieved after 6.0 strong innings of one-run ball in the first game of the twin bill. He allowed the lone run on one hit and two walks while striking out a pair of River Cats.

The Rainiers turned to Troy Taylor to close out the first game in the top of the seventh. The River Cats got the tying run into scoring position with two outs but ultimately failed to score as Tacoma took the first game of the doubleheader 3-1. Troy Taylor recorded his second save of the season in a hitless inning of relief.

Just like game one, Tacoma started the scoring in the bottom of the second inning of game two. Brennen Davis led off the inning with a walk and moved up to second when Rodden beat out an infield single. Will Wilson smoked a sinker down the line in right field for a ground-rule double, scoring Davis, giving Tacoma another early 1-0 lead.

Sacramento levelled the score in the top of the third. With two outs, Rodríguez and Bryce Eldridge both lined singles into shallow right field. Buddy Kennedy made it three-straight, two-out hits when he pounded a single through the left side of the infield. Rodríguez scampered home from second to score the River Cats’ first run, tying the game at 1-1.

Tacoma broke the scoring open with a five-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth. Wilson worked a lead-off walk and moved up to third when Carson Taylor drove a ground ball through the right side of the infield for a single. With runners on the corners, Jakson Reetz worked a walk to load the bases with no outs. With Thomas at the plate, a 1-1 pitch scooted to the backstop. Wilson hurried home to give the Rainiers a 2-1 lead. Thomas worked a walk to load the bases again with Bliss stepping up to the dish. The second baseman grounded out to the pitcher for the first out of the inning. Carson Taylor scored from third, extending the lead to 3-1. After Emerson was intentionally walked to load the bases for a third time in the inning, a Brennen Davis sacrifice fly brought home Reetz for Tacoma’s third run of the inning, making it 4-1. After Thomas advanced to third and Emerson to second on the sac fly, Rodden brought the pair home with a single into right field. Rodden’s second and third RBI of the doubleheader extended the Rainiers’ lead to 6-1.

Casey Lawrence was relieved after 5.0 innings of one-run ball. He navigated around nine hits while striking out three without surrendering any walks.

Tacoma added insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Emerson smacked his second double of the night into the left-center field gap. The next batter, Davis, drove a single into left field. Emerson hustled home and extended the Rainiers’ lead to six, 7-1. Rodden joined the hit parade with a double to deep center field. His PCL-leading 10th double brought Davis home to score from first, making it 8-1 Tacoma.

Down to their last three outs and chasing seven runs, Sacramento went silently into the night as Tacoma completed the sweep of the twin bill with a 8-1 win in game two.

The Rainiers look to extend their series lead Friday night in the fourth game of the six-game set. RHP Randy Dobnak will take the ball for Tacoma and Sacramento will counter with LHP Seth Lonsway. First pitch is at 7:05 pm.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• INF Brock Rodden crushed his first Triple-A home run in game one on Thursday night…the switch-hitter finished the doubleheader 4-for-7 with a double, home run, four RBI and a run…his nine doubles are the most in the Pacific Coast League and his 10 extra-base hits are the third-most in the league.

• The Rainiers pitching staff only allowed two runs across both games of the doubleheader Thursday night, allowing eleven hits and five walks while striking out nine over 14.0 innings…this is the first time Tacoma pitchers have allowed two-or-fewer runs in a doubleheader since May 30, 2019, when they shut out El Paso in both games of the twin bill.

• RHP Alex Hoppe worked his seventh-consecutive appearance without allowing an earned run to end game two, allowing one hit and one walk…his seven-consecutive appearances without an earned run is tied for the longest streak in the PCL.

• INF Colt Emerson smoked his second double of Thursday night in game two…Emerson finished the twin bill 2-for-5 with a double, RBI, two runs and two walks…the shortstop has reached base safely in 13 of the 16 games he has played in for Tacoma this season.

• Tacoma’s bullpen combined for 3.0 scoreless innings in Thursday’s doubleheader…the Rainiers bullpen has a 2.66 ERA, the lowest in Triple-A, with the next-closest being Sugar Land’s 3.09 ERA.

• RHP Dane Dunning threw 6.0 innings of one-hit baseball in game one on Thursday, the first PCL pitcher to do so this season and one of four in Triple-A…the last Rainiers pitcher to throw 6.0 innings with only hit allowed was Darren McCaughan, who threw 7.1 innings of one-hit baseball against Sacramento on June 15, 2022.