WEST SACRAMENTO, CA (August 21, 2026) — The Tacoma Rainiers (22-27/55-69) erased an early three-run deficit to beat the Sacramento River Cats (29-20/71-41) 6-5 Friday night, marking John Russell’s 300th win as the Rainiers manager. Lazaro Montes’ two-run homer in the eighth inning gave Tacoma their first lead of the ballgame, and was all the Rainiers needed to leave with the victory. Ryan Bliss doubled twice in the contest and drove in two runs while Connor Joe and Patrick Wisdom both turned in multi-hit performances. Troy Watson worked around a leadoff single in the ninth inning to earn his first save with Tacoma.
Sacramento got out to a quick start in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Scott Bandura ripped a double into the right field corner and made it up to third when Lazaro Montes bobbled the ball. Then, Bo Davidson lined a double into left field, plating Bandura to give the River Cats a 1-0 lead. The next batter, Will Brennan, pulled a single through the right side of the infield, bringing home Davidson and doubling the Sacramento lead, 2-0.
The River Cats added on another in the second inning when Adrián Sugastey (3) hit a one-out solo homer over the left field wall to make it 3-0.
Tacoma’s offense got going in the top of the fifth inning. Connor Joe one-hopped a leadoff double off the left field wall. After Stuart Fairchild popped up and Willie MacIver flied out to center field, Victor Labrada was hit on the hand, putting two on with two outs. Then, Ryan Bliss ripped a double into the left-center field gap, bringing home Joe and Labrada to get the Rainiers on the board, 3-2. The next batter, Michael Arroyo, reached on a throwing error that snuck away from first baseman Eddys Leonard. Bliss took advantage and hustled home to tie the game at three.
Sacramento immediately regained the lead when with one out in the home half of the fifth inning, Davidson (6) smoked a solo shot over the left-center field wall, making it 4-3.
Tacoma tied it up again in the seventh inning. Fairchild roped a single into left field to leadoff the frame. Then, MacIver and Labrada worked back-to-back walks to load the bases with no outs. After Bliss struck out, Arroyo grounded out to third, plating Fairchild to even the score at 4-4.
The Rainiers took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Patrick Wisdom lined a leadoff single into center field and the next batter, Montes (11), crushed a no-doubter over the bullpens in right field. His two-run shot gave Tacoma a 6-4 lead.
The River Cats got a run back in the bottom of the eighth. Grant McCray hit a single into left field to lead off the frame. Then, Leonard pulled a double down the left field line, scoring McCray from first to make it 6-5. Leonard was stranded there as Domingo González set down the next three Sacramento batters to keep the Rainiers lead intact.
The River Cats entered the bottom of the ninth inning needing one run to force extras. They were able to get the tying run on-base when Nate Furman smacked a leadoff single into center field. After Bandura replaced Furman at first on a fielder’s choice, Troy Watson got Davidson to ground into game-ending double play, securing the 6-5 win for Tacoma
The Rainiers look to make it two-in-a-row Saturday night as RHP Nolan Kingham will make his second start for Tacoma this season. First pitch is set for 6:45 PM.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- Friday night’s victory marked John Russell’s 300th career win as the Rainiers’ manager…Russell is now the fourth manager in Tacoma history to reach the 300 win mark, joining Daren Brown (564), Dan Rohn (375) and Dave Myers (366).
- INF Ryan Bliss doubled twice on Friday, marking his 29th and 30th doubles of the season…he finished 2-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI, and a run scored…Bliss is the second PCL hitter to hit 30 doubles this season (also: Zac Veen - 33)...it’s his fifth multi-double game of the season and is now four doubles away from tying his career-high (34 2B in 2023 with Reno and Tacoma).
- OF Lazaro Montes crushed his 36th total home of the season in the eighth inning Friday night, the second-most single season total by a Mariners minor leaguer in the ballclub’s history…his two-run shot gave the Rainiers the lead, his second-game winning home run in the eighth inning-or-later of the season and third of his career…since August 4, Montes’ eight home runs are the most in the PCL, 12 extra-base hits, 48 total bases and .738 SLG rank second-best, 18 RBI are tied for the third-most and 1.122 OPS ranks fourth.
- INF/OF Connor Joe extended his on-base streak to 19 games with a multi-hit game Friday…he finished 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored…Joe’s streak is the second-longest by a Rainiers hitter this season, trailing Jhonny Pereda’s 22-game streak from April 29-July 11…since Joe’s streak started on July 28, his .451 OBP ranks eighth in the PCL.