Díaz Shuts Down Salt Lake in 10-1 Victory

TACOMA, WA (July 1, 2025) - Jhonathan Díaz threw his league-leading seventh quality start on Tuesday night, allowing one run over 6.2 innings as the Tacoma Rainiers (41-41/3-4) picked up a 10-1 victory over the Salt Lake Bees (32-49/3-4). Leo Rivas and Jack López each hit home runs to propel Tacoma to the dominant win.

Tacoma opened the scoring in the first inning. Samad Taylor led off with a bunt single, and after Rhylan Thomas flied to right field, Harry Ford doubled to put runners on second and third. Tyler Locklear hit a sacrifice fly to right field to give Tacoma the 1-0 lead, which also advanced Ford to third. Salt Lake starter Jake Eder then induced a flyout from Leody Taveras to strand Ford at third and end the inning.

The Rainiers put up a crooked number in the third, which began with a double down the left field line from Jack López. Taylor then reached on his second consecutive bunt single, and with runners on the corners, Thomas singled to score López and advance Taylor to third base. Ford then lined into a double play at first base, as Niko Kavadas was able to beat Thomas to the bag and secure the force out after catching the line drive. Locklear followed with an RBI single into left field, extending the Tacoma advantage to 3-0. Taveras recorded a base hit, and Leo Rivas followed with a three-run home run to right, his sixth long ball of the season. Blake Hunt grounded out to end the five-run inning with Tacoma’s lead sitting at 6-0.

Salt Lake responded in the fourth inning. Kyren Paris began the frame with a single and advanced to second when Chad Stevens grounded into a 4-3 fielder’s choice. Kavadas lined out to first, and Matthew Lugo knocked a two-out RBI single into left to cut the deficit to 6-1. Tacoma starter Jhonathan Díaz retired Carter Kieboom via a fielder’s choice to end the inning without any further damage.

Tacoma got back on the board in the bottom half of the fourth. Victor Labrada singled, which López followed with his fourth home run of the season, clearing the left field wall to make it 8-1. After Taylor and Thomas were both set down, Ford singled, Locklear walked, and Taveras reached on an infield single to load the bases. Rivas worked a full count but eventually grounded out to second base to end Tacoma’s threat.

Tacoma added another in the fifth inning, which Hunt started with a single. Labrada doubled for his second hit of his Cheney Stadium debut, putting two runners in scoring position. López walked to load the bases, and Taylor struck out, which Thomas followed by grounding into a 3-1 fielder’s choice that scored Hunt to extend the lead to 9-1. Ford stuck out with two runners in scoring position to end the inning.

Díaz went 6.2 innings for Tacoma, allowing one earned run on three hits, recording his PCL-leading seventh quality start while earning the win. Tayler Saucedo recorded the last out of the seventh inning in a scoreless return from the injured list, and Jackson Kowar recorded a scoreless eighth inning to keep the score at 9-1.

The Rainiers tacked on one more in the eighth. Thomas and Ford worked back-to-back walks to begin the frame, and Locklear singled to load the bases. Taveras scored Thomas on a base hit to make it 10-1, and with the bases still loaded, Rivas popped out. Hunt then grounded into an inning-ending double play to send the game to the ninth with a score of 10-1, which would be the final.

Trevor Gott pitched a scoreless ninth inning for Tacoma, striking out Korey Holland to end the game. Eder took the loss for Salt Lake as Tacoma extended its winning streak over the Bees to seven consecutive games.

Postgame Notes:

• Tuesday evening’s victory marked John Russell’s 200th win as manager of the Rainiers. He is 200-182 in his third season as the Rainiers’ manager.
• The bullpen delivered 2.1 scoreless innings, extending their scoreless streak at Cheney Stadium to 10.1 innings dating back to a victory over Albuquerque on June 21.
• With his quality start on Tuesday (6.2 innings pitched, three hits, one run, one earned run, and four strikeouts) Jhonathan Díaz became the first pitcher to reach seven quality starts in the PCL this season.
• Samad Taylor and Tyler Locklear each recorded two base hits on Tuesday, and Rhylan Thomas also recorded a hit. Their performances brought their season totals to 88, 85, and 83 hits, respectively, which rank seventh, eighth, and tenth in the PCL. Now that Thomas has moved into the top 10 in hits in the PCL, the Rainiers have become the only team in the league with three or more players in the top 10 in that category.