TACOMA'S BOYS OF SUMMER LOSE AGAIN, CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE MIGHTILY AT THE PLATE >>>

No more excuses this time. No more, "The season is young." No more, "They were on the road."  We have to call it like it is. And this is a skid.

Last night's loss to the Sacramento River Cats means the Rainiers have lost their fifth in a row, sending the team to 3 - 9 on the season. 

Last night's loss means the Rainiers have lost seven of eight.

Last night's loss means the Rainiers have yet to win a game at newly remolded Cheney Stadium.

Most importantly, last night's loss means even though they've only played twelve games, the Rainiers better improve soon or we're in for a long, long season. 

Thoughts ...

-Though the Rainiers scored six runs in last night's loss, they still need to get it together at the plate. Third baseman Alex Liddi and outfielder Mike Carp in particular need to crawl out of their slumps. Liddi hit well last night, but as mentioned over on USS Mariner, he is striking out way too much. He has twenty strikeouts so far in the season. That's twenty more than we'd like to see. Carp is batting a measly .093. Last year he batted .257 and hit 29 homeruns. Come on, boys, pick it up! Don't make editor Matt Driscoll regret his Mike Carp tattoo...

- Speaking of slumps, Liddi and Carp aren't the only guys struggling at the plate. Really, outside of Carlos Peguero, we could have mentioned most of the team when it comes to failing to hit. As it turns out, hitting is a key to baseball success.

-For the most part, the Rainiers are doing fine on the mound. Nothing spectacular, but nothing out of the ordinary that we can gripe about, either. Are they giving up some runs? Yes. Are they giving up a ton of runs every game? No. There's always room for improvement, but what we really need right now is more timely hitting. (Are we sounding like a broken record yet?)

- Speaking of pitching, Chris Seddon was recently named the PCL's Pitcher of the Week. He has the ball tonight against the Colorado Spring Sky Sox. The Sky Sox are also struggling at 4 - 8, so let's hope tonight's the night the Rainiers get their first victory of the season at Cheney Stadium.

Because we can only marvel at the new stadium improvements for so long before we get bummed out on losing baseball.

Of course, beer helps ...