April 23 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. El Paso Chihuahuas

TACOMA RAINIERS (13-8) vs. EL PASO CHIHUAHUAS (9-12)
Tuesday, April 23 • 6:05 PM • Cheney Stadium • Tacoma, WA
RHP Casey Lawrence (0-2, 6.62) vs. LHP Ryan Carpenter (0-1, 7.91)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Tacoma and El Paso will play game one of their six-game series tonight, with Casey Lawrence getting the start for the Rainiers. Lawrence has not pitched since April 13, as he was a late scratch from his most recent start on Friday. The right-hander is 0-2 with a 6.62 ERA through three starts this year, allowing 13 earned runs on 26 hits and four walks while striking out six batters over 17.2 innings. Lawrence is set to make his third career start against the Chihuahuas, as he made two as a member of Tacoma’s pitching staff back in 2018. On the other side, Ryan Carpenter will toe the rubber for El Paso, set to make his fifth start of the year. Carpenter is 0-1 with a 7.91 ERA entering play tonight, allowing 17 earned runs on 26 hits and seven walks while striking out 10 over 19.1 innings. Seven of the 26 hits the southpaw has allowed have left the yard, as opponents are hitting .326 against him this year.

WELCOME BACK: Two familiar faces make their return to Cheney Stadium as a member of the El Paso Chihuahuas tonight, with pitcher Matt Festa and infielder Mason McCoy playing for the San Diego Padres’ affiliate. Festa, originally drafted by Seattle in the seventh round of the 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft, pitched in 76 games for Tacoma, from 2019-23. McCoy played in 124 games in 2022 and 87 in 2023 for the Rainiers, hitting 41 doubles and 32 home runs, driving in 118 batters over the two seasons.

RUNNING WILD: Tacoma stole three more bases in their last game on Sunday, giving them 52 stolen bases this year. Their 52 swiped bags lead all of Triple-A by 15, as the Gwinnett Stripers have the second-most with 37. They lead the Pacific Coast League by 23 bases, as the next team is Albuquerque with 29. Entering play tonight, El Paso has thrown out just two of the 28 stolen base attempts against them, presenting an opportunity for the Rainiers to run even more.

GOING DEEP: Michael Chavis hit yet another home run in the series finale against Las Vegas on Sunday, giving him a team-leading six on the year. Five of those six home runs have come in his last six games, as the infielder is hitting .346 (9-for-26) with 10 runs scored, eight runs batted in and two walks. He is slugging .923 over that span, as five of his nine hits left the yard. Chavis enters play tonight having homered in his last two games played.
HOT HITTING: Despite losing their last four games to Las Vegas, Tacoma’s bats have still been hot, particularly Brian Anderson. The 30-year-old struggled at the plate to start the season, hitting just .056 (1-for-18) with seven strikeouts from April 7-13. Since then, he is riding a season-long five-game hitting streak, recording two hits in three of the five games. Since April 14, Anderson is hitting .444 (8-for-18) with two home runs and three runs batted in. His season-long batting average is up to .226 on the year.

MAJOR LEAGUE STUFF: Bryan Woo got the start in Tacoma’s last game on Sunday against Las Vegas, marking his first action of the 2024 season. Woo began the year on Seattle’s 15-day injured list with right medial elbow inflammation, and his three innings of work on Sunday were his first since Spring Training. The right-hander was in mid-season form, tossing three perfect innings. He didn’t allow a single baserunner, striking out five of the nine batters he faced. He was followed by major league rehabber Collin Snider, who also dealt a scoreless inning. Snider allowed one hit and one walk, but struck out the three men he retired, as the two rehabbers struck out eight batters over their four combined innings.

AGAINST EL PASO: Tacoma and El Paso are set to play the first of six games tonight, the only series at Cheney Stadium this year between the two teams. It also is the lone time the two teams play in the first half, as the Rainiers don’t travel to El Paso until late August. Tacoma will look to repeat their success from last season against the Chihuahuas, as they went 5-1 here at Cheney Stadium and 8-4 overall. The Rainiers lead the all-time series over El Paso by two games, at 64-62.

SHORT HOPS: Four of Michael Chavis’ hits last series were home runs, while five of Ryan Bliss’ six hits also went for extra bases…Tacoma is coming off their first series loss of the year, as they lost each of the last four games to Las Vegas…Jason Vosler extended his hitting streak to a season-long nine games with his extra-inning single on Sunday, tying him with Jonatan Clase for the longest streak for any Rainiers player this year…with three blown saves in Sunday’s game alone, Tacoma is now 2-for-8 in save opportunities this season.