Cats Close Series With 9-0 Win Over Tacoma on Sunday

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sunday saw the River Cats close out their series with the Tacoma Rainiers in a dominant fashion, plating four runs in each the second and fourth innings while the pitching staff stayed clean en route to a 9-0 victory.

Setting the tone on the mound early for the River Cats (34-23) was Mason Black, who blanked the Rainiers (30-27) through four innings, his fifth scoreless outing of the season. Though he did not factor into the decision, he matched his season high in strikeouts with seven which included him striking out the side in the second after a leadoff single.

On next was southpaw Reggie Crawford, who faced the minimum three hitters in his lone inning of work during the fifth. Taking the baton after was Raymond Burgos (2-0), who captured his second win of the campaign by tossing 2.0 scoreless frames and scattered a pair of hits with three strikeouts.

Going the rest of the way was the duo of Cody Stashak and Clay Helvey, each of whom worked a hitless frame as Stashak struck out one in the eighth while Helvey had a pair of punchouts in the ninth.

There could be no shutout win without any offense, which came in spades for the River Cats starting with their first four-spot in the second. Three straight walks loaded the bases, setting up Brady Whalen who drove in the first run of the game with a single into right field to snap an 0-for-17 stretch.

Up to the plate next was Javier Francisco, who was making his Triple-A debut after being called up earlier in the week. Ready for the moment, Francisco delivered a bases-clearing triple down the right-field line for his first Triple-A hit and RBI of his career.

Two innings later and Sacramento struck for four again, once more loading the bases immediately with a pair of walks sandwiching a single from Francisco. The free passes continued, with two more walks forcing runs home and earning RBI for Hunter Bishop and Blake Sabol. The final two runs of the frame scored on a single to left center from Ismael Munguia, who tallied his first multi-RBI game since he also drove in two on May 14 against Oklahoma City.

Sacramento added one final insurance tally in the home half of the fifth, plating a run on a sacrifice fly from Donovan Walton.

All told, each of Munguia, Whalen and Francisco had multi-hit games, with Francisco leading the way thanks to his 3-for-4 effort with a trio of RBI. Meanwhile, Whalen scored three runs and reached a total of four times while going 2-for-2 with an RBI, and Munguia closed his day 2-for-3.

This marked the sixth shutout win of the season for Sacramento, with three of the victories coming against Tacoma after also blanking them on May 2 (4-0) and May 4 (1-0). It was Sacramento's largest shutout win of the season and their largest since they blanked New Orleans by a 10-0 final on June 7, 2019.

The River Cats secured yet another series win, their seventh of the series and their fifth at home where they have yet to drop a set (five series wins, one split). This is the second series win over Tacoma this season, as they also took four of six games from April 30-May 5.

This homestand for the River Cats will continue next week, as they prepare to host the Albuquerque Isotopes for a six-game set at Sutter Health Park that begins on Tuesday evening at 6:45 p.m. (PT).