Williamson powers River Cats with trifecta

The outfield fence of Raley Field couldn't contain Triple-A Sacramento on Monday. And for Mac Williamson, neither could the ballpark as a whole.
The Giants outfielder blasted three long balls and drove in a season-high five runs in the River Cats' 12-6 win over the Aces, including a 511-foot moon shot that plated the go-ahead run and capped back-to-back-to-back shots in the fifth inning. It was the seventh three-homer game in Sacramento history.

Williamson went deep to left-center field in his first at-bat against right-hander Braden Shipley, scoring Austin Slater for the team's first runs of the game. Then with two outs in the fifth, Mike Yastrzemski clubbed a solo shot to right off southpaw Anthony Vasquez. Slater followed with a long ball to center.
Williamson stepped into the box and rocketed his tape measure shot to left, the ball barely hanging fair before exiting the ballpark entirely to claim a 6-5 lead.
"As soon as it hit the bat, you already knew that it was leaving the ballpark -- or it was leaving the stadium," River Cats manager Dave Brundage said.

But the 28-year-old wasn't done. He went deep again to left-center in the seventh off Vasquez, Sacramento's seventh and final homer on the night -- one short of the franchise record. Slater hit another one out in the third and Brandon Van Horn added a pinch-hit solo shot in the seventh, his first homer at the Triple-A level.
Brundage didn't expect such an eruption, but has been around the game long enough to have not been surprised by it.
"Things in the game of baseball come in bunches ... tonight, our bunches came in homers," he said.
Gameday box score
Williamson has blasted 97 long balls across eight seasons in the Minors and with the Giants. He hit 13 with Sacramento last season and four with San Francisco in 28 games in The Show.
After a little more than a month in 2019, he has nine homers, 21 RBIs and a .378 average on the year. The hat trick also marked his second multi-homer game in almost a week's time -- he went yard twice against Albuquerque on April 30. This success, according to his skipper, comes from his obvious natural talent, but also from a refined approach he's applied recently.
"He just looks so comfortable," Brundage said. "Just as far as getting the pitch to hit, he's been more selective and been showing more patience. His pitch selection's been a lot better, so I think that's really helped him here of late."