Ford and Locklear Homers Propel Tacoma to 9-3 Victory over Salt Lake

TACOMA, WA (July 2, 2025) - The Tacoma Rainiers (42-41/4-4) got home runs from Harry Ford and Tyler Locklear in a 9-3 victory over the Salt Lake Bees (32-50/3-5), marking their eighth consecutive win over Salt Lake.

Salt Lake opened the scoring in the third inning. Korey Holland led off with a single, which Niko Kavadas followed with his 17th home run of the season, clearing the right field wall to give The Bees a 2-0 lead. Kyren Paris extended the lead to 3-0 with a home run of his own, a 446-foot drive off the scoreboard in left-center field.

The Rainiers came back to take the lead in the fourth. After Harry Ford flied out to begin the inning, Tyler Locklear knocked a base hit into center field, which was Tacoma’s first hit off of Salt Lake starter Victor Mederos. Leody Taveras singled on the next pitch to put runners at first and second base. With Spencer Packard at the plate, Locklear stole third and Taveras swiped second one pitch later. Packard eventually walked to load the bases, and Rivas was hit by a pitch to score Locklear, cutting the deficit to 3-1. Victor Labrada knocked a broken-bat single into left-center, which scored both Taveras and Packard while advancing Rivas to third, tying the game at three. Labrada stole second during Jack López’s at-bat. With runners on first and second, López grounded to third, which Yolmer Sánchez corralled on a diving stop before cutting López down at first base. Rivas was able to score on the play to give Tacoma a 4-3 lead, while Labrada moved up to third base. Samad Taylor reached on an error on a ground ball by Scott Kingery, allowing Labrada to score and make it 5-3. Rhylan Thomas, the ninth batter of the inning, flied out to center field to end the frame.

Tacoma added one more in the fifth inning. Ford grounded out to shortstop to lead off the inning, and Locklear followed with his 11th home run of the season to extend Tacoma’s lead to 6-3. Taveras and Packard were retired to end the frame without any further damage.

Tacoma padded their advantage in the seventh. Taylor and Thomas worked back-to-back walks to begin the frame, at which point Ford drove his ninth homer of the season over the left field wall to push the score to 9-3. Locklear walked, and Taveras and Packard grounded into 4-6 and 6U fielder’s choices, respectively. With Packard on first base and two outs, Rivas and Labrada both singled to load the bases. They were stranded, however, as López grounded out to end the inning.

Tacoma’s bullpen recorded 3.0 scoreless innings to end the game with the score at 9-3. Lawrence went 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts to earn the win. Mederos took the loss for Salt Lake, allowing six runs, five of which were earned, over 6.0 innings with three strikeouts.

Postgame Notes:

• The Rainiers’ bullpen added 3.0 more scoreless frames to their scoreless streak at Cheney Stadium, which has now been extended to 13.1 innings.
• Tacoma’s six stolen bases in the first six innings mark just the second time since at least 2005 (furthest records are available) that Tacoma has recorded six or more stolen bases in the first six innings of a game. The last time they achieved the feat was August 19, 2022 against Albuquerque. The six steals mark the second time this season the Rainiers have stolen at least six bases, the other coming May 29 against Salt Lake, when the Rainiers stole a season-high seven bases.
• Casey Lawrence recorded his first quality start of the season on Wednesday night, pitching 6.0 innings and allowing three earned runs on seven hits while recording five strikeouts. Lawrence’s last quality start for Tacoma came on September 4, 2024, against Albuquerque.
• Wednesday’s game marks just the eighth time since 2005 that the Rainiers have scored at least nine runs on seven or fewer hits. The last time it happened was June 22, 2024, in a victory over Las Vegas.