Joe, Wisdom Homer in 9-3 Loss to Round Rock

ROUND ROCK, TX (September 17, 2026) — After taking a pair of early leads on Connor Joe and Patrick Wisdom solo home runs, the Tacoma Rainiers (38-34/71-76) fell 9-3 to the Round Rock Express (40-32/71-76) Thursday night in Texas. Andy Ibáñez turned in a multi-hit performance in the loss, finishing 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored while Nolan Jones extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single in the sixth inning.

The teams traded home runs in the opening three frames. Tacoma opened the scoring in the top of the second inning when Connor Joe (11) crushed a one-out solo home run over the left field wall, giving the Rainiers an early 1-0 lead. Round Rock responded in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Cam Cauley (15) hit a solo shot past the left-center field wall, tying the game at one.

Tacoma retook the lead in the fourth inning when Patrick Wisdom (35) hit the third solo homer of the contest. His towering flyball just cleared the left field wall, making it 2-1 on what was his second homer in as many games.

The Express took their first lead of the game in the home half of the fifth inning. With two outs, John Taylor worked a walk and the next batter, Kyle Higashioka (2), hooked a two-run shot just around the left field foul pole to make it 3-2 Round Rock.

Round Rock added three runs in the sixth inning. Keyber Rodriguez drew a one-out walk and advanced to third when Frainyer Chavez lined a single into center field. Then, Logan O’Hoppe, batting in place of Omar Martinez, reached on a fielder’s choice. A fielding error by Leo Rivas saw the ball skip into left-center field, allowing Chavez to move up to third while Rodriguez came home to score, extending the Express’ lead to two. The next batter, Cooper Johnson, smacked a single into right field, scoring Chavez to make it 5-2. After Cauley struck out, Taylor pounded a single into center field, plating O’Hoppe and making it 6-2.

The Express continued to pad their lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jonah Bride laced a single into left field to lead off the frame and advanced to second when Aaron Zavala grounded out. Two batters later, Chavez smoked a double into the left-center field gap, bringing home Bride and extending Round Rock’s lead to 7-2.

Tacoma got back in the scoring column in the top of the eighth inning. Andy Ibáñez ripped a leadoff double into the left field corner and advanced to third two batters later when Joe grounded out to first. Ibáñez scored when the second pitch to Nolan Jones bounced to the backstop, bringing the Rainiers within four.

Round Rock got the run back in the home half of the eighth inning. A leadoff double from Cooper Johnson and single from Cauley put runners on the corners with no outs. After Cauley stole second, Taylor brought home Johnson with a sacrifice fly and Higashioka plated Cauley with a single into right, giving the Express a 9-3 lead.

The Rainiers were set down in order in the top of the ninth inning, dropping the third game of the series, 9-3.

Tacoma will look to even the series tomorrow night. RHP Gabe Mosser will toe the rubber for the Rainiers. First pitch scheduled for 5:05 PM (PST).

POSTGAME NOTES:

• INF Patrick Wisdom crushed his 35th home run of the season in the fourth inning Friday, the most in Triple-A…Wisdom is now tied with Danny Walton (1974) for the second-highest single-season home run total in franchise history…Wisdom holds a home run rate of .104 (35 HR/336 PA), the fifth-best single-season mark in the minor leagues since at least 2005 (min. 100 PA).

• INF/OF Connor Joe left the yard for the 11th time with Tacoma this season on Thursday night…it’s Joe’s first time hitting at least 10 home runs and driving in 40-or-more runs in a season since 2023 with Pittsburgh (11 homers and 42 RBI).

• OF Nolan Jones extended his hitting streak to eight games Thursday, finishing 1-for-3 with a walk…it’s Jones’ longest hitting streak this season and the longest since he recorded a hit in nine consecutive contests from September 23-October 1, 2023, with Colorado…since the streak started on September 9, Jones is slashing .357/.438/.500.

• LHP Jhonathan Díaz threw 102 pitches in the start Thursday, his third consecutive game with at least 100 pitches…he is the first pitcher in the minor leagues to complete the feat this season…the last time a Tacoma pitcher recorded 100-plus pitches in three-or-more straight games was Aríel Miranda who did it four times from May 8-23 in 2018.