May 11 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers @ Reno Aces

TACOMA RAINIERS (20-17) @ RENO ACES (18-19)
Saturday, May 11 • 4:05 PM • Greater Nevada Field • Reno, NV
RHP Michael Mariot (2-0, 3.41) vs. RHP Humberto Castellanos (2-1, 5.40)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Coming off their first win of the series last night, Michael Mariot will look to keep it going for the Rainiers, set to make his seventh start of the season. The righty will be facing Reno for the third time already this season, having started on both April 9 and 14 in their first series at Cheney Stadium. Mariot is in search of his third win of the season, entering play tonight with a 2-0 record and a 3.41 ERA in six starts. Taking the ball for the Aces will be right-hander Humberto Castellanos, pitching in his seventh game and sixth start of the season. Castellanos comes into tonight’s game with a 2-1 record and 5.40 ERA, with his lone loss coming to Tacoma back on April 12. In that game, he allowed three earned runs on five hits including two home runs, walking two batters and striking out four over 1.2 innings pitched. His 1.2 innings marked the shortest outing of the season and has since tossed at least 4.1 innings in his last three starts.

BACK WHERE IT STARTED: Outfielder Dominic Canzone is set to begin a Major League rehab assignment with Tacoma tonight after landing on the 10-day injured list back on April 15 with a left AC joint sprain. Canzone is returning to a familiar place, as he was acquired by Seattle in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks last year. The 26-year-old played in 71 games with Reno last season, hitting .354 (91-for-257) with 18 doubles, 16 home runs and 71 RBI. He drew 39 walks compared to 40 strikeouts with the Aces prior to getting his contract selected by Arizona on July 7. Later that month, on July 31, he was traded to Seattle as a part of the trade that sent reliever Paul Sewald to the Diamondbacks. Canzone was originally drafted by Arizona in the eighth round of the 2019 draft.

STRING THEM TOGETHER: Wins have been hard to come by for Tacoma on their current 12-game road trip, going just 3-7 through their first 10 games. They have not had back-to-back wins yet on the trip, losing three consecutive games on two separate occasions. A win tonight would give them their first back-to-back victories since winning their last three home games played, from April 26-28.

WHAT A DEBUT: Matt Scheffler made his Triple-A debut for the Rainiers last night after being on their active roster since April 25. The Kirkland, WA, native went 2-for-5 with a run scored, a double and two runs batted in in the game, playing a part in Tacoma’s comeback victory. After popping out in each of his first two at-bats, Scheffler drove an RBI double to center field in the sixth inning and checked in with an RBI single in his next at-bat as part of Tacoma’s six-run seventh inning.

STAY PRODUCTIVE: Nick Solak has played sparingly this season for Tacoma, playing in 20 of their 37 games. Despite not getting everyday playing time, the utility-man has been extremely productive when he is in the lineup. Through his 20 games, he is hitting .286 (20-for-70) with three doubles, two home runs and 15 runs batted in. He has taken eight walks compared to 14 strikeouts and also stolen three bases over that span. Last night, the 29-year-old checked in with a three-hit game, driving in four runs out of the nine-hole. For Solak, it marked his fifth multi-hit game and second four-RBI game of the season.

TALE OF TWO STARTS: Tonight’s starter for the Rainiers, Michael Mariot, has already made two starts this year against the Aces. The two starts yielded very different results, as spun five scoreless innings in the first and allowed six runs in the second. On April 9, in his second start of the season, the 35-year-old earned his first win of the season against Reno. He tossed five scoreless frames, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out four. His next time out against the Aces didn’t go as well, as he surrendered six runs (five earned) on six hits including three home runs. He didn’t walk a batter but struck out just one over his 4.0 innings that day. Mariot is coming off his best start of the year, allowing just three hits over six scoreless innings against Sacramento on May 5.

AGAINST RENO: The Rainiers and Aces are set to meet for game five of their six-game series tonight, with Tacoma trailing three games to one after their victory last night. The 12-10 win gave kept their hopes of splitting the series alive, trailing the current series by two games with two remaining. Despite struggling in the current series, Tacoma still leads the season series 6-4 and trail in the all-time series by 40 games, at 147-107.

SHORT HOPS: Jhonathan Diaz became the first six-game winner in Triple-A with his victory last night, account for half (6-of-12) of Tacoma’s starting pitcher wins this year; Rainiers’ starters are 12-10 on the season, with Diaz going 6-0…Jonatan Clase clubbed his third home run of the season last night, with all three coming against Reno; he became the first player for Tacoma to hit a leadoff home run since Ryan Bliss did so last year, on Sept. 3…Tacoma earned their 20th win of the season last night, becoming the fifth team in the PCL to reach that mark.