Double In Ninth Helps River Cats Avoid No-Hitter on Monday

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento River Cats were just two outs away from being no-hit for the third time in franchise history since 2005, and although a late double from Ryan McKenna stopped that from happening, Sacramento still dropped the series opener to the Reno Aces on Monday, 7-0.

While the River Cats (3-4/47-35) had a pair of walks sprinkled in the contest, Sacramento went through 25 of their outs without recording a single hit. It wasn’t until McKenna stepped to the plate with one out in the ninth that he smacked a ball the other way, bouncing over the wall into the bullpen in right field for Sacramento’s only hit.

This was just the second game for Sacramento since 2005 that they have recorded a single hit in a contest, with that hit going for extra bases. The last time it happened was nearly 11 years ago to the day on July 3, 2013 when Daric Barton hit a double for Sacramento’s only knock in a 2-0 loss against Tucson in Sacramento.

Meanwhile, the Aces (6-1/41-41) have now won a season-high six straight games, scoring in each the third, fourth and fifth innings before adding one last insurance tally in the eighth. Of their 11 hits, four were for home runs including each of the five, six and seven spots in the lineup. Two of those batting spots were Andres Chaparro and Deyvison De Los Santos, who hit their 15th and 12th homers, respectively, while Adrian Del Castillo also launched his 16th of the campaign.

On the mound, Reno starter Yilber Diaz was carving up batters as he struck out 13 in six hitless frames, which is the most by a pitcher in a single game against the River Cats since Wilmer Font of Oklahoma City punched out 15 on May 15, 2017.

His effort kickstarted what nearly became the first Reno Aces no-hitter in franchise history, though they fell two outs shy of that goal. Sacramento has been no-hit twice since 2005, both instances coming in front of their home crowd. The first was a trio of hurlers from Portland when they combined on a no-hitter in a 5-0 win on June 9, 2006, while three years later Sean O’Sullivan of Salt Lake bested the River Cats with a no-hitter in a 2-0 win on July 28, 2009.

Charged with the loss for Sacramento was starter Carson Seymour (3-7), who was tagged for six runs on seven hits in five innings with one walk. However, Seymour punch out eight hitters, a new season-high for the Kansas State product.

Having lost three in a row for the fourth time this season, the River Cats will look to bounce back in game two of the series tomorrow when the two teams take the field at Sutter Health Park at 6:45 p.m.