Tacoma puts on offensive fireworks show in win over Bees


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Tacoma Rainier designated hitter Dan Vogelbach loves to face the Salt Lake Bees' pitching staff. On Monday, while playing for the Iowa Cubs, Vogelbach had four hits, including a solo homer in a 12-7 loss to the Bees.

Playing for the Tacoma Rainiers after being traded on Wednesday to the Seattle Mariners, Vogelbach put on another fireworks show. The 6-foot, 250-pounder was just a triple shy of the cycle. He hit a solo home run in his first at-bat, an RBI double in his second plate appearance, and a bloop single to left center in his third at-bat to help the Tacoma Rainiers defeat the Salt Lake Bees 8-3 at Smith’s Ballpark Friday night.

Vogelbach wasn’t the only Rainier to have a big game. Seven of the nine starters for the Rainiers recorded a hit as Tacoma racked up 14 hits on the night.

Left fielder Stefen Romero had three of those hits, including a two-run home run and a solo shot.

The big inning came in the top of the third. Rainier third baseman Zach Shank led off with a double to short center field that Bees second baseman Cliff Pennington couldn’t handle. Two batters later, Shank scored on an RBI single by Daniel Robertson.

Guillermo Heredia then hit a sacrifice fly that scored Tyler Smith and made it 3-1. Romero followed that up with the first of his two home runs on the night that made it 5-1. Vogelbach made it 6-1 when he drove in D.J. Peterson with an RBI double off the left center field wall.

The Rainiers tacked on another run in the top of the fifth on a Ryan Strausborger sacrifice fly to make it 7-1. And Romero made it 8-1 with his solo blast over the left field fence.

Angel Genao, who was called up Friday afternoon from the Orem Owlz, brought life to Smith’s Ballpark in the bottom of the ninth. Genao picked up his first Triple-A hit, an RBI double to right center field that cut the deficit to 8-2. Genao scored one batter later on a single by Anthony Bemboom that made it 8-3. However, it was too little too late as Angel Rosa struck out to end the game.

It wasn’t the best outing for Nate Smith, who pitched in the Futures All-Star Game two weeks ago. Smith lasted just 4.2 innings, giving up seven runs on 10 hits, one walk and three strikeouts and fell to 6-4 on the season.

Bees first baseman Kaleb Cowart was a bright spot for an offense that struggled against Tacoma starter Joe Wieland. Cowart went 3-for-4 with a home run, double and a single. The home run by Cowart was the first home run hit by a Bees player at Smith’s Ballpark since Ji-Man Choi hit a solo home run against Las Vegas on June 20.

The two teams will meet in the second game of a four-game set on Saturday night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. MDT. Kyle McDonald is an avid sports fan especially for the Chicago Cubs and the Utah Valley University Wolverines. He is currently a communication major at UVU and will graduate in the spring of 2017. Email him at kyleuvu2014@gmail.com

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