TACOMA, WA (August 14, 2026) — The Tacoma Rainiers (19-24/52-66) won 6-1 against the Reno Aces (21-22/53-65) on Friday night at Cheney Stadium, marking Tacoma’s seventh win in its last nine games. Lazaro Montes improved upon his career-high with his 35th homer in the third inning, his third consecutive game with a long ball. Connor Joe hit his sixth home run of the season to get the scoring started and combined with Stuart Fairchild for their second double-steal of the year. Carlos Vargas made his second rehab appearance with Tacoma, setting down the last five batters of the game in order and recorded two strikeouts.
Tacoma got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning when Connor Joe (6) smacked a leadoff home run over the right-center field wall to give the Rainiers an early 1-0 lead.
Tacoma added on in the third inning. With one out, Patrick Wisdom ripped a double 107.3 mph into the right-center field gap. Then, Lazaro Montes (10) hit a towering two-run blast over the right field wall to make it 3-0.
The Rainiers continued to extend their lead in the home half of the fifth inning. Ryan Bliss (5) crushed the first pitch of the frame over the left-center field wall. Tacoma’s third home run of the game made it 4-0. Two batters later, Wisdom worked a walk. After Montes popped out, Joe lined a single into center field, putting runners on first and second with two outs. Then, Fairchild pounded a single through the right side of the infield, pushing Joe up to third and plating Wisdom from second to make it 5-0 Rainiers. Joe and Fairchild pulled off a double steal to cap off the three-run inning, 6-0.
Gabe Mosser cruised through the first six frames of the ballgame, keeping the Aces scoreless and allowed only two hits and one walk while striking out one. He retired the first nine batters he faced, working around two baserunners in the fourth inning and a one-out single in the fifth inning, thanks to an outfield assist from Montes.
Reno got on the board in the top of the seventh inning. Adrian Del Castillo worked a leadoff walk and advanced to third two batters later, when Manuel Pena ripped a single into right-center field. Then, Jose Fernandez reached on a fielder’s choice, bringing home Del Castillo to make it 6-1. After Danny Serretti walked, Mosser was relieved by Seth Shuman, who got Gavin Conticello to ground out to end the frame, shutting down the Aces threat.
Reno was set down in order in the top of the ninth inning as Carlos Vargas set down the final five Aces to end the game. Tacoma took game four of the series 6-1 and leads the series three games to one. The Rainiers look to secure a series victory Saturday. RHP Carson Fulmer will toe the rubber for Tacoma and the Aces will counter with RHP Jose Cabrera. First pitch is set for 6:05 PM.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- INF/OF Connor Joe extended his on-base streak to 13 games with a solo home run in the second inning on Friday night, hitting .333 (14x42) in that time…Joe also stole home in the fifth inning as part of a double-steal with Stuart Fairchild…Joe is the fourth PCL player to have multiple steals of home this season and the first Rainiers player to steal home twice in a season since Samad Taylor did it three times in 2025…Tacoma’s five steals of home since the 2025 season are tied for the fourth-most in Triple-A.
- OF Lazaro Montes homered for the third straight game Friday, the second time he has done so in the last two weeks…his home run was launched at 47 degrees, tied for the highest launch angle on a Rainiers home run this season, matching Brennen Davis’ home run on April 22 at Oklahoma City…it’s the third time this season Montes has homered in three straight games, and his second time with Tacoma (also: August 4-6)...Montes is the second Rainiers hitter to have multiple three-game homer streaks, joining INF Patrick Wisdom.
- OF Lazaro Montes also recorded his sixth outfield assist since being promoted to Triple-A on July 7, throwing out Reno’s Danny Serretti at second…over that span, he leads all Triple-A outfielders in assists…Tacoma’s seven outfield assists since the start of July are the second-most in the Pacific Coast League.
- RHP Gabe Mosser logged his eighth quality start of the season on Friday night, tied for the third-most in the minor leagues…it was also Tacoma’s 32nd quality start of the season, the most in the minor leagues, four more than the next-closest team…Mosser threw 6.2 innings of one-run baseball, his second such start of the season (also: 7.0 IP, 0R on April 7 @ SUG)...Mosser is the first Rainiers pitcher, and one of seven in Triple-A, to record multiple starts of at least 6.2 innings and one-or-fewer runs allowed.
- Tacoma’s pitching staff combined to allow only three hits on Friday night, the second consecutive game with only three hits allowed…the Rainiers are the second PCL team this season to allow three-or-fewer hits in consecutive games, joining Sugar Land…it’s the fourth time since 2005 Tacoma has allowed three-or-fewer hits in consecutive games and the first time since April 9-10, 2024.