Ragsdale Solid in Debut but Late Rallies Drop Cats, 12-4
LAS VEGAS – An early 4-2 lead was not enough for the Sacramento River Cats to hold onto, as the Las Vegas Aviators spoiled Carson Ragsdale’s Triple-A debut with four late run-scoring innings in a 12-4 victory on Saturday. The River Cats (3-2/47-33) tried to hit the gas early, scoring
LAS VEGAS – An early 4-2 lead was not enough for the Sacramento River Cats to hold onto, as the Las Vegas Aviators spoiled Carson Ragsdale’s Triple-A debut with four late run-scoring innings in a 12-4 victory on Saturday.
The River Cats (3-2/47-33) tried to hit the gas early, scoring once in their first set of swings with a two-out rally that saw Hunter Bishop single and score two batters later on a single into right center by Blake Sabol.
It did not take long for the Aviators (2-3/39-41) to respond, doing so with a pair in the home half of the first. Jacob Wilson started the inning with a single while Ryan Noda walked, both later scoring on a RBI double from Brett Harris and a sacrifice fly from Seth Brown.
Two innings later in the third Sacramento briefly jumped back in front, scoring once just two batters into the frame as Marco Luciano doubled and was driven in by Hunter Bishop on a single into right center. Meanwhile, an error and a Sabol single helped Bishop cross the dish later in the inning, while the final run scored when Jerar Encarnacion grounded into a double play.
While the offense was gaining an advantage, Ragsdale bounced back from his tough first and made it through four full innings, striking out four but walking five and allowing a pair of runs on two hits.
Upon turning to the bullpen the momentum swung in favor of Las Vegas, as the Aviators scored once in the fifth, twice in the sixth, four in the seventh and three in the eighth. Among those 10 unanswered runs were four home runs, two of which belonged to Jacob Wilson who was 4-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI.
Taking the loss for Sacramento was Clay Helvey (4-3), who yielded three runs on five hits in 1.2 innings of work, walking three and striking out one. Each the trio of Bishop, Porter and Sabol had a pair of hits, all going 2-for-4 while Bishop scored twice and Porter crossed once.
The River Cats still have a chance to win the series outright when the two teams line up for the series finale on Sunday at 6:05 p.m. (PT).