Tacoma Shutout for the First Time in 2025 in 2-0 Loss

TACOMA, WA (April 26, 2025) - The Tacoma Rainiers (11-15) were shutout for the first time in 41 games in a 2-0 loss to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (12-14) in front of a season-high crowd of 6,895.

Sauryn Lao retired eight of the first nine batters he faced before Sugar Land got on the board in the third inning. Lao retired the first two batters of the third with a punchout and a ground out, following which Zach Short reached on a single. Short moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, and scored on a double from Shay Whitcomb into the right-center gap to make it 1-0.

Sugar Land added to their lead in the fourth. Shintaro Fujinami came on in relief for Tacoma, and Collin Price led off the inning with a walk. Luis Guillorme followed with a single that Price advanced from first to third on, and Kenedy Corona then grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, scoring Price and bringing the score to 2-0. Fujinami gave up two more hits in the inning but was able to strand the runners with a strikeout of Quincy Hamilton.

That would be the last of the scoring, as Sugar Land starter Colton Gordon got the win by throwing 7.0 shutout innings with eight strikeouts before being replaced by right-hander Luis Contreras. Sauryn Lao took the loss for Tacoma after giving up one run in three innings, and Tacoma’s bullpen held Sugar Land to one run from the fourth inning on, which was led by 3.2 scoreless innings from Austin Kitchen.

Sugar Land’s Contreras allowed three base runners in the eighth but was able to escape the inning without giving up a score, which included a pickoff of Samad Taylor at second base. Miguel Castro came on and earned the save for the Space Cowboys, as the game ended with a score of 2-0 on an 8-4-6 double play following a diving play by Corona in center field.

Postgame Notes:

• Austin Kitchen’s 3.2 scoreless innings are a career high at the Triple-A level, surpassing his previous best of 2.1 scoreless innings when he was with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

• With his performance tonight, Tyler Locklear is the first player on the Rainiers to have multiple four-hit games this season- his first came against Reno on April 6th. Additionally, he is just the third player in the PCL to record four hits in a game twice this season, preceded only by Oklahoma City’s Dalton Rushing and Las Vegas’s Drew Avans

• This is the first time Tacoma has been shut out since September 4th of last season versus Albuquerque, breaking a streak of 41 straight games with a run

• Saturday’s attendance of 6,895 is the largest April crowd at Cheney Stadium since April 15, 2011 (7,202), which was the team’s home opener. Saturday’s crowd was the largest non-home opener attendance in April since April 25, 2010, which was 7,822 that came to watch former Cy Young winner Cliff Lee make his season debut and Mariners organizational debut in a rehab start at Cheney Stadium.