Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - vs. Sugar Land
April 22, 2025 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Tacoma Rainiers News Release
TODAY'S GAME - 4/22 vs. Sugar Land
FIRST PITCH - 11:35 AM (PT) at Cheney Stadium - Tacoma, WA
PITCHING MATCHUP - Tacoma RHP Luis F. Castillo (0-0, 0.84) vs. Sugar Land LHP Brandon Walter (0-0, 3.95)
BROADCAST - TV: Bally Live App/MiLB.TV RADIO - KIXI 880 AM
ROSTER MOVES: The Tacoma Rainiers, in conjunction with the Seattle Mariners, have made the following roster moves:
DEL LHP Drew Pomeranz - traded to Chicago (NL)
THE RAINIERS: Got swept in a doubleheader to close out the series in Oklahoma City on Sunday, falling 8-4 in game one and 4-3 in game two, getting walked off in eight innings...in game one, seven of the game's 12 runs were scored in the first two innings...Tacoma plated a pair in the first, thanks to a two-run home run from Tyler Locklear...in the bottom of the frame, Oklahoma City plated three runs on four hits, taking the lead...after each team scored in the second, it would be a three-run fifth inning that would put the Comets over the top in the first game, 8-4...in game two, the Rainiers fell behind 1-0 after three innings but took the lead in the fourth, as Samad Taylor drove in a run on a fielder's choice, followed by a Nick Dunn sacrifice fly to take a 2-1 lead...down 3-2 in the top of the seventh inning, Harry Ford poked a two-out single into right field to tie the game and eventually force extra innings...the Rainiers came up empty in the eighth inning, despite getting their placed runner to third with one out...in the bottom of the eighth, the placed runner Hyeseong Kim stole third and then scored on a walk-off single from Michael Chavis to win the game for the Comets, 4-3.
CUTTING DOWN ON K's : The Rainiers have struck out 160 times this season, the fewest in the PCL and the fifth-fewest in Triple-A and the fewest among Triple-A teams that have played 21 games this year...Rhylan Thomas has helped the cause, striking out just once this year, just one of two (Peoria's Jon Jon Gazdar) qualified minor league hitters to strike out only once this year...the Rainiers also rank last in the PCL with 78 walks drawn this year.
SUGAR SWEET: Today begins the first and only trip to Tacoma for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, and the first of two meetings between the two teams this year...the Rainiers will travel down to Sugar Land at the beginning of August for the other six-game set...in 2024, the Rainiers hit .249 against the Space Cowboys, winning five out of six games at Cheney Stadium and taking two out of six at Sugar Land...Rainiers pitchers worked a 3.12 ERA at home, compared to a 4.68 mark at Constellation Field.
THE PEBBLE IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD: Luis F. Castillo (nicknamed "The Pebble") makes his return to Cheney Stadium this morning...Castillo has made two starts for the Rainiers in 2025, allowing one earned run in 10.2 innings, allowing just four hits across the two outings...his last outing at Cheney Stadium came on March 30 against Round Rock on the opening weekend...Castillo's contract was selected on April 4 and made two starts for Seattle on April 4 at San Francisco and April 9 against Houston...in those two starts, he allowed seven runs (six earned) on 12 hits in 7.0 innings...in his start against the Astros, he walked a season-high five batters, giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits over 4.0 innings.
PACKING A PUNCH: On his seven-game on-base streak, OF Spencer Packard has hit .400 (10x25) with two doubles, four RBI and four walks to three strikeouts...his seven-game streak is tied for the fourth-longest for a Rainier in 2025...in that span, Packard has gotten it done against both left and right-handed pitchers, hitting 3x7 (.429) against southpaws and 7x18 (.389) against right-handers.
A SOLID EFFORT SPOILED: Rainiers pitchers tied their season-best with only five hits allowed in the 4-3 loss on Friday night, matching the five hits allowed on April 2 at Reno...since the start of the 2021 season, the Rainiers were 73-14 when allowing five-or-fewer hits entering Friday night's game...it's the first loss for Tacoma when allowing five-or-fewer hits since August 29, 2024, falling 5-2 at El Paso...the last time the Rainiers lost a game in which they allowed five-or-fewer hits and their opponent committed multiple errors was April 13, 2023 at Round Rock, where they fell 2-1 in 10 innings.
RHYLAN'S ROLLING: In his last nine games, OF Rhylan Thomas has hit .438 (14x32) with a home run, four RBI and seven runs scored...Thomas is also hitting .458 (11x24) when leading off an inning...his 11 hits when leading off the inning are tied for the most by any minor league hitter this season...the only Major League players with more hits to lead off an inning are Francisco Lindor (NYM - 15), Xavier Edwards (MIA - 13) and Lawrence Butler (ATH - 12)...Thomas has also only struck out once this season, tied for the fewest by any qualified hitter in minor league baseball in 2025.
REHAB RUNDOWN: RHP Matt Brash was sent to Tacoma to begin a Major League Rehab assignment on Sunday...Brash missed the entire 2024 season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery...he was placed on the Mariners 15-Day injured list on March 27 (retro March 24)...Brash has made three appearances with Tacoma, last throwing on Sunday, allowing two runs on a hit, walking one and striking out one in 0.2 innings...in his three appearances, he has allowed two runs on three hits, walking one and striking out three in 2.2 innings.
MARINERS UPDATE: The Seattle Mariners had yesterday off after taking two out of three games in Toronto...they close out their nine-game,10-day road trip in Boston, where they being a three-game series against the Red Sox today at Fenway Park.
• Discuss this story on the Pacific Coast League message board...
Pacific Coast League Stories from April 22, 2025
- Tuesday's Round Rock Versus Las Vegas Game Suspended - Round Rock Express
- Rainiers Allow Four-Run Sixth Inning in Loss to Sugar Land - Tacoma Rainiers
- Brandon Walter's Gem Leads Sugar Land to Series-Opening Win - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- OKC Comets Game Notes - April 22, 2025 - Oklahoma City Comets
- Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - vs. Sugar Land - Tacoma Rainiers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
