Tagged: Andy Baldwin

Rainiers Score First Home Playoff Win Since 2001

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Tonight, Tacoma fans saw something they hadn’t seen in over eight years: a home playoff win. Thanks to some magnificent tightrope walking by starter Garrett Olson and a 12-hit attack, the Tacoma Rainiers fought off the Sacramento River Cats 5-2 to give the crowd a postseason W for the first time since Sept. 6, 2001 and even the Pacific Conference Championship Series at 1-1.

Early excitement set the tone for the rest of the contest, as after Tacoma scored a run on a walk, a single and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first, Sacramento came right back to load the bases against Olson in the top of the second. But, the 25-year-old lefty showed remarkable poise, getting the dangerous Chris Denorfia to foul out to catcher Adam Moore on the first pitch. After falling behind 2-0 to Rainiers killer Matt Carson, Olson then fought back to get the River Cats’ center fielder swinging at an 89-mph fastball for strike 3 to end the threat.

Mike Wilson sent a very loud answer to Sacramento’s charge in the bottom of the frame, parking a no-doubt-abouter over the visitor’s clubhouse beyond the left field wall for a no-out two-run bomb to put Tacoma up 3-0 after two.

The River Cats got one back in the top of the third on a two-out solo homer by first baseman Chris Carter–his second circuit shot in two days. The very next hitter, right fielder Aaron Cunningham, sent a long fly ball to center for a double, and took third on an Olson balk. Once again, however, Olson was able to wriggle off the hook, thanks to an amazing defensive play by shortstop Oswaldo Navarro. Catcher Eric Munson lofted what should have by all rights been an RBI single to short left, but Navarro sprinted back and made a sprawling, diving snag to end the inning, stranding Cunningham at third.

In the bottom of the sixth, Navarro traded in the leather for the lumber, smoking a one-out ground rule double down the right field line. Center fielder Jerry Owens then lined a first-pitch fastball down the left field line, scoring Navarro to put the Rainiers up 4-1.

Still with one out, second baseman Matt Tuiasosopo smoked a 1-0 92-mph fastball just to the left of the second base bag. With Carson charging hard, manager Daren Brown feigned the stop sign to Owens from the third base coach’s box, only to change his red light to green at the last moment, sending the Tacoma stolen base leader hurtling home to score, putting the Rainiers up 5-1.

Clearly feeling the fire from Tacoma’s surge, reliever Jared Wells came on and retired the side in the top of the seventh. Wells allowed just one run in his two innings of work–a solo shot to Munson to deep right center field–and struck out two on the evening without walking a batter.

Not willing to be outdone by Navarro’s defensive heroics, Owens turned in a highlight-reel catch of his own in the top of the eighth. With two outs, Denorfia sent a sinking liner to shallow center. The speedy Owens charged in and dove forward, snaring the drive mere inches before it hit the turf to end the inning. It was Owens’ second SportsCenter-worthy snag in the past week.

In the top of the ninth, wily side-arming veteran Mike Koplove came on to close the door, retiring Sacramento in order for his first save of the postseason.

PREVIEW: California, Here We Come

The Rainiers now head to Raley Field to face the River Cats for the final three games of the series, with Tacoma stalwart Andy Baldwin taking the hill tomorrow night against Sacramento’s Jerome Williams.

During the regular season, Williams went 0-1 in his only start against Tacoma, lasting just 2.1 innings, over which he allowed nine hits and seven runs–all earned. Williams went 5-6 with a 5.58 ERA in 27 appearances–14 of which were starts–for the River Cats this season, allowing 41 walks in 101.2 innings while allowing opposing hitters to post a .297 batting average.

Notes: Eight of Tacoma’s nine starters registered at least one base hit, with Mike Wilson, Prentice Redman and Matt Tuiasosopo each going 2-for-4 … Wilson is now hitting .286 in the playoffs after hitting .164 in 146 regular season at-bats … Tuiasosopo is now hitting .500 (4-for-8) in the postseason … Garrett Olson went six innings, allowing five hits and one run while walking three and striking out six to earn the win.

Pesky Bees Make Division Race Interesting

Despite having been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention with Wednesday night’s loss, the Salt Lake Bees still found a way to interject themselves into the race for the Pacific Coast League Pacific North crown tonight at Cheney Stadium. The Bees were able to overcome a clutch outing from Tacoma Rainiers righty Andy Baldwin, and shut down a thunderous Tacoma lineup to come away with a 4-0 win.

Fortunately for the Rainiers however, they got some assistance in their playoff quest from an unlikely source. The last-place Portland Beavers–Tacoma’s longtime regional rival–were able to down the front-running Colorado Springs Sky Sox 6-5 at Security Service Field to keep the Rainiers (71-69) just two games back with four to play.

The evening started off well for Tacoma, as Baldwin followed a scoreless first inning from the rehabbing Carlos Silva with six innings of shutout ball, at one point retiring 12 straight batters.

The Bees (69-70) finally broke the spell in the top of the seventh as Terry Evans came through with Salt Lake’s first hit off of Baldwin, dropping down a bunt single up the third base line to lead off the frame. Evans came in to score when the very next batter, first baseman Matt Brown, cracked his 26th double of the season to center field.

