May 16 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Salt Lake Bees

TACOMA RAINIERS (23-18) vs. SALT LAKE BEES (16-24)
Thursday, May 16 • 7:05 PM • Cheney Stadium • Tacoma, WA
LHP Dallas Keuchel (2-3, 4.06) vs. RHP Brett Kerry (1-0, 3.42)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Tacoma and Salt Lake will play game three of their six-game series tonight, with Tacoma having won each of the first two. The Rainiers will send out lefty Dallas Keuchel, in search of his third win of the year and second against Salt Lake. Keuchel comes into play tonight with a 2-3 record and a 4.06 ERA, having allowed 14 earned runs on 30 hits and nine walks over his 31.0 innings pitched. Over that span, he has struck out 15 batters and opponents are hitting .256 against him. On the other side, Brett Kerry will get the starting nod for the Bees, entering play tonight with a 1-0 record and a 3.42 ERA. Kerry has made four starts for Salt Lake, allowing just nine earned runs on 19 hits including three home runs. He has walked three batters compared to 22 strikeouts over his 23.2 innings pitched this year, limiting opponents to a .211 batting average against him. The right-hander has made one career start against Tacoma, coming back on Sept. 6 of last year. He earned the win, allowing three earned runs on five hits and four walks while striking out nine in 5.0 innings.

THREE IN A ROW: Tacoma won their third consecutive game last night, one shy of their season-long four-game winning streak. They have won four games in a row twice so far this season, but not in the last month. Their most recent four-game winning streak came back from April 9-12 against Reno. They also won four straight against this Salt Lake team the first time they met, from April 3-7. Since those two streaks, Tacoma has gotten to three wins three times now, from April 14-17, 26-28 and their current streak from May 12-15.

THROW IT BACK: Dallas Keuchel is set to make his seventh start of the season for Tacoma, entering play with a 2-3 record and a 4.06 ERA tonight. Back in his first start of the year for the Rainiers, Keuchel faced this same Salt Lake team and looked dominant. Back on April 7 in game one of a doubleheader, the southpaw tossed five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while also striking out three batters. Prior to his most recent start against Reno, Keuchel had struggled, losing three straight from April 18 to May 2. The veteran will look to get back to his first start of the season against a familiar Bees’ lineup tonight.

THE FINAL THREE: After Salt Lake scored two runs in the eighth inning to make it a one-run game last night, Brett de Geus spun a scoreless ninth frame to earn Tacoma their third straight win. For de Geus, it marked his fourth save of the season, going 4-for-5 in save opportunities. His four saves lead the Rainiers and is tied for fourth among Pacific Coast League relievers, two behind Spencer Bivens of Sacramento. de Geus hasn’t been perfect in his save opportunities, allowing two earned runs in three of the five chances this year. In those five save opportunities, he has an ERA of 11.59, surrendering six earned runs on nine hits over 4.2 innings pitched.

ON A HOT STREAK: Cade Marlowe extended his hitting streak to seven games with a 2-for-4 night in last night’s game. The outfielder has reached base safely in each of his last 11 games, recording at least one hit in 10 of the 11 contests. Since his seven-game hitting streak began back on May 8, Marlowe is hitting .296 (8-for-27) with a double, two home runs and seven runs batted in. He has four walks and nine strikeouts during the streak, stealing three bases along the way. Another hot hitter riding a hitting streak in Tacoma’s lineup is Blake Hunt, entering play tonight on a six-game hitting streak. For the majority of the season, Hunt has played every other day for the Rainiers, sharing the catching duties with Michael Papierski. Since May 3, the second-round pick is hitting .333 (7-for-21) with two doubles, two home runs and 11 runs batted in. He has three walks compared to four strikeouts, growing his on-base percentage to .440 over that span. Hunt is second on Tacoma’s roster in batting average, hitting .319 in his 21 games this year.

CHECKED IN WITH ONE: After being traded from the Chicago Cubs on May 14 and joining Tacoma’s roster yesterday, Jake Slaughter made his Tacoma Rainiers debut in last night’s game. The infielder went 1-for-4 with a strikeout and reached on an error. He fit right in with Tacoma’s mantra this season, stealing a base as soon as he got on. It was his first steal of the year with the Rainiers and 11th overall, swiping 10 bags in 32 games with Triple-A Iowa prior to the trade.

NO START, NO PROBLEM: Levi Stoudt came out of relief for the first time this season, after starting each of his first seven games for Tacoma. Entering the game in the third inning didn’t mess up the right-hander at all, as he tossed 5.1 innings of three-run ball. He allowed six hits with two of them leaving the yard, accounting for two of the three runs he allowed. Stoudt didn’t walk a single batter and struck out four, earning his third win of the season.

AGAINST SALT LAKE: Tacoma and Salt Lake will meet for game three of their six-game set tonight, with the Rainiers leading the current series 2-0 and the season series 6-2. The two teams played a six-game set back from April 2-7 at Smith’s Ballpark in Salt Lake City, a series in which Tacoma took four-of-six from the Bees. They enter play tonight with 395 all-time wins against the Bees, going 395-379-1 in the all-time series.

SHORT HOPS: Tacoma’s pitching staff didn’t walk a single batter last night; as a whole, Tacoma’s pitchers are first in the PCL with the least amount of walks allowed, allowing just 134 free passes so far this year…Sam Haggerty returned to the Rainiers active roster today after eight games up with the Mariners; in 17 games with Tacoma, the utility-man hit .344 with seven stolen bases.