April 12 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Reno Aces

TACOMA RAINIERS (9-3) vs. RENO ACES (5-6)
Friday, April 12 • 7:05 PM • Cheney Stadium • Tacoma, WA
LHP Dallas Keuchel (1-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Humberto Castellanos (0-0, 1.80)

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Rainiers and Aces meet for game four of six tonight, with Dallas Keuchel taking the ball for Tacoma. Keuchel will look to give the Rainiers their fourth straight win and earn his second of the year after throwing five scoreless frames against Salt Lake his last time out. In his Seattle Mariners organizational debut in game one on Sunday against the Bees, Keuchel allowed just three hits while striking out three over his five scoreless innings, moving to 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA this year. Opposite Keuchel will be Humberto Castellanos toeing the rubber for Reno. The right-hander enters play tonight with an 0-0 record and a 1.80 ERA, having allowed just one earned run on one hit and two walks while striking out eight through his first two games this year. Opponents are hitting just .063 against Castellanos in his 5.0 innings this year, as the 26-year-old has made one relief appearance of 2.0 innings and one start of 3.0 innings so far this year.

KNOCK THE RUST OFF: Mauricio Llovera pitched in his first game in exactly a week last night, as prior to last night’s outing, his last came on April 4 against Salt Lake. He allowed a run on two hits and a walk in his inning of work, getting tagged with a blown save. He also got credited with the win, his first of the season and first since Sept. 22, 2023, against the Chicago White Sox as a member of the Boston Red Sox.

MORE OF THE SAME: A big part of Tacoma’s offense this year has been stealing bases, as they lead all of professional baseball with 31 stolen bases through their first 12 games. They stole a season-high five bases in last night’s victory, with Cade Marlowe accounting for two on his own. Marlowe’s two stolen bases marked the fifth time a single Rainiers player has had two in a game this year already and gave Marlowe seven on the season, tied for second in the Pacific Coast League. Leading the way in the PCL is Ryan Bliss, who stole another base last night, giving him eight on the year. A third league-leader on Tacoma’s roster is Leo Rivas, who has swiped five bases in nine games played this year. Tacoma has now stolen multiple bags in eight of their 12 games this year, recording at least one stolen base in all 12 contests.

A NEW APPROACH: Tacoma played their first real slugfest of the season last night, winning 11-7. The two teams combined for 18 runs on 18 hits including seven home runs. The Rainiers entered the game with seven home runs on the season and hit four in last night’s game alone. Ryan Bliss and Cade Marlowe each got their first of the season, while Isiah Gilliam and Jason Vosler knocked their second long balls of the season. Tacoma registered a season-high 11 runs scored, four home runs, five stolen bases and tied their season-high with eight walks drawn.

WIN BIG: Despite having nine wins this year, there is no pitcher on Tacoma’s active roster with a save. Brett de Geus was the lone pitcher to record a save for the Rainiers back on Sunday, March 31, against Oklahoma City. The right-hander got his contract selected by Seattle on April 8 and has been with the Mariners since.

STILL PERFECT: Despite getting seven earned runs placed on his record last night, Tacoma is still a perfect 7-0 when Michael Papierski starts behind the plate. The 28-year-old entered the game having caught 54.0 innings and seeing just 11 earned runs cross the plate, nearly doubling that total last night with seven earned runs over 9.0 innings caught. His catching ERA went from 1.83 entering last night to 2.57 after last night’s contest.

NOT PLAYING LIKE A ROOKIE: With his second triple of the season in the sixth inning last night, Jonatan Clase extended his hitting streak to a team-high six games. Clase has served as Tacoma’s leadoff hitter in all nine of his starts this year and the Rainiers are 6-3 with him at the top. Over his six-game hitting streak, the 21-year-old is hitting .400 (8-for-20) with four runs scored, a double, two triples, a home run and six runs batted in. He has added three walks, improving his on-base percentage to .458 over those six games. This series, Clase is 4-for-10 with three of his four hits going for extra bases. He has two triples and a home run, driving in five runs to go along with three walks. In his first season at the Triple-A level, the switch hitter is hitting .323 (10-for-31) with an on-base percentage of .421, both of which lead the way for Tacoma who have played more than four games.

AGAINST RENO: Tacoma and Reno will play game four of their six-game set tonight, with the Rainiers looking for the series victory after winning each of the first three games. With three straight wins over the Aces, Tacoma now trails the all-time series between the two teams by 39 games, at 104-143. The Rainiers are halfway to the number of victories they had all last season against the Aces at Cheney Stadium, as they were 6-6 at home and 13-11 overall against Reno.

SHORT HOPS: Jason Vosler’s three-run home run in the first inning last night marked the first time Tacoma has scored in the first inning all year…Mauricio Llovera earned the win last night, making Tacoma relief pitcher 4-0 this year entering tonight’s game…in his first game in centerfield this year, Samad Taylor nailed a runner at the plate, giving Tacoma their fourth outfield assist of the season…Vosler recorded a team-high with four runs batted in last night, surpassing the previous high of three RBI in a game, also done by the 30-year-old.