Second baseman Nate Sutton then tapped the first pitch he saw back to the mound, and Baldwin alertly threw over to third to cut down Brown for the first out of the inning. After a double by veteran left fielder Adam Pavkovich put men on second and third, a five-pitch walk to Ryan Budde loaded the bases. Despite the pressure, Baldwin came up big yet again, catching shortstop Gary Patchet looking at strike three.

With the left-handed Brad Coon coming to the plate, Rainiers manager Daren Brown turned to southpaw Justin Thomas, who had not allowed a run in his last five relief appearances, over which he held opposing hitters to a .143 average.

Thomas got ahead 1-2 on Coon, but on the fourth pitch of the at-bat, the Bees center fielder lofted a soft line drive into shallow left to score Sutton and Pavkovich. Switch-hitting third baseman Freddy Sandoval followed Coon with an RBI single of his own on a groundball through the left side to finish off the scoring for Salt Lake.

Bees pitchers appeared to have learned their lesson from Wednesday night’s 11-2 shellacking, pitching around the heart of a Tacoma lineup that leads all of Minor League Baseball in home runs. Salt Lake hurlers issued a combined four walks to 2-3-4 hitters Matt Tuiasosopo, Chris Shelton and Bryan LaHair, who have hit a combined 49 dingers this season.

The bottom of the Tacoma lineup–catcher Adam Moore and shortstop Oswaldo Navarro–accounted for four of the team’s six hits, with both men notching 2-for-4 nights. Navarro extended his hitting streak to 13 games, over which he has hit .447 (21-for-47).

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: August 28 @ Portland

The Rainiers go into tonight’s game looking to extend their season-high six-game winning streak and gain even more ground on the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Tacoma currently sits in second place in the PCL Pacific North, three games back with 11 to play. Four of those 11 will come against the Sky Sox at Cheney Stadium to conclude the regular season.

Here are the game notes for tonight’s clash with the rival Beavers:

Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: August 26 @ Portland

The Rainiers start a five-game series with the arch-rival Portland Beavers tonight.  Here are the official game notes:

Cubs Survive Late Charge in Win

One good turn deserves another, and
yesterday afternoon, the Iowa Cubs got a measure of revenge for their series-opening
loss to the Tacoma Rainiers, dealing the hometown nine a 4-0 defeat of their
own despite some ninth-inning drama.

The Cubs (62-59) did all of their
scoring early, touching up Rainiers starter Andy Baldwin for four runs on four
hits and an uncharacteristic five walks from Tacoma’s 2008 King of the Hill.

Iowa shortstop Darwin Barney led off the
top of the third with a walk, and took second on a single by center fielder Matt
Camp. Both runners advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by second
baseman Andres Blanco, and Barney came in to score on a sacrifice fly to right
off the bat of Micah Hoffpauir.

But just like Saturday night, it was
the fourth inning that proved to be the Cubs’ biggest frame, as they scored
three runs on two walks, two singles and an error by Matt Tuiasosopo.

Right fielder Brad Snyder led off the fourth by working a six-pitch walk from Baldwin, and took second when
Tui was unable to handle a shot up the third base line by catcher Chris
Robinson. After a one-out walk to Nate Spears loaded the bases, Barney rapped
the first pitch he saw for a groundball RBI single to second. Camp followed
with a single of his own, lofting a soft liner to left to plate Robinson and
Spears, finishing off the scoring for the visiting Cubs.

But the Rainiers (59-63) refused to quit.
Vince Perkins hit right fielder Mike Wilson to lead off the bottom of the ninth,
then gave up a line-drive single to second baseman Alex Cintron. After a Jamie Burke
groundball erased Cintron, manager Daren Brown decided to use his ace in the
hole, pinch-hitting big Brad Nelson for shortstop Oswaldo Navarro. Iowa
countered by putting in southpaw John Gaub to face the 6-foot-2, 265-pound
lefty slugger, who has hit .278 with six homers and 23 RBI since the All-Star
Break.

Nelly battled Gaub every step of the way,
fouling off three pitches and using his superior batting eye to work a full count
from the 24-year-old reliever, but on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Gaub got
the better of Nelson, getting him to pop out to second.

The next Rainiers batter to step up to
the plate was equally as dangerous: center fielder Prentice Redman, who owns 16
longballs of his own. Like Nelson, Redman was able to work the count full, but
struck out swinging on the sixth pitch of the at-bat to end the game.

Tacoma’s Pink in the Park jersey auction was a huge
success, drawing in over $2,300 towards a cure for breast cancer. Tui’s jersey sold for $300 dollars, and Wilson’s jersey drew the second-most
money, going for $220.

Notes: Second baseman Alex Cintron went 3-for-4 on the day with his fourth double of the season … Cintron extended his hitting streak to four games, and is now hitting .385 over his past 10 games … Matt Tuiasosopo went 1-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to seven games, and is hitting .333 (8-for-24) with two doubles, two home runs, seven runs and five RBI during his streak … The Colorado Springs Sky Sox defeated the New Orleans Zephyrs 5-3 today to pull to five games ahead of the Rainiers and the Salt Lake Bees in the race for the PCL Pacific North … Tacoma and Salt Lake remain tied in second place after the Bees fell 7-6 at Oklahoma City.