Cats Cruise in 14-8 Win over Aviators on Thursday

LAS VEGAS – A dominant all-around performance by the Sacramento River Cats resulted in a second-consecutive victory on Thursday, doing much of their damage with the long ball while pitching was strong in all but the seventh leading to a 14-8 win over the Las Vegas Aviators.

Home runs accounted for four of the first six runs for the first six runs for the River Cats (2-1/46-32), all of which started with the 10th homer of the year from Casey Schmitt in the top of the first. After a leadoff single form Tyler Fitzgerald, Schmitt put the River Cats ahead with a blast that traveled 449 feet.

During the second Grant McCray brought home two on a triple, making the Aviators (1-2/38-40) pay for a couple of free passes just prior.

Later in the third, the River Cats hit back-to-back-to-back home runs for the first time since the 2021 campaign, as Marco Luciano and Logan Porter each hit their second in a Sacramento uniform while Jerar Encarnacion launched his first. They are the first trio of River Cats to homer consecutively since Chadwick Tromp, Drew Robinson, and Mitchell Tolman in a 10-7 loss in Las Vegas on May 11, 2021. Keeping the inning going was Brett Auerbach, who lined his own two-bagger that scored a run and pushed the lead to 8-0.

Jakson Reetz joined the home run party in the fifth, mashing a two-run shot that cleared the wall in left center for his fourth of the year. Later in the inning it was McCray that chipped in another RBI, doing so when he doubled home Auerbach for the final run of the frame.

Schmitt left the yard yet again in the sixth, making him the first River Cat with a trio of multi-home run games this season. This time it was his 11th of the campaign, traveling 423 feet to center field. Four batters later, Reetz doubled once again thanks to his sharp liner into left field, scoring Luciano on the play.

With a total of six home runs on the night, the River Cats marked their new season-high and their most in a game since they hit seven against this same Lav Vegas squad on June 11, 2023 at Sutter Health Park in a 18-2 victory. Thanks to also logging five doubles, it was just the seventh instance since 2005 that the River Cats have hit at least five doubles and five home runs in the same game.

While the offense was cooking, pitching was also dealing as starter Mason Black (3-4) blanked the Aviators’ bats over six solid innings. It was the first time since June 2 that Black did not yield a run, scattering two hits in his season-high 6.0 frames while striking out six leading to his third win of the year. In all, he faced just three batters of the minimum in his appearance.

Though the River Cats added a sacrifice fly from Schmitt in the seventh, Las Vegas avoided a shutout in the home half of the inning when Yohel Pozo hit a grand slam following a pair of singles and a walk to the three batters prior. It was his second homer in the past three games, and marked the fifth grand slam for Las Vegas this season.

Las Vegas went on to add one final run in the home half of the ninth but could not come close to catching the River Cats who have won three of the past four and four of the past six games.

From the dish, McCray finished with a season-high four hits, the seventh River Cat to record a four-hit game this season. He fell a home run shy of the cycle, but drove in three runs with a pair of doubles and a triple. Schmitt hit his two homers as part of a 2-for-5 night, while Reetz’s three hits also helped him score twice and drive in three.

The River Cats will attempt to claim at least a series split when the two teams meet again on Friday at 7:05 p.m. (PT) from Las Vegas Ballpark.