TACOMA RAINIERS (25-21) vs. LAS VEGAS AVIATORS (23-23) Thursday, May 23 • G1 5:30 PM • Cheney Stadium • Tacoma, WA G1: LHP Dallas Keuchel (2-4, 4.74) vs. RHP Joe Boyle (0-0, -.--) G2: RHP RHP Michael Mariot (2-2, 6.27) vs. LHP Brady Basso (0-1, 12.27)
TACOMA RAINIERS (25-21) vs. LAS VEGAS AVIATORS (23-23)
Thursday, May 23 • G1 5:30 PM • Cheney Stadium • Tacoma, WA
G1: LHP Dallas Keuchel (2-4, 4.74) vs. RHP Joe Boyle (0-0, -.--)
G2: RHP RHP Michael Mariot (2-2, 6.27) vs. LHP Brady Basso (0-1, 12.27)
TONIGHT’S GAMES: Tacoma and Las Vegas will play games two and three of the series tonight, with the Rainiers leading the series 1-0 after last night’s victory. Game one of the doubleheader will see Dallas Keuchel make his eighth start of the year for Tacoma, in search of his third win. He enters play tonight with a 2-4 record and a 4.74 ERA through his first seven starts, allowing 20 earned runs on 39 hits including seven home runs. He has walked 10 and struck out 19 batters over his 38.0 innings pitched. Opposite Keuchel will be Joe Boyle taking the ball for the Aviators. Boyle is set to make his first start on Major League rehab with Las Vegas after getting placed on the injured list back on May 6 with a low back strain. The righty is 2-5 with a 7.16 ERA through seven starts with Oakland this year prior to the injury, allowing 22 earned runs on 25 hits and 23 walks. He struck out 29 batters in his 27.2 innings pitched. Michael Mariot will get the starting nod for the Rainiers in game two of the doubleheader, making his first start since May 19 against Reno. His last outing came on Sunday out of relief, allowing three runs on a home run while striking out two. Mariot enters play tonight with a 2-2 record and a 6.27 ERA through eight games, allowing 23 earned runs on 33 hits and seven walks, striking out 23 over 33.0 innings pitched. Opposite Mariot will be Brady Basso toeing the rubber for Las Vegas, making his third start of the year. Through two starts with the Aviators, the southpaw is 0-1 with a 12.27 ERA, allowing 10 earned runs on 13 hits and four walks. He has struck out nine batters and opponents are hitting .406 in 7.1 innings pitched. Tonight will be Basso’s first game against Tacoma this season.
JOINING THE ROSTER: Yesterday afternoon, Seattle traded catcher Blake Hunt to Baltimore in exchange for RHP Mike Baumann and minor league catcher Michael Perez. Perez was assigned to Triple-A Tacoma and is expected to join the Rainiers from the Norfolk Tides. Pérez has appeared in 21 games this year with Triple-A Norfolk, batting .221 with two doubles, two home runs, 13 RBI, five walks, and three hit-by-pitches. Hunt was a big part of the Rainiers’ success through the first 46 games of the season, playing in 24 of those games. Over that span, he hit .293 (22-for-75) with four doubles, a triple, four home runs and 20 runs batted in. He walked six times compared to just 10 strikeouts, raising his on-base percentage to .372.
TURN IT AROUND: The month of May didn’t start the way Tacoma wanted it to, going 4-7 in their 11 road games to start the month. Since returning home on April 14, the team is 4-3, totaling an 8-10 record in the month. Their 10 losses in May ties their season high for losses in a month, going 15-10 in April after a 2-1 start in March. With their win last night, the Rainiers have as many home wins (4) as they do road wins this month in four less games played.
CHAVIS TIME: Michael Chavis collected three hits last night, going 3-for-5 with a run scored and two runs batted in. The infielder now leads Tacoma’s active roster with at least 20 games played batting .306 (45-for-147) with eight doubles, a triple and six home runs. He has driven in 24 runs while taking 14 walks this year, raising his on-base percentage to .383 in his 40 games played. Chavis is tied for the team lead with 14 multi-hit games and third on the team with six multi-RBI games this year.
CAN’T BE CAUGHT: Recording two more hits last night, Ryan Bliss continued his on base streak to ten games. In the month of May, Bliss has only had two games where he hasn’t reached base. He has also been a danger to the opposing defense on the base paths. Stealing second during the bottom of the second last night, Bliss increased his stolen base record to 24 over the season. Ryan Bliss currently leads all of Triple-A in stolen bases this season, with Cade Marlowe trailing behind him at 22.
RETURN TO PLAY: Left-hander Tayler Saucedo will start his Major League rehab assignment with Tacoma tonight after being placed on Seattle’s injured list on May 8th due to a right knee hyperextension. Saucedo was running to cover first base during the eighth inning against the Twins on May 8th when he jammed his right leg on the base. He left the game and was placed on Seattle’s 15-day injured list. The lefty has pitched in fourteen games for the Mariners this season and has tossed a total of 13.1 innings. He currently has earned a 1-0 record as a reliever, only giving up ten hits and four earned runs. Last season with Seattle, his record was 3-2 over 52 total games.
AGAINST LAS VEGAS: Tacoma and Las Vegas will meet tonight for games two and three of their six-game series. This is the second series of the season between the Rainiers and Aviators, with Las Vegas taking four out of the six games they played back in April at Las Vegas Ballpark. This series, the Rainiers are leading 1-0 after winning last night’s contest 14-10. The Rainiers will look to add to their all-time series record of 306-302 against Las Vegas.
SHORT HOPS: Samad Taylor stole home in Tacoma’s six-run third inning last night, becoming the first Rainiers’ player since 2000 to steal home; he replaced Charles Gibson (June 4, 2000, @ Edmonton) in the record books…Tacoma’s 14 runs scored last night tied their season high, set in game one of their six-game series against Las Vegas at Las Vegas Ballpark, a 14-0 win…the Rainiers moved to 6-0 when they score 10 or more runs with their victory last night…last night’s win snapped a four-game losing streak to Las Vegas dating back to April 18-21.
