Salt Lake defeat Rainiers in 8-2 romp

Salt Lake jumped out to a four zero lead in the top of the first inning and never looked back in the 8-2 win that made it two in a row against the home side.

Salt Lake hit three 1^st inning home runs on Friday, and the Tacoma offense was limited to a 2-run 1^st inning blast from first baseman Luis Torrens, as the Bees defeated the Rainiers for the second-straight night, 8-2. Torrens’ opposite field shot was his fifth with Tacoma, and seven of his 11 knocks at Triple-A have been extra-base hits.

The Bees (11-15) hit their opening inning round-trippers against Tacoma (13-13) starter Darren McCaughan (1-2). Down 4-0 in the home half of the inning, Torrens cleared the right-center field wall to score designated hitter Shed Long Jr. and cut the lead in half, 4-2.

Tacoma has homered in 13 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the Triple-A West and the club’s longest since May 11-25, 2012 (14 games).

Catcher Cal Raleigh extended his own streak with a leadoff double in the 3^rd inning. The Seattle Mariners No. 8 prospect (MLB Pipeline) has hit safely in 16 straight games, the longest active streak in the Triple-A West. The two-bagger was his league-best 12^th of the season.

McCaughan allowed a home run in the 4^th inning and pitched 5 total frames, allowing 5 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. Right-hander Zack Weiss came on in the 6^th inning and allowed the two Salt Lake runs on center fielder Jo Adell’s second home run of the game, and league-leading 14^th blast.

Righties Taylor Guerrieri and Yohan Ramirez each pitched a scoreless inning, combining for 3 strikeouts over the 7^th and 8^th innings. Brian Schlitter pitched the 9^th inning for Tacoma, and the right-hander surrendered one run but rolled a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning.

The Rainiers and Bees will continue their six-game series on Saturday at Cheney Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. PT as Tacoma right-hander Bernie Martinez (0-0) will match up against Salt Lake righty Jake Buchanan (1-1).