Marlowe walk off gives Rainiers fourth straight win and third over Aviators
By Charles Hamaker
Tacoma, WA – With Darren McCaughan on the mound for another Darren day and Dylan Moore getting his first rehab assignment in with Tacoma on his current stint, it seemed as though the Rainiers were going to get their fourth win in a row with relative ease. That wouldn’t be the case at Cheney Stadium, as the Las Vegas Aviators were able to battle back and take a lead despite conceding the first run of the game early. The Aviators hung up a three-run spot on the Rainiers in the sixth inning to end McCaughan's night. Tacoma battled back, tying things in the ninth inning before outfielder Cade Marlowe sent the 3,214 fans at Cheney home happy with a walk off bases-loaded knock. With the win, the Rainiers remain at second in the Western division of the Pacific Coast League and fourth in the league.
Tacoma Rainiers starting pitcher Darren McCaughan had a strong first five innings, but couldn’t get the final out in the sixth. (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Darren Day ends poorly
Rainiers starting pitcher Darren McCaughan hasn’t had the best month of May for Tacoma, and has hit a couple bumps this month with outings where he allowed seven runs on May 4th and ten runs on May 10th. McCaughan looked strong for the Rainiers through the first five innings of his outing, going scoreless and facing the minimum in three of those innings. Things got sticky in the sixth inning, as Darren was able to get two outs but couldn’t finish the inning as the next three batters (Jordan Diaz, Cody Thomas, and Kyle McCann) all recorded extra base hits including two homers. It was a tough ending for Tacoma’s McCaughan, who had a strong Darren day until that point. Hopefully he’s able to take those first five innings and use them as a strong moving forward point through his next starts.
Infielder/outfielder Dylan Moore played his first game with the Rainiers in his current rehab assignment (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Dmo getting his bearings back
Infielder/outfielder Dylan Moore got his first rehab assignment game with the Rainiers tonight, after spending three games with the Everett Aquasox as he aims at returning to the Mariners lineup during their current 10-game homestand. Following some “lackluster” performances up North with the Aquasox, Moore is looking to show the proper sort of steps that Seattle wants to see from him and just make solid progress, considering that he wasn’t able to have a proper Spring Training. Mariners general manager Justin Hollander told the local media on Monday to be cautious of having high expectations for Moore until he’s able to properly get situated, since he hasn’t had much of a real build up before now.
Moore struggled at the plate in this game, going one for five with two strikeouts and leaving three runners on base in the Rainiers win. Again, as was just mentioned, it’s important to remember that Moore really hasn’t had the same amount of time to prepare for this season and these situations as his teammates have. It may take some time for him to get back into the swing (literally) of things, and he’ll have a solid chance to do that with the long homestand for both the Rainiers and Mariners. And, at the end of the day, the sort of success that the Mariners are looking for may not be huge numbers, they may just be looking for positive notes in his game.
Tacoma Rainiers outfielder Cade Marlowe singles, walking off against the Las Vegas Aviators (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Cade comes up clutch
Tacoma outfielder Cade Marlowe has had an interesting past few months, considering that he was on the Seattle Mariners postseason roster and there were talks that he may crack the teams Opening Day roster this season. That didn’t happen, and will it still could, Marlowe has been working to get better down with the Rainiers after making his way through the Mariner system over the past few years. Marlowe busted out a strong performance tonight, tallying three hits, one run, and two RBIs including the game winning base hit to give his team the win.
Marlowe’s day started off with a groundout in the first inning, but got better in the third when he doubled to drive in teammate Jack Larsen for the Rainiers first run of the night. Marlowe doubled again in the ninth, as Tacoma was searching for a rally, and represented the tying run as Jake Scheiner drove him in to tie things up at three runs each. After Kean Wong, brother of Kolten, drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game and answer the Aviators run in the top of the tenth, it was Marlowe’s time once again. Marlowe singled on a ball in the middle quadrant of the zone, driving in Jack Larsen and sending the Cheney faithful home happy.
What’s next?
Tacoma will continue its 12 game homestand, doing so with tomorrow’s game three against these same Las Vegas Aviators. For the Thursday, May 25th matchup against Las Vegas it’ll be a first pitch time of 7:05PM PST as Tacoma hosts Thirsty Thursday. Fans can enjoy $3 Michelob ULTRA at the R Bar near the left field part of the ballpark, as the Rainiers look to win the first three games of six against the Aviators. Tacoma is expected to have Tommy Milone on the mound against Las Vegas’ Adam Oller.