TACOMA, WA (May 14, 2026) — The Tacoma Rainiers (20-22) topped the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (19-23) by a score of 4-3 on Thursday night at Cheney Stadium. Colin Davis gave the Rainiers the lead with a two-run shot in the seventh inning, his first of the season. Brennen Davis and Victor Robles both recorded multi-hit nights while Ryan Bliss extended his hitting streak to a team-high 12 games. Houston Roth recorded his third save of the season by tossing a scoreless ninth inning.
For the second game in a row, Tacoma got the scoring started in the first inning. Victor Robles smacked a leadoff single into left field and advanced to second when Colt Emerson was hit by a pitch. Two batters later, Brennen Davis pulled a single through the left side of the infield, loading the bases with one away. Then, Robles scored the first run of the game courtesy of a Ryan Bliss sacrifice fly to right field, making 1-0 Rainiers.
Sugar Land evened the score in the top of the second inning. With one down, Cavan Biggio (4) lined a home run over the right field wall, tying the game at one.
The Space Cowboys threatened to take the lead in the fifth inning. With one out, Tommy Sacco Jr. lined a single to right and moved up to third when Riley Unroe singled to center field. Unroe moved up to second on the throw to third, putting two runners in scoring position. After Jax Biggers lined out to first, Rhylan Thomas worked a two-out walk to load the bases. Casey Lawrence escaped the jam when Daniel Johnson lined out to short, keeping the score level at 1-1.
Sugar Land broke the deadlock in the top of the sixth inning. CJ Alexander and Carlos Pérez lined back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. After Collin Price flied out to center field, Alexander stole third and scored when Biggio dropped a single into shallow left field, giving the Space Cowboys their first lead of the game, 2-1. Gunner Mayer was called upon to get the final two outs of the inning, setting down the next two batters in order.
Tacoma tied it up in the bottom of the sixth inning. Robles smoked a leadoff double off the left field wall. Then, Emerson laid down a sacrifice bunt, pushing Robles up to third. After Patrick Wisdom grounded out, Brennen Davis lined his second single of the game into left. Robles scored with ease, tying the game at two.
Tacoma retook the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. With one away, Victor Labrada dropped a single into right-center field and stole second to get into scoring position. Then, Colin Davis (1) deposited a 2-2 fastball over the left field bleachers. The two-run blast gave the Rainiers a 4-2 lead.
Sugar Land cut Tacoma’s lead to one in the eighth inning. Alexander, Pérez, and Price all worked walks to load the bases with nobody down. Then, Biggio advanced Pérez to third and brought home Alexander with a sacrifice fly to right field, making it 4-3. Troy Taylor struck out the next two batters to keep the Rainiers’ lead intact.
Houston Roth took the ball in the ninth inning. With two outs, Sugar Land was able to get the tying and go-ahead runs on base when Johnson laced a single to right field and Alexander walked. The pair were stranded when Roth ended the game with a strikeout, recording his third save of the season and securing a 4-3 victory for Tacoma.
Tacoma looks to extend their series lead to two games Friday night. RHP Randy Dobnak will toe the rubber for his eighth start of the season. First pitch is set for 7:05 pm.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- OF Victor Robles finished 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored, his first multi-hit game of his rehab assignment…it’s his second multi-hit game of the season with the other coming on March 28 with Seattle.
- RHP Gunner Mayer tossed 0.2 perfect innings to get Tacoma out of a jam Thursday night while striking out one, lowering his ERA to 0.68, the lowest among all PCL pitchers with at least 11 appearances, and the fifth-lowest in Triple-A…his .113 batting average against is the second-lowest among all PCL pitchers (min. 11 appearances).
- RHP Matt Brash struck out the side in his first appearance of his Major League rehab assignment Thursday…Brash threw 15 pitches, nine strikes.
- OF Brennen Davis turned in his 11th multi-hit performance of the season Thursday night, tying him with Brock Rodden and Rhylan Thomas for the most by a Rainiers hitter this season…he finished 2-for-4 with an RBI…since May 5, Davis leads the PCL with 17 hits, ranking second in the league with a .472 batting average, .861 slugging percentage and a 1.419 OPS.
- OF Colin Davis crushed his first home run of the season to give Tacoma the lead in the seventh inning Thursday…he finished 1-for-3 with a home run, two RBI, and a run scored…it’s his second career go-ahead home run in the seventh inning or later with the last one coming May 21, 2025, at El Paso.
- INF Ryan Bliss extended his hitting streak to 12 games Thursday night, the longest hit streak by a Rainiers hitter this season…he finished 1-for-2 with an RBI…it’s the longest hitting streak by a Rainiers hitter since Rhylan Thomas went on a 13-game streak from August 21-September 4, 2025.