SB Nation Seattle's Kirsten Schlewitz writes that Justin Smoak, who was recently called up by the Seattle Mariners, was a key piece of the Tacoma Rainiers team that won its first Pacific Coast League Championship since 1969.
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.