Tagged: Josh Hall
Rainiers Trade in Bats for Clubs
Yesterday at McCormick Woods Golf Course,
16 Tacoma Rainiers players and coaches traded in their lumber and leather for
drivers and nine irons in the annual Rainiers Golf Tournament, with proceeds
benefiting Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital.
Along with the Tacoma coaching staff–manager
Daren Brown, hitting coach Alonzo Powell and pitching coach Dwight Bernard–outfielders
Prentice Redman, Jerry Owens and Bryan LaHair, catcher Fleming Baez, infielders
Callix Crabbe and Erick Monzon and pitchers Eric Hull, Doug Fister, Josh Hall,
Jared Wells, Andy Baldwin and Justin Thomas all teed it up for charity.
Several Rainiers players participated in
the pre-round putting contest, with LaHair turning in the closest putt to the
pin, rolling his shot to within a foot and a half of the cup.
On the first hole, Parkland Chevrolet’s
Ron VanGeystel parked his ball closest to the flag at five and a quarter
inches, just beating out Thomas (eight inches) to take home a prize package
including a PCL hat and shirt, as well as a Paint the Park Purple Jersey.
The second hole was the site of the
Rainiers long-drive contest, with Powell narrowly beating out Baldwin for the
longest drive of the day on that hole.
The 12th hole featured the Rainier
Connect Marshmallow Drive contest, which was won by D.J. Cobb, who whacked a
marshmallow 134 feet, eight inches.
For much of the afternoon, the team of
Brown, Jeff Sadler, Marty Boscos, John Combs and Jason Stockton paced the field
in the scramble-play format, but they were edged out by one stroke in the end
by the team of Hull, Dan Koch, Adam Knoll, Rick Adams, Jerry Isaksen and BZ
Zenczak for the tournament’s top honors.
Baldwin’s team of Kale and Wayne Larkin,
Jeremy Balzarini and Alex Schilter came in third, shooting a 57 on the day.
The Rainiers return to action today
against the Las Vegas 51s, the Triple-A Affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.
The last time Tacoma squared off with the
51s, in a June 6-9 set at Cashman Field, the two squads split the four-game
series, with the Rainiers coming out on top 9-2 in the opener and 6-3 in the
finale.
The last time
these two teams clashed, there was offense aplenty, with Tacoma and Las Vegas combining for 42
runs on 85 hits during their four-game set earlier in the month, with the
Rainiers going 44-for-147 (.299) against 51s pitching.
Las Vegas starter Brian Burres is 0-1
this season against Tacoma, allowing five runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings on
June 6.
Shelton Slams Slaten in Opener
Rainiers third baseman Chris Shelton had
a scorching month of May, hitting .398 with 26 RBI, and while that merry month
may have ended three days ago, it appears as if someone in the Tacoma clubhouse
must have forgotten to turn the calendar. Shelton continued his torrid hitting
last night, crushing a bases-loaded, two-out payoff pitch from Doug Slaten over
the visiting clubhouse beyond the left field wall more than 410 feet away to
provide the winning margin, as the Rainiers took down the Reno Aces 5-1.
Tacoma (28-24) and Reno (23-30) were
locked in a pitching duel throughout most of the evening, with Aces starter
Hector Ambriz throwing a sparkling 7.1 innings with four strikeouts and
Rainiers righty Josh Hall scattering six hits over his 5.1 innings of work.
The only run of the evening through eight
innings came in the top of the third, when shortstop Abraham Nunez walked to
lead off the inning and came around to score on a Brandon Watson single and a
Trent Oeltjen groundout.
After Hall efficiently worked his way
into the sixth, he turned the game over to the Tacoma bullpen, which held the
Aces to one hit and two walks over the next 3.2 innings.
Right fielder Bryan LaHair led off the
bottom of the eighth with a line-drive single to right fielder Chris Roberson,
who saw the ball glance off his mitt, allowing LaHair to take second.
After a walk to catcher Adam Moore,
Ambriz gave up a picture-perfect sacrifice bunt to Rainiers shortstop Chris
Woodward, putting the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. Aces manager
Brett Butler then turned to his southpaw specialist Slaten to face lefties
Jerry Owens, Michael Saunders and Jeff Clement.
Tacoma countered, sending the
right-handed hitting Prentice Redman to the plate for Owens. Slaten chose to
avoid Redman’s big bat, issuing an intentional walk to load the bases–his
second free pass allowed in 11 innings of work.
After Clement flied softly to shallow right–ending his
hitting streak at 20 games–Shelton stepped up to the dish, and proceeded to annihilate
Slaten’s seventh pitch of the at-bat, sending a towering grand slam to left,
vaulting himself into the PCL league leaders as he crossed the plate for his
43rd RBI on the first Rainiers grand slam of the season.
PREVIEW: Aces Have Patience, if Not Power
Tacoma comes home for a brief four-game set against the Reno
Aces, the top affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Reno comes in at 23-29, in
third place in the PCL Pacific South, 9.5 games behind the Sacramento River
Cats.
The Aces have little power, having socked only 24 home runs
this season–second-lowest in the league. By comparison, the Rainiers have put
59 over the fences, third-most in the league. But what Reno lacks in power, it
makes up for with patience and sound hitting. The Aces are third in the league
with a .284 team average, and their 203 walks as a team rank second behind the
Omaha Royals.
Reno hitters have only fanned 299 times, 22 behind the
pickiest team in the league–Colorado Springs–so Tacoma pitchers will have to throw
strikes and pitch to contact, allowing the defense to take care of the yeoman’s
share of the work.
Tonight, the
Rainiers will start their brief homestand against one of the Diamondbacks’ top
prospects in Hector Ambriz. While Tacoma won’t get to see the big man pick up a
bat, Ambriz was quite the prolifiic hitter in his time at UCLA, posting a .311
batting average in 367 at-bats. Ambriz will be opposed by Tacoma’s Josh Hall.
The righty has gone 2-0 with a 6.14 ERA in four appearances, including two
starts.
As a starter, Hall is 1-0 with a 3.86
ERA.
After this four-game set against Reno,
the Rainiers will go on the road for a season-high 12 games before coming home
to face the very same Aces from June 18-21.
Notes: Left fielder Michael Saunders comes in to tonight’s game having hit in 15
straight games, and having scored at least one run in his past 22 … Chris Shelton comes into tonight’s
contest having had a sensational month of May, hitting .398 with 10 doubles, 5
home runs and 26 RBI over 22 games … In his past 10 games, Shelton is hitting
.400 with 7 doubles, one home run and 15 RBI … After missing several games with
flu-like symptoms, first baseman Mike
Carp came back with a vengeance, going 5-for-14 (.357) with 4 runs scored,
a double and a home run over his past four games … With his 4-for-5 night
against the Sky Sox last night, infielder Mike
Morse extended his road hitting streak to 13 straight games … In his past
10 games, Morse his hitting .463 with 2 doubles, a home run and 17 RBI.
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