Tacoma's Ninth Inning Rally Falls Short in 6-3 Loss 

TACOMA, WA (May 30, 2026) — The Tacoma Rainiers (23-33) fell to the Las Vegas Aviators (31-23) by a score of 6-3 Saturday night, their ninth consecutive loss. Brian O’Keefe crushed his third home run of the season. He and Alejo Lopez both recorded two base knocks, accounting for all four of Tacoma’s hits on the night.

Las Vegas broke the scoreless deadlock in the top of the third inning. After Houston Roth retired the first eight hitters of the game, Colby Halter worked a two-out walk to extend the inning. Max Muncy (1) opened the scoring with a two-run home run over the left field wall to give the Aviators a 2-0 lead.

Tacoma got on the board in the fourth inning when Brian O’Keefe (3) tattooed a solo home run into the left field bleachers to cut the Rainiers’ deficit in half, 2-1.

Las Vegas restored their two-run lead in the fifth inning. Jared Dickey ripped a double into the right field corner to lead off the frame. After a groundout and strikeout, Muncy roped a single off the right-center field wall, scoring Dickey from second and making it 3-1.

The Aviators added on to their lead in the top of the seventh inning. Bryan Lavastida roped a leadoff double down the left field line and the next batter, Dickey, worked a walk to put two runners on with no outs. Then, with Drew Swift at the plate, Lavastida stole third and later scored courtesy of a Swift sacrifice fly to right field, giving Las Vegas a 4-1 lead.

The Aviators continued to pad their lead in the eighth inning. With one out, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer lined a single into center field and advanced to third when Cade Marlowe roped a double into the right-center field gap. Then, Joey Meneses pounded a single through the middle of the infield, plating Kuroda-Grauer and Marlowe to make it 6-1.

Tacoma entered the ninth inning needing five runs to stay alive. Alejo Lopez beat out an infield single to lead off the frame. Then, Leo Rivas and Ryan Bliss were both hit by a pitch, loading the bases with no outs. Spencer Packard walked on four pitches to bring home Lopez and make it 6-2. Connor Joe reached on a fielder’s choice, plating Rivas and cutting the Rainiers’ deficit to three. That was all Tacoma could muster as they dropped Saturday night’s contest 6-3.

The Rainiers attempt to break their nine-game losing streak Sunday afternoon. Tacoma will send RHP Casey Lawrence to the mound for his second start of the series. First pitch is set for 1:35 pm.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• C Brian O’Keefe hit his third home run of the season Saturday night, going 2-for-5 with a home run, RBI, and run scored…since 2022, O’Keefe has recorded 45 home runs in games playing catcher, the second-most in Triple-A, trailing Sam Huff’s 46…Tacoma’s backstops this season lead Triple-A with a .299 batting average (76x254) and their .384 OBP ranks second…O’Keefe’s .301 batting average is the sixth-best among Triple-A catchers this season (min. 75 AB).

• INF Carson Taylor walked twice on Saturday, the ninth time he has walked two or more times in a game this season…he holds a .446 OBP in May, seventh-best in the PCL…Taylor has drawn 16 walks while striking out 13 times in May

• LHP Peyton Alford tossed his second scoreless outing as a Rainiers pitcher Saturday night, allowing one hit while striking out one in 1.0 innings of work…Alford has not allowed a run in 10 straight outings, eight of them coming with Double-A Arkansas.

• INF Alejo Lopez turned in his fifth multi-hit performance of the season Saturday night, finishing 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored…since May 1, Lopez is batting .346 (18x52) with five doubles, four RBI and seven walks.