Fuentes Becomes Isotopes Hits King in Wild Win at Sacramento

Josh Fuentes established the Isotopes single-season hits record Thursday night as he helped Albuquerque (62-74) rally to win 10-8 over Sacramento (54-82) in the series finale at Raley Field.

Fuentes went 2-for-5 at the plate to give him 171 hits for the year, surpassing Jamie Hoffmann's previous record of 169 hits from 2010. The first baseman gave the Isotopes the first lead of the night with an RBI single in the second inning.
Albuquerque starter Jeff Hoffman retired 10 of the first 12 batters he faced to begin the evening. The River Cats finally got to Hoffman in the fifth inning as they scored five runs against him to tie the game at 5-5.
 
The Isotopes regained the lead in the sixth with two runs, but that was short-lived as Sacramento responded in the seventh scoring three times to go up 8-7.
Albuquerque rallied once more in the eighth inning with three runs of its own. Mike Tauchman put the Isotopes ahead with an RBI single that was mishandled by Sacramento right fielder Orlando Calixte, allowing Tauchman to race around the bases for another run.
Tauchman ended the night with three hits and two RBI while fellow outfielder Raimel Tapia went 3-for-5 and drove in three runs.
DJ Johnson, who was celebrating his 29^th birthday Thursday, shut down the River Cats in the ninth inning to secure the victory. The save was Johnson's 18^th of the season. Reliever Yency Almonte picked up the win, his third of the 2018 campaign.
The Isotopes will travel to Reno on Friday to begin their final series of 2018. Lefty Brett Oberholtzer will head to the hill in search of his seventh win of the season. First pitch from Greater Nevada Field is set for 8:05 p.m.