Three homers, eight extra-base hits and another McCaughan gem in 10-2 Tacoma triumph

Tacoma, WA (7/16/21) – The Tacoma Rainiers (33-28) cruised to victory over the Salt Lake Bees (30-32) on Friday at Cheney Stadium, taking a 2-1 series lead. A home run outburst paired with another quality start by Darren McCaughan helped the Rainiers to a 10-2 victory, improving to 18-13 at home.

The scoring started immediately for the Rainiers when Donovan Walton sent starter Thomas Pannone’s first pitch of the night high over the right field fence. Walton’s solo blast, his second home run of the season, propelled Tacoma to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The following inning, Luis Liberato added another run, driving in Jantzen Witte (walk) on an RBI double to the left-center gap.

The Rainiers’ offense really found its groove in the third inning, knocking three extra-base hits to begin the frame. Taylor Trammell launched a light-tower moonshot for his seventh home run, and Jose Marmolejos followed suit with a solo shot of his own (his team-leading 14th long ball) to go back-to-back. It was the fourth time this season Tacoma went back-to-back; Marmolejos has been involved on three such occasions.

Tacoma continued to pour it on in the fourth, adding four runs thanks to RBI singles from Jake Hager and Jose Godoy, and a two-run double from Brian O’Keefe. By the time reliever Zac Ryan retired the side, Tacoma had put the game out of reach, building an eight-run lead. The Rainiers tacked on two more runs, a Hager RBI double in the fifth and a Godoy sac fly in the eighth, putting Rainiers at 10 runs on the evening.

After being named league Pitcher of The Week on Monday, Rainiers starter Darren McCaughan (5-3, 3.97) continued an impressive stretch. Over six innings of work, McCaughan allowed only one run on six hits while striking out four. The righty extended a scoreless streak to 13.0 innings, before surrendering a solo homer in the sixth.

Tacoma’s bullpen continued to stifle the Bees, as Casey Sadler (MLB rehab assignment), Ryan Dull and Aaron Fletcher combined for three innings of two-hit, one-run ball. The Rainiers knocked around Salt Lake starter Thomas Pannone, tagging the lefty for nine hits and seven runs in three-plus innings of work.

The Rainiers will return to action tomorrow (Saturday) night at 7:05 p.m. PT at Cheney Stadium. Tacoma will send RHP Robert Dugger to the hill, facing off against RHP Aaron Slegers for Salt Lake.

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.