Tacoma sweeps Sacramento in Monday doubleheader, inching closer to title

Rainiers tame River Cats 8-4 in opener, walk them off 6-5 in game two

September 13, 2021

Tacoma, WA (9/13/21) – The Tacoma Rainiers (68-45) swept a doubleheader from the Sacramento River Cats (48-62) on Monday afternoon at Cheney Stadium, and have won eight of their last nine games and 14 of 17. As Tacoma continues to close in on a Triple-A West regular season championship, as

Tacoma, WA (9/13/21) – The Tacoma Rainiers (68-45) swept a doubleheader from the Sacramento River Cats (48-62) on Monday afternoon at Cheney Stadium, and have won eight of their last nine games and 14 of 17. As Tacoma continues to close in on a Triple-A West regular season championship, as of 6 p.m. on Monday their lead over Sugar Land (64-48) was 3.5 games, same as their cushion over division rival Reno (63-47) as those clubs entered evening action.

GAME 1

The Rainiers improved to 13-3 in games started by Logan Verrett (10-3) this season (5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) with a leisurely 8-4 decision over Sacramento in the opener.

Kevin Padlo (first inning) and Jake Fraley (sixth inning) each hit two-run homers; Luis Liberato and Jose Godoy (3-for-3) each tripled, scored and drove in a run during the early contest. Eight of nine Tacoma batters registered a hit, and seven of nine scored a run in the balanced attack against a River Cats bullpen effort.

Lefty Ray Kerr pitched a perfect sixth inning in relief of Verrett, striking out two. It marked the 14th time this season that the Tacoma pitching staff did not walk a batter.

GAME 2

Tacoma erased a 5-0 Sacramento lead after the third inning during the late afternoon hours, beginning with a three-run fourth which included a Sam Travis RBI double. Travis then led off the sixth inning with a solo homer, before Donovan Walton tied the game with a sac fly.

In the home seventh, Taylor Trammell led off with a double, his second of the game, and wound up on third base with one out after a pair of walks, to Brian O’Keefe and Dillon Thomas (intentional). Jantzen Witte then smacked his second hit of the game on a line to right-center, easily making Trammell (on his 24th birthday) the winning run for a 6-5 victory and the sweep.

All River Cat runs came via homer; Wyatt Mathisen (3-run) in the first inning and Jason Vosler (2-run) in the third. But a Rainiers bullpen trio of Moises Gomez, Daniel Zamora and Wyatt Mills combined for three scoreless innings of relief with five strikeouts, surrendering only one hit and a walk after the fourth. Mills struck out the side in order in the seventh.

Tacoma will next be in action in the series finale against Sacramento on Tuesday, a 7:05 PT first pitch at Cheney Stadium. RHPs Asher Wojciechowski (Rainiers) and Sean Hjelle (River Cats) are the scheduled starters.

Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto will have full coverage on TacomaRainiers.com. All 2021 Rainiers games, home and away, can also be heard for free on the MiLB First Pitch app. HD video broadcasts of every home game can be viewed with an MiLB.TV subscription. (Use code: RAINIERS to save $10 on an annual subscription.

About the Tacoma Rainiers

The Tacoma Rainiers are the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The Rainiers are a member of Triple-A West. Tacoma has been a Mariners affiliate since establishing the Rainiers moniker in 1995.

Single-game tickets for all remaining 2021 Rainiers home games are now available. Questions regarding season tickets can be directed to [email protected].

The most up-to-date news and notes about the Tacoma Rainiers and Cheney Stadium can be found at WeRTacoma.com, or by following the Rainiers on Twitter (@RainiersLand), Instagram (@tacomarainiers) and liking the team on Facebook.