Starter Andy Baldwin (5-5, 4.90 ERA) will take the mound tonight in search
of his second straight Independence Day weekend win, following his six-inning,
three-hit performance against the Portland Beavers on July 5 of last year.

Beavers starter Brian Lawrence–who started the season
with the Orange County Flyers of the independent Golden Baseball League–has
pitched at least six innings in each of his last three starts for Portland.
Despite his 2.70 ERA, Lawrence is hittable, giving up 22 hits over his 20
innings of work for Portland. Opposing hitters own a .282 batting average against Lawrence during his time in the PCL this season.

That should be music to the ears of several Rainiers hitters, who have caught fire in recent weeks. After slumping through the first three weeks of June, designated hitter Jeff Clement has awoken from his slumber, and over the past 10 games is hitting .385 with 13 runs scored, four home runs, four doubles and eight RBI. Then of course, there is the franchise’s new doubles king, All-Star Bryan LaHair. In his past 10 games, LaHair has hit .333 with two doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI.

After starting the season with Double-A West Tennessee, catcher Adam Moore has found the PCL a bit more to his liking. Over his 40 games with the Rainiers, the hard-nosed Texan is hitting .304 with 10 doubles, three home runs and 20 RBI. He’s been even better over his last 10 games, posting an average of .333.

So what does all this offense add up to? Tacoma has outscored Portland 25-13 in five games this season, and 93-39 over the last 13 in the series, of which the Rainiers have won 12. In fact, including all of last season, Tacoma is 15-6 against the Beavers in their last 21 meetings.

Tonight the Tacoma
Rainiers will celebrate Independence Day early with our largest Friday Night
Fireworks display of the season, brought to you by Rainier
Connect.

If you’ve ever
wanted to set foot on Cheney Stadium’s hallowed turf, tonight is your chance to
do just that, as fans will be let onto the outfield
grass following the series finale against the Beavers to watch our most
spectacular post-game show of the year.