Teng Sharp for Sacramento but Reno Takes Opener

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento River Cats received a brilliant pitching performance by Kai-Wei Teng in the series opener against the Reno Aces on Tuesday, but despite his 13 strikeouts, the Aces struck for four runs in the seventh which ended up the difference in a 5-1 Reno win.

Teng (2-3) was sharp despite being charged with the loss for the River Cats (45-57), as he allowed only a single hit in his 5.0 innings. However, that hit came around to score for the Aces (56-47) as Adrian Del Castillo put himself 90 feet from home with a triple, and later scored the game’s first run on a wild pitch from Teng.

Outside of that one mistake, Teng was in command throughout his outing and even punched out a new season-high 12 batters. Teng bookended strikeouts in the first and then followed that up by punching out the side in both the second and the fourth.

Those 12 strikeouts were not only a season-best for Teng, but they were also the most by a River Cat in a game this season as it topped the mark of nine that Teng (7/21 vs. TAC) shared with Kyle Harrison (5/23 vs. OKC). That number was just one away from the career-high of 13 that Teng logged as a member of the Eugene Emeralds on Sept. 9, 2021.

Not until Teng’s exit following the fifth was Reno able to add on to its lead, doing so against Drew Strotman in the seventh inning after Strotman had retired the side in order during the sixth. Two of the tallies came on a two-run homer by Blaze Alexander that immediately succeeded a walk to Sergio Alcantara. The next came on an error on a fielder’s choice, while the final run of the frame crossed on a sacrifice fly by Buddy Kennedy.

Eliminating the shutout with one swing of the bat was Heliot Ramos, as he put the River Cats on the scoreboard with a deep blast to left center for his eighth homer of the year in the home half of the seventh. That extended Sacramento’s home run streak to 11 consecutive games, topping their previous season high of 10 which they accomplished from May 14-25. Sacramento now sits five shy of their longest such streak from last season when they clubbed a dinger in 16 straight games from May 26 through June 12, 2022.

That run would be the last of the game as there was just one hit for either team in the final two frames. Though they did not tally a hit, Sacramento loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth against Justin Martinez with a trio of walks but left them stranded to end it.

Capturing the win for Reno was starter Blake Walston (8-5), his eighth of the campaign, who went six scoreless innings and scattered three hits and three walks but struck out only one.

Sacramento outhit Reno (4-3) in the contest, with Ramos the only player in the game to log a multi-hit effort by finishing 2-for-4 with his solo homer. Also recording hits were Bryce Johnson, who was 1-for-4, and Armando Alvarez, who closed 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. Also flashing the leather was Johnson, who made a spectacular play in center field by robbing a home run away from Tristan English with a perfectly timed jump up against the wall.

Game two will see Sacramento aim to level the series in an afternoon matinee, as the two teams take the diamond for first pitch at 12:05 p.m.