Rainiers rally to slide past Salt Lake in extras Friday
Tacoma, WA (10/1/21) – The Tacoma Rainiers (77-51, 4-4) walked off the Salt Lake Bees (54-73, 5-3) 3-2 in 10 innings on Friday night at Cheney Stadium. Dillon Thomas’ fielder’s choice gave Tacoma its eighth walk-off win as the Rainiers improved to 7-3 in extra innings and 4-4 in the
Tacoma, WA (10/1/21) – The Tacoma Rainiers (77-51, 4-4) walked off the Salt Lake Bees (54-73, 5-3) 3-2 in 10 innings on Friday night at Cheney Stadium. Dillon Thomas’ fielder’s choice gave Tacoma its eighth walk-off win as the Rainiers improved to 7-3 in extra innings and 4-4 in the Triple-A Final Stretch.
Mitch Walding got the scoring started in the third, lining an RBI single to left to bring in Brendon Davis (double) and give the Bees a 1-0 lead. Davis later doubled the lead with a solo shot in the fifth inning.
Tacoma chipped away in the bottom of the fifth. Jack Reinheimer and Luis Liberato got things started with back-to-back singles, and Donovan Walton followed suit to score Reinheimer, closing the gap to 2-1.
Thomas evened things up at two in the sixth inning, launching his 13th homer on the year over the right-center field fence. The game would remain knotted at two until Thomas broke the tie with his bases-loaded walk-off in the 10th, scoring Jantzen Witte for the Rainiers’ win.
Tacoma starter Darren McCaughan delivered another quality start, dealing 6.2 innings of two-run ball, giving up two walks and six hits, striking out eight in the process. The Rainiers’ bullpen of Penn Murfee, Justus Sheffield, Aaron Fletcher and Nick Duron combined for 3.1 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just three baserunners (all walks) and recording four strikeouts.
On the other side, Salt Lake starter Jack Dashwood recorded a solid outing, surrendering just a run in four innings to go along with six strikeouts. Bees’ relievers Elvis Peguero, Ben Rowen, Tyler Danish and Jose Marte put together 5.1 innings, allowing two runs, four walks and four hits, retiring seven via the strikeout.
The Rainiers resume action on Saturday at Cheney Stadium for game #9 of 10 of the Triple-A Final Stretch -- the penultimate game of the 2021 season -- at 5:05 p.m. PT. Tacoma will send RHP Logan Verrett to the hill, while Salt Lake will counter with LHP Ryan Smith.
Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto will have full coverage on TacomaRainiers.com. All 2021 Rainiers games, home and away, can also be heard for free on the MiLB First Pitch app. HD video broadcasts of every home game can be viewed with an MiLB.TV subscription. (Use code: RAINIERS to save $10 on an annual subscription.
About the Tacoma Rainiers
The Tacoma Rainiers are the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The Rainiers are a member of Triple-A West. Tacoma has been a Mariners affiliate since establishing the Rainiers moniker in 1995.
Single-game tickets for all remaining 2021 Rainiers home games are now available. Questions regarding season tickets can be directed to [email protected].
The most up-to-date news and notes about the Tacoma Rainiers and Cheney Stadium can be found at WeRTacoma.com, or by following the Rainiers on Twitter (@RainiersLand), Instagram (@tacomarainiers) and liking the team on Facebook.