River Cats rally past Rainiers on Friday

Tacoma, WA (9/10/21) – The Sacramento River Cats (48-59) downed the Tacoma Rainiers (65-45) 5-3 on Friday at Cheney Stadium, tying the series at one game apiece. Tacoma couldn’t withstand a late River Cats rally as the Rainiers dropped to 28-39 when allowing four or more runs.

Jantzen Witte opened up the scoring for Tacoma in the first, driving in Alen Hanson (triple) to give the Rainiers a 1-0 lead. That lead would be brief, though, as Jason Vosler answered with a solo shot to right to pull the River Cats even in the second.

Tacoma took back the lead in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Taylor Trammell lined a double off the center field wall, scoring Witte (single) to put the Rainiers up 2-1. Brian O’Keefe got in on the action the next at bat, singling home Trammell to extend the lead to two.

Sacramento’s offense found their groove in the seventh. Mike Tauchman brought the River Cats within one with an RBI double to left, and Bryce Johnson tied things up with a run-scoring single two batters later. Peter Maris contributed an RBI groundout, giving Sacramento their first lead of the game. Jason Krizan put the finishing touches on the inning, doubling to center to score Johnson for a 5-3 advantage.

Tacoma starter Robert Dugger pitched into the seventh, surrendering four runs on five hits and three walks in six-plus innings of work, striking out six along the way. Zack Weiss finished strong for Tacoma, dealing two innings of scoreless relief, allowing only one baserunner and recording two strikeouts. Logan Ondrusek delivered a solid start for the River Cats, throwing five innings of one-run ball, striking out six while allowing just one hit and two walks. Sacramento relievers Tyler Cyr and Trevor Gott (save) closed out the game with two scoreless innings, striking out the side in each frame.

The Rainiers resume play on Saturday at Cheney Stadium at 7:05 PT. Tacoma’s Ryan Weber will face off against Sacramento’s Matt Shoemaker in game three of the six-game series.

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.