Diaz Dazzles in Second Straight Win

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – For the first time this year, the Tacoma Rainiers (4-2) won their second consecutive game over the Salt Lake Bees (2-4) by a final score of 7-4, Thursday at Smith’s Ballpark.

Ryan Bliss opened the scoring in the top of the third inning with an RBI single to give Tacoma a 1-0 lead. That is all the support Jhonathan Diaz needed, as the southpaw spun six scoreless innings.

Facing his former team, Diaz allowed six hits while striking out a season-high 10 batters, keeping his ERA on the year at 0.00.

The Rainiers added to their lead in the seventh inning on a bases loaded walk from Michael Chavis and a two-run single by Michael Papierski. Salt Lake ended the shutout in their half of the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Bryce Teodosio.

They got a second run in the eighth on an RBI single from Zach Humphreys, making the score 4-2. With their lead cut to two, Tacoma added three insurance runs in the ninth inning on singles from Nick Solak and Leo Rivas.

Salt Lake scored again on a double from Bryce Teodosio and an error to make it 7-4, but Joey Krehbiel recorded the final outs to earn Tacoma’s second consecutive win.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Jhonathan Diaz was one strikeout shy of his career-high 11 set back on July 22, 2021. He has now tossed 11.0 scoreless innings this year, allowing nine total hits and zero walks while striking out 15. He is the first starter to earn a win for Tacoma this season.
• Cade Marlowe extended his hitting streak to five games on a bunt single in the seventh inning. Each of his other four at-bats resulted in strikeouts.
• All nine starters in Tacoma’s lineup struck out at least once tonight, as the team totaled 16 strikeouts. Their top three hitters combined for nine of the 16.

Tacoma and Salt Lake continue their series with game four tomorrow night. First pitch from Smith’s Ballpark is set for 5:35 p.m. PT. For more information and tickets, visit https://www.milb.com/tacoma.