April 13 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Reno Aces

TACOMA RAINIERS (10-3) vs. RENO ACES (5-7)
Saturday, April 13 • 6:05 PM • Cheney Stadium • Tacoma, WA
RHP Casey Lawrence (0-2, 6.35) vs. LHP Jordan Montgomery (0-0, 4.50)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Tacoma and Reno meet for game five of their six-game series tonight, with Casey Lawrence taking the ball for his third start of the year. Through two starts, Lawrence is 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA, losing on both Tuesday and Sunday last week to the Salt Lake Bees. The 36-year-old has allowed eight earned runs on 17 hits over 11.1 innings pitched this year, walking three and striking out three batters. On the other side, Jordan Montgomery will get the nod for Reno, set to make his second start of the season. Montgomery signed with Arizona just before Opening Day this year after going 4-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 11 starts last season with the Texas Rangers. The southpaw has made one start so far for the Aces as he ramps up to join Arizona, allowing two earned runs on three hits and three walks while striking out three batters over 4.0 innings pitched.

MAKE IT FIVE: Tacoma is currently on their second four-game winning streak of the year, broken up by just one loss. In each four-game winning streak, they have outscored their opponents by 16 runs. Over their first four-game winning streak from April 3-7 against Salt Lake, they outscored the Bees 25-9, scoring six runs in three of the four games and seven in the other contest. Over their current four-game winning streak which started back on April 9, they are outscoring Reno 26-10, with a season-high 11 runs in Thursday’s game. Dating back to Sunday’s finale against Oklahoma City, Tacoma is currently riding a five-game win streak while playing at Cheney Stadium.

USING THE LONG BALL: Tacoma entered their current series against Reno with just six home runs on the season. They hit two in their first series against Oklahoma City and four at Salt Lake against the Bees. Over the last three games, the Rainiers have more than doubled that number, hitting seven to give them 13 on the season. After not hitting a long ball in their 4-0 win on Tuesday, they hit one on Wednesday, four on Thursday and two more last night. Tacoma is led by Jason Vosler, who now has three home runs on the year. Their 13 home runs have them in the middle of the pack in the Pacific Coast League, ranking 5th out of 10 teams.

NOT THE WHOLE STORY: Casey Lawrence suffered a loss in his most recent outing on Sunday to the Salt Lake Bees. It marked the only loss for Tacoma in their last nine games, as it snapped a four-game winning streak and the Rainiers have gone on a four-game streak since. It was a difficult loss for the right-hander, as he allowed just two earned runs on eight hits and one walk, striking out two over 6.1 innings. It was game two of a doubleheader, and Tacoma’s offense gave him just one run of support. The game went tied into the bottom of the seventh inning, when the Bees hit a walk-off double to win the game. Lawrence will look to get in the win column with a similar effort tonight.

GOING BACK-TO-BACK: For the second consecutive game, Jason Vosler got Tacoma on the board with a home run last night. On Thursday, the 30-year-old clubbed a three-run shot in the first inning to give the Rainiers an early 3-0 lead in their eventual 11-7 victory over Reno. Last night, it was more of the same, as the utility-man hit a solo home run in the second inning to start the offense in their 5-2 win. Vosler is just 2-for-12 this series against the Aces, but both hits have left the yard, as he has driven in five runs through the first four games.

EXTEND IT IN STYLE: After Jason Vosler started the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning, Jonatan Clase joined the fun with a two-run shot of his own in the frame. The home run gave Clase at least one hit in his last seven games, a new season long hitting streak for any player on Tacoma. Clase has five hits this series, with four of them going for extra bases, as the switch hitter has two triples and two home runs against Reno. He has scored four runs and driven in seven, taking three walks compared to six strikeouts. The 21-year-old has served as Tacoma’s leadoff man in each of his 10 starts this year, with Tacoma going 7-3 in those 10 contests.

TWO-FOR-TWO: Dallas Keuchel earned his second win in his first two starts for Tacoma after signing a minor league contract with Seattle back on April 2. The former American League Cy Young has allowed just one earned run over 10.0 innings in those two starts, surrendering five total hits and two walks while striking out seven. Last night, Keuchel didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning, when he got tagged for back-to-back hits and allowed his lone run of the game. Through his first two starts in Seattle’s organization, he is 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA.

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: Joey Krehbiel earned his first save of the season last night, becoming the lone active player on Tacoma’s roster to have a save…the Rainiers are now 8-0 when they score first and 6-0 when they out-hit their opponent…Tacoma’s offense struck out 15 more times last night, just one shy of their season high; they rank 7th in the PCL in strikeouts, with 126 through 13 games, averaging nearly 10 per game...Tacoma leads all of minor league baseball with 10 wins this season, holding a two-game lead over Sacramento in the Pacific Coast League West Division.