In a season in which the Seattle Mariners are constantly finding new ways to lose, Seattle baseball fans can find much-needed comfort in their Triple-A affiliate. The Tacoma Rainiers beat the Memphis Redbirds in an eleven-inning nailbiter on Friday night to win the Pacific Coast League.
↵While it’s fun just to see a Washington team win a title (yay Storm, by the way), it’s nice to remember that many of the current Rainiers could be taking the field in Mariners uniforms next year. Michael Pineda, Justin Smoak and Dustin Ackley—who hit a solo home run to tie the game last night—have all had fine runs in Triple-A. Excepting Felix Hernandez, Mariners fans don’t have many positives to take from the major league team right now. The Rainiers give us just a bit of hope.
↵Tacoma now travel to Oklahoma City to take on the Columbus Clippers in the Triple-A championship game on Tuesday.