Walk-off homer dooms River Cats in slugfest

West Sacramento, Calif. - The Sacramento River Cats (44-43) found themselves locked in a back and forth battle with the Reno Aces (39-48), losing in heartbreaking fashion on a walk-off home run from Pacific Coast League journeyman Cody Decker.
Third basemen Zach Green continues to smash the baseball, blasting two more home runs on Friday night, giving him 21 this season. He has now hit 10 homers in his last 14 games, while hitting .309 (17-for-55) with 19 RBI over that span.
Sacramento found themselves trailing by one run headed into the ninth, but rallied to take the lead on back-to-back doubles from outfielders Joey Rickard and Mike Gerber, followed by a Chris Shaw RBI-single, the 500th minor league hit of his career.
Shaw looked poised to be the hero, but Reno's left fielder Cody Decker blasted a two-run walk-off homer against Jandel Gustave to hand the River Cats their second straight loss.
Lefty Conner Menez (0-0, 5.32) will look to get the River Cats back on track Saturday evening against the Aces. Reno will toss right-hander Matt Koch (1-5, 9.64) for game three of the four-game set. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. (PT). Catch all of the action live online at rivercats.com, on the MiLB First Pitch app, on Money 105.5 FM.
Additional Notes

• Aramis Garcia has been on a tear to start July. In four games since the calendar turned, the young catcher is 10-for-17 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and four runs batted in. Garcia has increased his batting average 30 points to .276 on the year.
• The River Cats have had nine different players hit two home runs in a game this season, but third baseman Zach Green is the only River Cat to do it more than once. Green now has five two-home run games.

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The Sacramento River Cats are the Triple-A affiliate of the three-time World Champion -San Francisco Giants. The team plays at Raley Field in West Sacramento, consistently voted one of the top ballparks in America. Season Tickets, Mini-Plans, and Flex Plans can be purchased for the River Cats' 20th season by calling the River Cats Ticket Hotline at (916) 371-HITS (4487). The only place to guarantee official River Cats tickets is at www.rivercats.com. For information on other events at Raley Field, visit www.raleyfield.com.