Tacoma rolls past Salt Lake 13-1 behind Casey Lawrence, 20-hit barrage

Tacoma turned the middle game of its road series into a rout by the second inning, then kept stretching the margin in a 13-1 victory over Salt Lake at The Ballpark at America First Square. Casey Lawrence set the tone from the first pitch, Tacoma punished every mistake with a 20-hit barrage, and the Rainiers left South Jordan with a result that looked more like a team hitting its stride than a club just trying to steady a series.

Lawrence was in complete control before the offense fully separated the game. The 38-year-old right-hander retired the first 15 hitters he faced and carried a perfect-game bid into the sixth inning before finishing 6.2 innings with one hit, one run and five strikeouts. He improved to 3-3 and picked up his fifth quality start of the season, a total that stood as the most in the minor leagues at that point. It was the kind of start that let Tacoma play downhill all night.

The Rainiers did exactly that. Brock Rodden, the Mariners' No. 18 prospect, delivered the biggest swing with his second grand slam of the season and finished with five RBIs. Tacoma scored five times in the second, once in the fourth, four more in the seventh and three in the ninth, never allowing Salt Lake a chance to close the door after the early burst. Ryan Bliss, Colin Davis, Victor Labrada and Jakson Reetz each had three-hit nights, and Colin Davis opened the second-inning rally with a leadoff single to extend a hit streak that had already reached five consecutive at-bats dating back to the previous day.

The box score showed the imbalance in full. Tacoma finished with 20 hits and no errors, while Salt Lake managed only three hits and committed one error. George Klassen took the loss after allowing five runs in 1.2 innings, and the Bees never recovered from the opening surge. Tacoma improved to 23-24 after dropping the series opener 7-5 on Tuesday, while Salt Lake fell to 21-25. The game drew 3,973 fans and lasted 2 hours, 51 minutes, a quick night for a contest that was effectively settled long before the late innings arrived.