Pair of seven-run innings sink River Cats

EL PASO, Texas -- The Sacramento River Cats (69-62) allowed seven runs in two separate innings, falling 18-8 on Saturday night to the El Paso Chihuahuas (76-55).
After giving up seven runs to the Chihuahuas in the fourth inning, the River Cats made a brief comeback by cutting the deficit to three thanks to back-to-back three spots in the sixth and seventh innings. The big blow came off the bat of first baseman Chris Shaw, who cracked his 18th home run of the season to bring his RBI total for the ballgame to five with the three-run shot.
But seven additional runs would cross the plate for El Paso in the bottom half of the seventh, cementing their blowout win.
Right-hander Burch Smith (7-3, 2.28) will take the ball for Sacramento in Sunday's series finale while El Paso will go with lefty LHP Dillon Overton (8-5, 6.10). First pitch is set for 5:05 p.m. (PT). Listen to all of the action live online at rivercats.com, on the MiLB First Pitch app, and on Money 105.5 FM.
Additional Notes
• With a Reno loss in tonight's game against Salt Lake, Sacramento's magic number to clinch the Pacific Northern division dropped to one. Interestingly, since Reno's game Sunday starts four hours before Sacramento's, the River Cats could win the division title before the first pitch of their ballgame.
• It was another productive night at the plate for outfielder Joey Rickard (1-for-3 with two walks), who has now reached base a whopping 12 times in his last three games. In last night's ballgame, El Paso failed to retire him as he went 4-for-4 with two walks.
• The 18 runs allowed by the River Cats' pitching staff on Saturday night were the most this season since they surrendered 17 on June 27 in El Paso against these same Chihuahuas.