Murphy blasts River Cats to 2-1 lead
The 25-year-old shortstop belted two of Sacramento's five homers Friday night as the River Cats pounded the Salt Lake Bees, 13-5, at Franklin Covey Field to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-5 first-round series.
Murphy, who went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, connected for solo shots in the fifth and seventh innings after launching a two-run shot in Thursday's 8-3 victory.
Chris Denorfia went 4-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs and Carlos Gonzalez and Justin Knoedler also went deep as Sacramento enjoyed its second straight five-homer effort.
Wes Bankston and Jeff Baisley drove in two runs apiece for the River Cats, who banged out 17 hits.
Former PCL All-Star Chris Gissell (1-0) got the win after allowing three runs -- one earned -- on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts over six innings.
PCL Pitcher of the Year Shane Loux (0-1) took the loss after giving up four runs on five hits with one strikeout over three frames.
Bobby Wilson went 3-for-3 with a solo homer in the eighth for the Bees.
In other PCL action:
Iowa Cubs 2, Oklahoma RedHawks 1
Mitch Atkins struck out seven and allowed four hits over seven scoreless innings as the Cubs took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-5 series. Bobby Scales drove in both runs for Iowa. Box score