TACOMA, WA (June 28, 2026) — The Tacoma Rainiers (2-4/35-46) fell in the series finale 6-1 to the Round Rock Express (4-2/35-46) on Sunday afternoon, dropping the six-game set four games to two. Round Rock capitalized on two-out offense on Sunday, driving in five of their six runs with two outs. Ryan Bliss extended his streak of multi-hit games to three, finishing 2-for-4 and Robinson Ortiz turned in his fourth consecutive scoreless outing of 2.0 innings pitched in relief.
Round Rock got the scoring started in the top of the second inning. With two outs, Jose Herrera dropped a single into center field and advanced to second when Cooper Johnson drew a walk. Then, Keyber Rodriguez pulled a single through the right side of the infield, pushing Johnson up to second and scoring Herrera to give the Express a 1-0 lead. Josh Smith lined a single of his own into center field to plate Johnson from second, doubling the lead.
Tacoma scored their only run in the home half of the second inning. Colin Davis ripped a triple to deep center field to lead off the frame, his first of the season. Carson Taylor brought him in to score with a sacrifice fly to center, making it 2-1.
Round Rock extended their lead in the top of the fourth inning. Josh Smith (2) crushed a leadoff solo shot over the right field wall, making it 3-1. With two down, John Taylor and Jonah Bride worked back-to-back walks to put runners on first and second. Then, Trevor Hauver drove a single into left field, moving Bride up to third and plating Taylor, pushing the lead to three. Herrera smacked his second single over the glove of a leaping Blake Rambusch to score Bride from third and make it 5-1.
The Express added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning. With two outs, Bride (9) deposited a solo shot over the left field wall, making it 6-1 heading into the bottom half of the frame.
The Rainiers entered the ninth inning needing five runs to extend the game, but were kept off the board, losing 6-1 in the finale on Sunday.
Tacoma will take Monday off before starting the second half of their 12-game homestand on Tuesday, welcoming the Reno Aces to Cheney Stadium for a six-game series. Tuesday’s first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- INF Ryan Bliss turned in his third consecutive multi-hit performance on Sunday, finishing 2-for-4 with a stolen base…his streak of three straight multi-hit games is tied for the longest active streak in the PCL and the longest streak by a Rainiers hitter this season…in June, Bliss leads all Rainiers with a .348 batting average (23x66), .515 SLG, and an .893 OPS.
- INF Blake Rambusch went 1-for-3 with a double out of the ninth spot in the order on Sunday afternoon…in eight games batting ninth, he leads all Triple-A hitters (min. 30 PA in the ninth spot) with a .481 batting average (13x27) with a .533 OBP, while ranking second with .741 SLG and. 1.274 OPS.
- C Jhonny Pereda extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single in the sixth inning Sunday, finishing 1-for-4…it's tied for the second-longest active streak in the PCL and tied for the third longest by a Rainiers hitter this season…over his eight-game streak, Pereda is hitting .273 (9x33) with three doubles, two RBI and one walk
- LHP Robinson Ortiz tossed his fourth straight outing of 2.0 innings pitched without allowing a run Sunday, surrendering one hit and striking out one…since the streak started on June 16, his 8.0 innings pitched leads all Triple-A relievers that have not surrendered a run…Ortiz has accomplished this feat five times this season, tying RHP Domingo González for the most by a Rainiers reliever.