Tag: Sacramento Rivercats

River Cats survive late error, walk off Aviators 4-3 to snap four-game slide

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The Sacramento Rivercats celebrate the winning walk off run on a Las Vegas Aviators error at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento on Thu Jun 8, 2023 (@RiverCats photo)

By Stephen Ruderman

SACRAMENTO–The River Cats walked off the Las Vegas Aviators on a bizarre play to cap off a thriller, and to snap their four-game losing streak 4-3.

Patrick Sanders took the ball for Sacramento, and he was rudely welcomed, as the second batter of the game, Trenton Brooks, hit a home run to right to put the Aviators on the board early. Sanders then gave up a base-hit to Jordan Diaz, and got Cody Thomas to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Sanders walked Tyler Soderstrom to start the second, and escaped the inning thanks to a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Conner Capel, which would do it for his night.

Kyle Muller made the start for Las Vegas, as he pitched through a jam in the bottom of the first, and he pitched through a two-out single in the second. Muller got Bryce Johnson to ground out to third to start the bottom of the third, but Luis Matos then hit a towering home run to left-center to tie the game.

Chris Wright followed Sanders for the River Cats, and pitched through a one-out single in the top of the third, but ran into trouble in the fourth. Cody Thomas singled with one out, stole second and scored on a double off the bat of Soderstrom to put the Aviators right back ahead. Wright struck out Garcia, and walked Capel, which led Wright to be pulled for Tanner Andrews, who struck out Zack Gelof to end the inning.

Muller set down the River Cats 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fourth, and got Bryce Johnson to fly out to right to start the bottom of the fifth. Luis Matos then hit a towering double off the wall in left-center; advanced to third on an infield hit off the bat of Tyler Fitzgerald; and scored on a base-hit by David Villar.

Andrews pitched a 1-2-3 top of the sixth, and got Capel to pop out to third to start the seventh, but he was pulled after giving up singles to Gelof and Yohel Pozo. The left-hander, Joey Marciano, then came in, and he hit Tyler Wade to load the bases with one out. Marciano was on the ropes, but he then struck out Brooks and Diaz to get out of the inning with the game still tied.

Chad Smith, who followed Muller with a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth, gave up a home run to Will Wilson that just got out just to the left of straightaway center on the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh, which gave the River Cats their first lead of the night. Marciano and Erik Miller then combined to strike out the side in a 1-2-3 top of the eighth.

The River Cats threatened to break the game open against Aviators’ right-hander, Norge Ruiz, in the bottom of the eighth, but were unable to extend their lead, which sent the game to the ninth with the River Cats up 3-2.

Miller came back out for the ninth, and on a 2-2 count, got Capel to hit a routine fly ball to left, which was dropped by Shane Matheny, who had come in for Will Wilson for defense. Miller was then clearly rattled, as he walked Gelof on four pitches. Miller got Pozo to hit a chopper back to the mound for the first out, but that also advanced the runners to second and third.

That brought up the top of the order in Tyler Wade, who hit a ground ball to River Cats’ second-baseman, Brett Wisely, who was playing in; Wisely then threw home, but Joey Bart was unable to come up with the ball, and Capel scored the tying run. Miller then got out of the inning without further trouble, and the game was tied going to the bottom of the ninth.

Garrett Acton then came in for the Aviators, and walked Bryce Johnson on four pitches to start the bottom of the ninth. Luis Matos then played some old-school baseball, and laid down a sacrifice bunt to get Johnson to second. It was then up to Tyler Fitzgerald, who hit a high fly ball to left-center; Aviators’ center-fielder, Conner Capel, had the ball in his glove, but left-fielder, Cody Thomas, ran into Capel and knocked it out of his hand; Johnson had gone towards third, turned around and headed back towards second, but came in to score once the ball was dropped to win it for the River Cats. The play was ruled an error on Thomas—E7—due to an official scoring rule, which gives an error to a fielder, who in the act of colliding with another fielder, knocks the ball out of the other fielder’s hand.

