Bees come back to take series lead

Salt Lake City, UT (5/4/23) – The Tacoma Rainiers (15-14) drilled three home runs on Thursday night, but relinquished a three-run lead to the Salt Lake Bees (13-17) in an 8-7 defeat. While Salt Lake has won four of five, Tacoma fell to 3-6 on this season-long 12-game road trip.

Rainiers centerfielder Cade Marlowe yanked his second homer to right field in the top of the first inning. Former Rainier Kevin Padlo (2021-22) evened the score with a solo shot of his own in the second. Marlowe’s blast extended his hit streak to nine games (since 4/23), which equals Brian O’Keefe’s season-long on the club (3/31-4/13).

The Rainiers went ahead 4-1 in the fourth inning, by hitting back-to-back home runs for the second time this season. With a man on, Jake Scheiner (3 hits, 3 RBI) went opposite field to right, before Zach DeLoach did the same to left. The three-run advantage was short-lived however; Salt Lake scored five times in the home fourth. The damage included a Padlo RBI double, and he later scored on a base hit by former #1 overall draft pick Mickey Moniak.

Tacoma tied it 6-6 with two in the fifth; Marlowe (single), O’Keefe (single) and Mike Ford (second walk) loaded the bases with one out. Scheiner singled and DeLoach lifted a sac fly to score each run. Padlo un-tied the game in bottom half however, with his second solo shot of the evening, his sixth homer. Ford was on base four times, with two hits and two walks.

Each club tallied a single run in the sixth (Cooper Hummel RBI double for Tacoma), resulting in an 8-7 Bees lead that lasted until the ninth. In the final frame the Rainiers had runners at second and third base with nobody out (O’Keefe walk, Ford double), but ultimately stranded the bases loaded to drop to 2-6 in one-run games.

Trailing 2-1, Tacoma will continue the weeklong series on Friday at Smith’s Ballpark, with a 5:35 PT/6:35 MT first pitch.

Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto will have full coverage on TacomaRainiers.com. All 2023 Rainiers games, home and away, can also be heard for free on the MiLB First Pitch app. HD video broadcasts of every home game can be viewed with a MiLB.TV subscription.

About the Tacoma Rainiers

The Tacoma Rainiers are the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The Rainiers are a member of the Pacific Coast League and have been a Mariners affiliate since establishing the Rainiers moniker in 1995.

The most up-to-date news and notes about the Tacoma Rainiers and Cheney Stadium can be found by following the Rainiers on Twitter (@RainiersLand), Instagram (@tacomarainiers) and liking the team on Facebook.