WEST SACRAMENTO, CA (August 19, 2026) — It was a tale of two halves on Wednesday night at Sutter Health Park. The Tacoma Rainiers (21-26/54-68) retired the first 16 batters they faced, carrying a perfect game into the sixth inning. However, the Sacramento River Cats (28-19/70-45) scored three runs in the sixth inning and six more in the seventh en route to a 9-6 victory. Tacoma’s comeback attempt came up just short, scoring three runs in the eighth and another in the ninth in the loss.
Ryan Bliss gave Tacoma the game’s first runs in the top of the third inning. Willie MacIver reached on catcher’s interference to lead off the inning. With one out, Bliss (6) crushed a two-run homer to center field to put Tacoma on top, 2-0.
Tacoma’s pitching staff was sensational to start the night. Houston Roth fired 3.0 perfect innings to start the bullpen game. Roth did not face a single three-ball count as he struck out four of the first nine batters of the game.
Peyton Alford’s outing got off to a strong start as well, retiring the first seven batters that he faced. Between Roth and Alford, Sacramento hit just three balls out of the infield over the first five innings of the game.
The River Cats flipped the game on its head in the bottom of the sixth inning. Diego Valasquez broke up the perfect game bid with a one-out double to the left field corner. Nate Furman drew a two-out walk, and Scott Bandura (8) gave the River Cats a 3-2 lead with a three-run home run to right field.
Sacramento broke the game open with six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Bo Davidson hit a leadoff single against the new pitcher Charlie Beilenson, moving up to second base on a wild pitch. Grant McCray drove him in with a ground ball that snuck by a diving Miles Mastrobuoni, extending Sacramento’s lead to 4-2. After a walk to Shay Whitcomb, Will Brennan doubled home another run to make it 5-2. Beilenson struck Velasquez for the first out of the inning, but that was the last batter he faced. Scott Effross took over in relief, but Adrian Sugastey greeted him with a two-run single, pushing Sacramento’s lead to 7-2. Furman and Bandura followed with back-to-back doubles to drive in two more runs, making it a 9-2 game.
The Rainiers trimmed the deficit in the top of the eighth inning, getting back three runs with two outs. MacIver reached base for the third time as he was hit by a pitch. Two outs later, Victor Labrada walked, followed by an RBI single from Michael Arroyo and a two-run double from Lazaro Montes to get the Rainiers within 9-5.
In the top of the ninth, Tacoma got one run back on a sacrifice fly from Mastrobuoni, but ultimately fell, 9-6. The Rainiers will look to get back in the win column on Thursday night, with first pitch slated for 6:45 PM. Gabe Mosser is scheduled to make the start for Tacoma.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- RHP Houston Roth threw 3.0 perfect innings to start Wednesday night’s game, his longest outing of the season…it’s the second time Roth has thrown 3.0 perfect innings in his career (also: May 15, 2021 with Low-A Delmarva), and the fifth time in his career he’s thrown at least 3.0 hitless innings, and first since July 27, 2024, with Double-A Bowie…it’s the longest perfect outing by a Rainiers pitcher since RHP Sauryn Lao threw 4.0 clean frames on May 25, 2025.
- The Rainiers threw 5.1 perfect innings to open Wednesday night’s game, the third time Tacoma has carried a perfect game into the sixth inning this season…Tacoma is the only PCL team to carry a perfect game bid into the sixth inning this season and the only Triple-A team to do it more than once…Tacoma’s 5.1 perfect innings marks their longest perfect game bid since 6.1 perfect innings on May 25, 2025 at El Paso.
- OF Lazaro Montes extended his on-base steak to 18 games with a 2-for-4 performance on Wednesday…it’s tied for the second-longest on-base streak by a Rainiers player this season, four games shy of C Jhonny Pereda’s season-best 22 game streak…over his 18-game streak, Montes is batting .324 (24x74) with four doubles and seven home runs, sporting a 1.060 OPS…since the All-Star Break, Montes leads the PCL with 11 doubles, 20 extra-base hits and 75 total bases.
- C Willie MacIver recorded his first multi-hit game with Tacoma, going 2-for-2, also reaching on catcher’s interference and a hit by pitch…it’s the second time this season he’s reaching in all four (or more) plate appearances (also: reached 5 times on April 11 with Round Rock)…Wednesday also marked the fifth time a Tacoma hitter has reached on catcher’s interference, tied for the most in the PCL.