Erik Miller ended up with the win to improve to 1-0, and Acton got the loss to fall to 5-2. This win snapped a four-game losing streak for the River Cats, who improve to 27-33, but remain in last place and seven games behind the first-place Reno Aces in the Pacific Coast League West.

As for Joey Bart, who is still on his rehab assignment, he went 0-for-4 with a hat trick. His third strikeout marked his eighth in 11 plate appearances.

Game 4 of the series will be tomorrow night at 6:45, as Kyle Harrison will take the mound for the River Cats.

Slump continues for River Cats, as they drop Game 3 to OKC Dodgers 11-4

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Skyline shot of downtown Sacramento from Sutter Health Park in Sacramento. The Oklahoma City Dodgers and the Sacramento Riverscats dueled in game 3 of the six game series on Thu May 25, 2023 (photo from mlb.com file)

By Stephen Ruderman

SACRAMENTO–The Oklahoma City Dodgers trounced the River Cats by a final of 11-4 in Game 3 of this six-game series to hand Sacramento their seventh loss in their last nine games.

The River Cats had Dodgers’ starting pitcher, Robbie Erlin, on the ropes in the bottom of the first. Luis Matos singled to lead off the inning; Tyler Fitzgerald walked; and they advanced to second and third on a double steal. David Villar struck out swinging, and Colton Welker grounded out to third to knock in Matos, but after Matt Beaty walked, Clint Coulter flied out to left to end the inning.

Tanner Andrews took the ball for Sacramento instead of Sean Hjelle, who was originally supposed to start, and after an uneventful first, Andrews struggled in the second, as the Dodgers tagged him for four runs. The inning was capped off by a three-run home run off the bat of Dodgers’ first-baseman, Justin Yurchak.

Andrews pitched a 1-2-3 third, and then was replaced in the top of the fourth by Phoenix Sanders, who the Giants had signed to a minor league contract on Wednesday, and was making his organizational debut. Sanders was greeted by a rude welcome, as the first man he faced, Jonny DeLuca homered to start the inning.

That would not be it for the Dodgers in the fourth, as Devin Mann hit a two-run home run with one out to open up Oklahoma City’s lead to 7-1. Sanders gave up an infield hit to Yurchak; walked Drew Avans; and struck out Michael Busch, but he was then removed after just two-thirds of an inning.

Meanwhile, Robbie Erlin settled in nicely, as he set down 13-straight batters after he walked Matt Beaty in the first. Luis Matos then got his and the River Cats’ second hit of the night with a single to start off the bottom of the sixth, and that was followed with a bunt single by Tyler Fitzgerald.

David Villar flew out to center, which advanced Matos to third, and then Colton Welker singled in Matos to make the score 7-2. Matt Beaty walked to load the bases, and the River Cats had Erlin on the ropes again, but Clint Coulter and Ricardo Genoves both struck out swinging to end the inning.

Cole Waits pitched a 1-2-3 seventh for the River Cats, but he was replaced by Clay Helvey in the eighth, and Helvey melted down. Devin Mann and Justin Yurchak walked to start the inning; Drew Avans singled to load the bases; and Michael Busch drew a walk to extend Oklahoma City’s lead to 8-2.

Luke Williams and Ryan both flied out, as neither were able to get the run in from third, but Jonny De Luca cleared the bases with a triple—his third leg of the cycle minus the double—to open up the lead to 11-2 and essentially put the game away.

The River Cats had some fight in them in the bottom of the ninth against Dodgers’ reliever, Wander Suero, as Ricardo Genoves singled, and Will Wilson hit a two-run towering home run to left to make it 11-4. Michael Gigliotti then hit an infield single over the mound, and Luis Matos singled to set things up for Tyler Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald had a 3-1 count, and was a ball away from loading the bases with still nobody out, but he struck out. David Villar walked to load the bases, but Colton Welker and Matt Beaty both struck out, and that would be it.

