Teng, Offense Powerful as Cats Wins Fourth Straight

EL PASO, Tex. – The Sacramento River Cats were locked in from start to finish in game three against the El Paso Chihuahuas, scoring early and often as they won their season-high tying fourth consecutive game with a 14-6 victory over El Paso on Thursday.

Though action started with a strikeout, the recently acquired Trenton Brooks put the River Cats (54-68) on the board with his first homer in a Sacramento uniform on a 1-0 pitch to left field. Up next were a pair of consecutive doubles from David Villar and Brett Wisely which had both in scoring position, with the former scoring on a single from Armando Alvarez while the latter scored along with Alvarez on a knock by Jakson Reetz.

For Villar, that hit helped him tie the season-best reached base safely streak of 24 games that was achieved by Matt Beaty earlier this season, and should he reach tomorrow would hold sole possession of the best mark. Additionally, last year’s Pacific Coast League MVP has now logged a knock in 13 consecutive games and is two away from tying Clint Coulter’s season record of hits in 15 straight.

To add one more run in the third the River Cats used some two-out magic, capitalizing on back-to-back two-out hits with a single by Alvarez while Donovan Walton doubled him home with a liner to left

Starting pitcher Kai-Wei Teng (4-4) retired six of the first seven Chihuahuas (53-70) that he faced, including striking out the side while stranding a one-out walk in the first and fanning two more in the second. He ran into his only trouble during the bottom of the frame, as a pair of walks along with a single set the stage for a pair of runs. The first scored on an RBI groundout, while the second crossed on a sacrifice fly.

Teng got back to work in the fourth and fifth, allowing only one more hit while putting himself in line for the win. In all it was another solid outing for Teng, as he punched out eight and walked three while allowing a pair of runs on two hits.

A pair of singles from Tyler Fitzgerald and Brooks helped Sacramento get one of the two runs back, as Fitzgerald led off the frame and had advanced to second when Heliot Ramos was hit by a pitch in front of Brooks.

Continuing to add in the fifth, Fitzgerald set the tone by working a free pass and stealing second, scoring immediately on a Ramos double to right field. A pair of walks loaded the bases, and Wisely was able to drive in another run with a sacrifice fly. However, El Paso responded with one of their own against the newly entered Nick Avila on a solo home run by Tirso Ornelas.

Once again Sacramento extended cushion with a direct response in the top of the seventh, putting runners at the edges with a leadoff single by Walton and a two-out knock by Fitzgerald. Driving them both in with one swing was Ramos, as he clobbered a three-run blast to left field on a 3-2 pitch that pushed the lead to 12-3.

While the Chihuahuas used an RBI single and a sacrifice fly to scrape together a pair of runs, Sacramento countered with their third home run of the night when Alvarez joined the party with his 13th homer of the campaign. On a 2-2 pitch Alvarez unloaded on a pitch down the left-field line, scoring Villar who had walked earlier in the inning.

Fighting until the end, El Paso managed a run in the bottom of the ninth but could not overcome the mountain in front of them as the River Cats captured their fourth overall and third straight road victory. Should they win again tomorrow, they would capture their first five-game winning streak since they won five from Aug. 2-7, 2021 when they won five consecutive over the Reno Aces.

For Teng this marked his fourth victory of the season, while his starting counterpart Anderson Espinoza (6-6) was tabbed with the loss after he yielded seven runs on 11 hits in 4.0 innings. This was Teng’s third straight start fanning five or more, and the right-hander has totaled 35 punchouts in August.

Two River Cats produced three-hit games and scored a trio of runs each in Fitzgerald and Alvarez with the latter also driving in three more. Also scoring three runs was Ramos, ending his return to Sacramento with a 2-for-4 night that saw both go for extra bases with a double and homer to help him produce his third four-RBI game of the year. Three others had multiple knocks as the River Cats reached 16 hits or more for the 11th time.

Sacramento will try to make it five straight wins when the two teams line up for game four at Southwest University Park beginning at 5:35 p.m. PT.