Three stings: Rainiers drop another at Salt Lake
Salt Lake City, UT (5/6/22) – The Tacoma Rainiers (8-20) dropped their third straight to the Salt Lake Bees (15-13) on Friday night by a 9-5 final, slipping to 3-7 on their longest road trip of the season, which is also their record in 10 games against Salt Lake in
Salt Lake City, UT (5/6/22) – The Tacoma Rainiers (8-20) dropped their third straight to the Salt Lake Bees (15-13) on Friday night by a 9-5 final, slipping to 3-7 on their longest road trip of the season, which is also their record in 10 games against Salt Lake in 2022.
Salt Lake’s Brendon Davis took advantage of two hit batters in front of him in the first inning, and lifted a three-run opposite field home run with two out. It was 4-0 in the second after a David MacKinnon solo shot.
In his first start of the season following four scoreless relief appearances for Seattle (4.2 IP, 1 H), Tacoma lefty Justus Sheffield worked only 2.0 IP, matching his season-high (4/27 at Tampa Bay). With 41 pitches, he allowed four (earned) runs on three hits (0 BB, 2 K).
The Rainiers cut the lead in half in the visiting third; Donnie Walton stroked a two-run double down the right field line, scoring Joe Odom and Billy Hamilton, who each walked. The Bees stung back in the fourth though, when McKinnon launched his second homer of the night (fifth of the season) to left-center, another solo shot. Salt Lake added another in the fifth with a two out rally; Jo Adell doubled to center, and scored on a Matt Thaiss single to make the score 6-2.
Recently optioned Bees left-hander Jose Suarez worked five innings in his return to Triple-A from Anaheim: 2 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K.
In the seventh the Rainiers drew closer when Mason McCoy smacked his second home run of the year to right, a two-out opposite field solo shot that pulled Tacoma within three runs. Salt Lake put the game out of reach in the eighth however, adding two more runs on three hits punctuated by Thaiss’s second RBI single.
A late Rainiers rally fell short, as the visitors added two in the eighth on a Cal Raleigh run-scoring single (Sam Haggerty double) and a Forrest Wall RBI groundout (Steven Souza walk). Salt Lake tacked on the evening’s final run with three consecutive singles to begin the home half of the eighth; MacKinnon wrapped a 4-for-4 night with his third RBI, on a liner to center.
The penultimate game of the series will be on Saturday at Smith’s Ballpark. RHP Asher Wojciechowski is lined up to start for Tacoma against Bees RHP Janson Junk, a Federal Way, WA native. First pitch will be at 5:35 PT.
Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto will have full coverage on TacomaRainiers.com. All 2022 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 a MiLB.TV subscription.
About the Tacoma Rainiers
The Tacoma Rainiers are the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The Rainiers are a member of the Pacific Coast League and have been a Mariners affiliate since establishing the Rainiers moniker in 1995.
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.