Robbie Erlin got the win to improve to 4-1, and Tanner Andrews took the loss to fall to 1-2. The River Cats have now lost seven of their last nine games, as they fall to 22-26, and remain seven games back of the first-place Reno Aces in the Pacific Coast League West.

Game 4 of the series will be tomorrow night at 6:45, with Drew Strotman slated to take the mound for Sacramento.

River Cats win Mother’s Day thriller over Salt Lake 4-3 to get back over .500

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Sacramento River Cats celebrate a win and Mother’s Day at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento on Sun May 14, 2023 (Photo Credit to Ralph Thompson/River Cats)

By Stephen Ruderman

SACRAMENTO–The River Cats, twice down to their last strike, beat the Salt Lake Bees 4-3 on a walk-off nubber to take five of six in the series, as they have now won nine of their last 11 games.

Sean Hjelle took the mound for the River Cats, and pitched through jams in the first, third and fourth innings, as he pitched four shutout innings in total. Jake Lee started for Salt Lake, and his outing was more smooth sailing, as he pitched five shutout innings, giving up just a pair of hits, a triple and a double to Tyler Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald’s pursuit of the cycle was the lone drama early in the game, but it was ended by a pair of walks.

Cam Vieaux came in for the Bees in the bottom of the sixth, and pitched his way through a one-out walk, as he got Matt Beaty and Patrick Bailey on back to back strikeouts to end the inning. Vieaux struck out Shane Matheney to start the bottom of the seventh; gave up a single to Clint Coulter; and got Ford Proctor to fly out to center. Bees’ manager, Keith Johnson, then brought in the left hander, Gerardo Reyes, to face Will Wilson. Coulter stole second, and then Wilson hit a two-run home run to left to put the River Cats on the board.

Drew Strotman pitched three shutout innings, following Hjelle, and then the lefty, Chris Wright, came in for Sacramento in the top of the eighth. Wright got Michael Stefanic to pop out to start the inning; walked Jared Walsh; and then struck out Jo Adell for the second out. Trey Cabbage then came up, and hit a towering drive to right for his 10th home run of the year to tie it up. 

The River Cats loaded the bases off Reyes with nobody out in the bottom of the eighth, but Reyes struck out the side to get out of it unscathed.

The game remained tied at 2-2 going to the ninth, as Melvin Adon came in for the River Cats. Jared Oliva beat out a ground ball to short for an infield hit to lead off the inning, and then stole second on a botched hit and run. Zach Humphreys struck out swinging, and then pinch-hitter David Fletcher grounded out to third, which allowed Oliva to advance to third. Michael Stefanic then beat out a roller up the third base line, which knocked in Oliva to give the Bees the lead.

The bees brought in the major league veteran Jonathan Holder in the bottom of the ninth, who gave up a single to Will Wilson on the first pitch of the inning. Michael Gigliotti struck out swinging, and Cal Stevenson flew out to left-center, which left the River Cats down to their last out. Up came Tyler Fitzgerald, who down to his last strike, lined his second double of the game down the left field line, which got Wilson to third. 

The bees elected to intentionally walk Matt Beaty to load the bases, which left it up to Patrick Bailey. Bailey, also down to his last strike, hit a nubber off the end of the bat along the third base line that Bees’ third-baseman, Taylor Jones, booted, and Wilson and Fitzgerald both scored, sending the 6,044 fans at Sutter Health Park home happy.

Through it all, Melvin Adon got the win to improve to 1-1, and Jonathan Holder took the loss to fall to 0-4. The River Cats are now back over .500 at 20-19, as they will head to Reno to face the first-place Aces for a six-game series starting Tuesday.

Today’s game also featured the challenge version of the Automated Balls and Strikes System that Major League Baseball plans to implement next season. Jared Walsh of the Angels, who was here for a rehab assignment, was called out on strikes by home plate umpire, Tanner Moore, and spent close to 10 seconds arguing with Moore instead of requesting a challenge.

Today’s game was also the final one in Sacramento for the 29-year voice of the Bees, Steve Klauke, who is retiring at the end of the season.