SOUTH JORDAN, UT (June 18, 2026) —The Tacoma Rainiers (32-40) picked up their second shutout victory of the season, blanking the Salt Lake Bees (37-34) in an 8-0 victory on Thursday night at The Ballpark at America First Square. Casey Lawrence led the way with 6.0 shutout innings, earning his fourth win of the season. Josh Simpson threw 2.0 innings and Gunner Mayer slammed the door in the ninth to finish the win. The Rainiers clubbed three home runs in the victory, driving in seven of the eight total runs with the long ball.
Tacoma scored in the first inning for the second consecutive night. Ryan Bliss hit a one-out double to deep left-center field off the starter Alek Manoah, marking his third straight game with an extra-base hit. Victor Labrada (3) followed with a laser over the right field wall to put Tacoma on top 2-0.
The Rainiers scored with the long ball again in the third inning. Bliss drew a leadoff walk, and two batters later, Patrick Wisdom (13) crushed a two-run home run in his first game since being optioned back to Tacoma, putting the Rainiers on top 4-0.
The offense kept on rolling for Tacoma in the top of the fourth inning. Colin Davis drew a one-out walk and stole second base. Blake Rambusch cracked a double off the left field wall, putting two in scoring position. Bliss hit a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Davis and made it a 5-0 ballgame.
Casey Lawrence worked around traffic to keep Salt Lake off the board for the first six innings, getting three double plays on the night. The right-hander got an inning-ending double play in the third inning, while getting a double play to work around a leadoff single in the fourth and sixth innings.
The Rainiers broke the game open in the seventh inning. Victor Labrada worked a one-out walk and Jhonny Pereda singled with two outs. Spencer Packard (3) hit his second homer in as many days, crushing a three-run home run to right field and giving Tacoma an 8-0 lead.
Josh Simpson fired 2.0 scoreless innings of relief, striking out three between the seventh and eighth innings, his second time this season throwing 2.0 shutout innings.
The Bees went down in order in the ninth inning as Gunner Mayer closed out the Rainiers 8-0 win with a pair of strikeouts.
The Rainiers will look to make it three wins in a row on Friday evening, with first pitch scheduled for 5:35 PM (PT). Michael Plassmeyer is slated to get the start for Tacoma.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- OF Victor Labrada connected on a two-run home run in the first inning, the second straight game with a first-inning home run…the home run marks Tacoma’s second time with a first-inning homer in back-to-back games (also: June 9-10)…it’s the ninth ninth first-inning home run of the season, five of which have come since June 9…Tacoma’s five first-inning homers since June 9 are the most in Triple-A and tied for the most among full-season minor league teams.
- RHP Casey Lawrence threw his eighth quality start of the season, the most in the minor leagues…his start was also Tacoma’s 21st quality start of the season, also the most in the minor leagues…Lawrence is the ninth Triple-A pitcher this season with multiple starts of 6.0 innings and no runs allowed, and the third in the PCL…Lawrence is the only Triple-A pitcher this season to log multiple starts of 6.0 shutout innings with no walks allowed, having previously done so on May 20 at Salt Lake (6.2 IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 5K, 1HBP).
- OF Spencer Packard connected on a three-run home run in the seventh inning, his second consecutive game with a home run…it’s the first time Packard has homered in consecutive games since doing so from August 9-10, 2023 with Double-A Arkansas at Midland.
- INF Ryan Bliss went 1-for-3 with a double, RBI, walk and two runs scored in Thursday’s win, hitting his sixth career double at The Ballpark at America First Square…since the venue opened in 2025, Bliss is tied for second among visiting players with six doubles, and tied for the third-best batting average (min. 40 PA) at .371 (14x38) among visiting players.
- Tacoma’s defense turned four double plays on Thursday night, their fourth game this season with four double plays, the most in Triple-A…no other Triple-A team has done it more than twice…Tacoma’s 63 double plays turned this season are tied four the fourth-most in Triple-A.