SEATTLE – He remained with the Class AAA Tacoma Rainiers while two outfielders around him – Shin-Soo Choo and Adam Jones – were promoted to the Seattle Mariners the past two weeks.
Chris Snelling, meanwhile, kept hitting.
The left-handed-hitting outfielder hit his fourth homer Thursday night in the Rainiers’ 12-4 loss at Portland, their first game back after the All-Star break.
Snelling is hitting .288 with 31 RBI, a .452 slugging percentage and a .399 on-base percentage.
The Rainiers entered the weekend 50-39 and second in the Pacific Coat League Pacific North Division, three games behind Salt Lake.
First baseman Bryan LaHair entered the weekend having hit safely in 19 of 22 games since he was promoted to the Rainiers from Class AA San Antonio. He’s hitting .329 with one homer, six doubles and 16 RBI with the Rainiers.
The Rainiers underwent a roster shuffle last week, getting Choo back from the Mariners; shortstop Oswaldo Navarro from San Antonio; and pitcher Justin Huisman from the disabled list (he’d been on the DL since May 20 with a broken right thumb). Shortstop Erick Monzon was transferred from Tacoma to San Antonio.
Elsewhere around the Mariners’ minor league system:
Class AA San Antonio Missions: Left-handed pitcher Ryan Feierabend pitched six innings Thursday in a 7-6 victory over Arkansas, raising his record to 6-7. Outfielder Wladimir Balentien hit a two-run homer in the game.
Infielder Jason Bourgeois entered the weekend with a seven-game hitting streak and was batting .381 in July. The Missions were 12-9 in the Texas League second half and two games behind Corpus Christi in the South Division standings.
Class A Inland Empire 66ers: Outfielder Chris Colton had hit safely in 10 of 12 games this month with a .362 average, five doubles, two homers, four steals and 12 RBI in July.
Outfielder Casey Craig had hit safely in 12 of 14 games since being promoted from Class A Wisconsin, and infielder Reed Eastley had hit safely in 12 of 13.
The 66ers had gone 9-10 in the second half of the California League, leaving them third in the South Division, 2 games behind High Desert and Lake Elsinore entering the weekend.
Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: The Rattlers remained at the bottom of the Midwest League Western Division but achieved something rare Thursday in a victory over Peoria. It was the Rattlers’ second straight road victory, the first time they’d done that since May 5-6, and it clinched their first series victory since early April.
Left-hander Jose Escalona beat Peoria on Thursday, ending a seven-game losing streak. It was his first victory in 12 starts going back to May 1.
The Rattlers entered the weekend 6-15 in the second half.
Rookie-level Peoria Mariners: First baseman Gerardo Avila’s 23 hits entering the weekend tied him for first in the Arizona League and his three home runs were tied for third. He had hit safely in 12 of 15 games.
Outfielder Stan Posluszny had hit safely in eight straight games, batting .455 in that span.
The Mariners were 9-9 and tied for fourth in the Arizona League, 3 games behind the first-place Scottsdale Giants.
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