On the Farm: Mariners minor league affiliate report for June 7

Recaps for the Seattle Mariners top affiliates for Wednesday provided by team releases and wire reports.

Reno 8, Tacoma (AAA) 3

TACOMA, Wash. – Christian Walker hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning, leading the Reno Aces (38-22) to an 8-3 win over the Tacoma Rainiers (32-26) on Wednesday.

Mitch Haniger, on a Major League rehab assignment, went 0 for 3 and played right field. Dan Vogelbach slammed his eighth home run of the season for the Rainiers.

The home run by Walker scored Jack Reinheimer and Oswaldo Arcia to tie the game 3-3.

The Aces took the lead for good in the eighth when Walker hit an RBI double, bringing home Reinheimer.

Erik Davis (4-0) got the win with two innings of scoreless, one-hit relief while Ryne Harper (3-2) took the loss in the Pacific Coast League game.

D.J. Peterson singled twice, also stealing a base for the Rainiers.

Arkansas (AA)

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Tulsa Drillers used a barrage of early offense to build a lead and knock off the Arkansas Travelers 7-4.

Johan Mieses hit a two-runn double in the second to open the scoring for the Drillers. Tulsa would go on to add three runs in the third, including a two-run homer from Matt Beaty. Edwin Rios launched a two-run homer of his own in the fourth to push the Drillers’ lead to six.

Arkansas had gotten on the board early on a two-out RBI single from Nelson Ward in the second inning. That hit was the Travs’ third of the night at the time but would be their last until the seventh. Chuck Taylor ended the drought with a two-out RBI single scoring Ian Miller who had reached on an error and moved up on a wild pitch.

The Travs threatened in the ninth as well, scoring twice with two out. Miller singled, Taylor tripled to score him and then came home on Dario Pizzano’s double but that would be all they could muster.

Miller had a successful offensive night in his return from the disabled list going 2-5 with two runs scored and his league leading 21st stolen base. Chuck Taylor also finished with a two hit night including a triple and two runs driven in.

Tulsa’s Andrew Sopko (1-4) notched his first win of the season tossing five innings of one run ball with seven strikeouts. Justin DeFratus (1-1) surrendered all seven runs on the other side and took the loss.

Modesto (High-A)

The Nuts were off. Modesto starts a four-game home series with the Stockton Ports on Thursday.

Clinton (Low-A)

CLINTON, Iowa – The Clinton LumberKings scored in bunches to drop the Cedar Rapids Kernels 9-6 at Ashford University Field. Three times the LumberKings rallied to put up crooked numbers in an inning, but none was bigger than the four-run sixth inning which proved to be the decisive rally of the game.

Danny Garcia returned to the starting rotation for Clinton and learned before the game that he would be joining teammates Brandon Miller and Anthony Jimenez as the three LumberKings representatives at this year’s all-star game in Great Lakes.

Garcia was rocky in his first inning allowing two Kernels (34-25) runs to score. The inning began with Travis Blankenhorn drawing a leadoff walk and Lewin Diaz, two batters later, being hit by the pitch putting runners on first and second base. Mitchell Kranson then drove home the first runs of the game with a two RBI double and was followed by Caleb Hamilton who doubled home Kranson for the third run of the inning.

The Kernels had an odd box score when the night was through. They tallied just four hits, but all of them were doubles and each double drove in at least one run.

The LumberKings answered the Kernels with two runs of their own in the bottom of the second inning. Jimenez singled to lead-off the frame, moved to second on a Luis Liberato walk, and moved to third after a Gareth Morgan single to left that loaded the bases. Jimenez then scored on a Sean Poppen wild pitch. Nick Thurman drove home the second run of the inning with a ground out to second.

It wasn’t until the bottom of the fourth that LumberKings took their first lead of the night. Again, Jimenez started the rally, drawing a walk and advancing to second on a Liberato single. Nick Zammarelli then hit a ball off the wall in straight away center field to bring home Liberato and Jimenez to for a two-run triple that gave Clinton the lead. Zammarelli scored the third run of the inning on a Thurman ground out.

The lead did not hold up for Clinton. In the top of the fifth inning, the Kernels tied the game at five with a two-run rally. In Garcia’s final inning of work Blankenhorn drew his second walk of the night and Diaz was hit for the second time, putting runners at first and third with two men out in the inning. Jaylin Davis then tied the game with a two-run double to left center field.

The game remained tied until the LumberKings broke out for four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Alex Robinson replaced Poppen on the mound and could not record an out in the sixth. The LumberKings loaded the bases to start the inning on a combination of Zammarelli hit-by-pitch and Morgan and Thurman walks. Robinson (1-4) was then removed, but the LumberKings cashed in on the opportunity. Johmbeyker Morales drove home the first two runs with a double to left center field and was chased home on the very next pitch on a Bryson Brigman double that scored the final two runs of the inning.

Leading 9-5, the LumberKings received a strong outing from Lane Ratliff. In just his second appearance of the year for Clinton, Ratliff (1-0) earned the win with 2.1 innings of relief work, allowing no runs on no hits, walking just one, and striking out five.

Kyle Wilcox finished the game for Clinton recording the final six outs. The righty allowed one run to score in the ninth but limited the damage to preserve the win for the LumberKings.