ROUND ROCK (Interstat) — The Tacoma Rainiers visit the Round Rock Express on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas, for a Pacific Coast League (AAA) matchup. The forecast calls for cloudy skies and 92 degrees at game time.

Tacoma enters at 70-75 after a 6-5 win at Round Rock on Wednesday. Round Rock is 69-74 after dropping that game. The Rainiers list Jhonathan Díaz (8-9) and Dalton Pence (6-4) as probable pitchers.

Seth Shuman is a player to watch for Tacoma. In his most recent outing, a 6-5 win at Round Rock on Sept. 16, he pitched 2 1/3 innings without allowing a hit or an earned run. He also worked two scoreless innings Sept. 2 at Albuquerque and one scoreless inning Aug. 28 against Salt Lake. Shuman had a 1 1/3-inning outing Sept. 9 against El Paso in which he allowed one earned run and struck out two.

Keyber Rodriguez is a player to watch for Round Rock. He went 2 for 4 with two RBIs in Wednesday’s 6-5 loss to Tacoma. He went 2 for 4 with three RBIs Sept. 12 at Salt Lake and 1 for 5 with a home run and one RBI Sept. 8 at Salt Lake.

The teams have split the first two games of the series. Tacoma won 6-5 Wednesday, and Round Rock won 9-2 Tuesday. Round Rock leads the season series 5-3. In their June meetings at Tacoma, Round Rock won 6-1 on June 28, Tacoma won 5-1 on June 27, Round Rock won 9-7 on June 26, Round Rock won 8-2 on June 25, Tacoma won 12-1 on June 24 and Round Rock won 7-6 on June 23. The game is the third of a six-game series between the teams.

Tacoma’s recent results include a 1-0 win over El Paso on Sept. 13, a 4-1 loss to El Paso on Sept. 12, a 9-4 win over El Paso on Sept. 11 and a 5-4 win over El Paso on Sept. 10. Round Rock’s recent results include a 9-6 win at Salt Lake on Sept. 13, a 13-0 win at Salt Lake on Sept. 12, a 5-4 win at Salt Lake on Sept. 11 and an 11-1 loss at Salt Lake on Sept. 10. Both teams have won six of their last 10 games.

The teams continue the series Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Dell Diamond.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a final score of Round Rock Express 6, Tacoma Rainiers 5. Interstat’s ELO system gives Round Rock a 50.6 percent probability to win.