TACOMA, WA (August 29, 2026) — Tacoma’s pitching was dominant all night, carrying a shutout into the ninth inning to help the Rainiers (28-28/61-70) secure a series victory over the Salt Lake Bees (19-36/58-71) with an 8-3 win Saturday. Nolan Jones started the scoring when he hit a two-run shot in the first inning, the first of his two home runs in the contest. Lazaro Montes joined the home run party, smacking his 13th home run with Tacoma and 38th total long ball of the season in the win.
Tacoma got out to a fast start Saturday, scoring a pair in their first trip to the plate. Ryan Bliss hit a single into shallow left field to lead off the game and the next batter, Nolan Jones (1), smoked a two-run homer over the right-center field wall. His first home run in the Mariners organization gave the Rainiers a 2-0 lead.
Tacoma added a run in the bottom of the second inning. Stuart Fairchild ripped a leadoff double down the left field line and moved up to third on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Miles Mastrobuoni hit a broken-bat single over the leaping Kyren Paris, bringing home Fairchild to make it 3-0.
The Rainiers doubled the lead in the home half of the third inning. Bliss walked to lead off the frame, stole second to get into scoring position and made it up to third on a wild pitch. Then, Arroyo drew a walk to put runners on the corners with one out and the next batter, Lazaro Montes (13), lasered a three-run shot over the right-center field wall, making it 6-0.
Peyton Alford and Houston Roth each tossed 2.0 innings to hold Salt Lake scoreless across the first four frames. Alford allowed one hit and two walks while striking out one while Roth surrendered only one hit and struck out four.
Scott Effross got the ball for the fifth inning and allowed a two-out hit to Paris but got Raudi Rodriguez to ground out to end the frame. After getting the first out of the sixth, Effross turned the ball over to Reid VanScoter, who struck out the final two batters of the inning to keep the Bees off the board.
Tacoma’s lead grew in the bottom of the sixth. Stuart Fairchild was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame and got up to third with a steal and wild pitch on consecutive pitches. Then, Andy Ibáñez pounded a single through the right side of the infield, scoring Fairchild to make it 7-0.
The Rainiers continued to pad the lead in the seventh inning when Jones (2) smoked a leadoff homer over the right-center field wall for his second of the game, making it 8-0 Tacoma.
Salt Lake attempted a rally in the top of the ninth inning. With one out, Ben Gobbel lined a single into right field. After Paris struck out, Gobbel advanced to second on a passed ball and the next batter, Rodriguez, worked a walk to put two runners on. Then, Sebastián Rivero (1) smacked a three-run home run over the left-center field wall to avoid the shutout. That was all the Bees could manage as the Rainiers won 8-3 in game five of the six-game set.
Tacoma will attempt to make it four straight wins Sunday afternoon. LHP Jhonathan Díaz will make his second start of the series and first pitch is set for 1:35 PM.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- OF Nolan Jones tied his career-high with two home runs Saturday night, his first multi-homer game with Tacoma and second of the season (also: June 12 with Triple-A Charlotte)…he finished 2-for-4 with a pair of long balls, three RBI and two runs scored…it’s Jones’ fifth career multi-homer game, making him the ninth different Rainiers hitter to record a multi-homer game this season, tied for the second-most different players to hit a multi-homer game in Triple-A this season, trailing St. Paul’s 14…Tacoma’s nine different hitters to record a multi-homer game are the club’s most in a single season since 10 different hitters did it in 2008.
- OF Stuart Fairchild was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning, marking the 89th time Rainiers hitters were plunked this season…it’s a new single-season record, surpassing the 88 times Tacoma batters were hit in 2025.
- OF Lazaro Montes crushed his 38th total home run of the season Saturday night, the second-most by a minor league hitter this season…he trails only the 42 hits by Andrew Fischer between High-A Wisconsin and Double-A Biloxi…Montes is now only five home runs away from tying Danny Tartabull for the most long balls hit by a Mariners’ minor leaguer in a single season (43 with Triple-A Calgary in 1985)...in the month of August, his 10 home runs and 60 total bases are the most in the PCL, 22 RBI and .645 SLG rank third, 14 extra-base hits are the fourth-most and 1.025 OPS is the fifth-best.
- INF Ryan Bliss stole his 97th career base with Tacoma Saturday night, improving upon his franchise record…since making his Triple-A debut with Reno on July 14, 2023, his 102 stolen bases are the fifth-most in the league.