Cats capture Third Straight In 5-4 Extra-Innings Win Over Aces

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A three-run third and timely hits down the stretch pushed the Sacramento River Cats to victory in their series opener against the Reno Aces, snapping a few streaks as Sacramento snatched a 5-4 victory in 10 innings on Tuesday.

Back-to-back home runs from Albert Almora Jr. and Adrian Del Castillo in the first two at-bats of the game, the first of which from Almora Jr. came on the game’s first pitch, put the Aces (16-11/51-51) on top early. Shortly after, Reno added onto the lead with a tally in the third when Del Castillo lined a double and later crossed the plate on a Blaze Alexander single.

The response from the River Cats (12-16/55-47) was swift, plating three in the bottom half of the third to draw the contest level. Five consecutive hits were responsible for all the damage, with Donovan Walton starting the hit parade on a bunt single. After a Christian Koss double into left center, Luis Matos drove both in on a single into the right-center gap.

Keeping the chain moving was an infield single from Grant McCray, setting up Jerar Encarnacion with an RBI opportunity that he cashed in on to score Matos from second. For Encarnacion, he now has the longest hitting streak on Sacramento this season at 17 games, the longest hitting streak since Joe McCarthy had knocks in 18 consecutive games from May 24-June 17, 2021.

While the Aces pulled back in front during the fifth thanks to singles from Almora Jr. and Del Castillo, the latter earning another RBI, the River Cats found a way to equalize yet again in the home half of the seventh when Ryan McKenna crushed his first homer of the year with Sacramento out to left field on an 0-2 pitch.

For a second straight time against the Aces the game moved into extra innings, but this time ended with a different result as the River Cats found a way to claw together a run in the bottom of the 10th. Starting with a free runner on second, Brett Auerbach moved the runner over to third where, after an intentional walk, a sinking liner into center field from Donovan Walton sent the crowd home happy.

That Walton knock snapped a number of streaks for the River Cats, starting with a nine-game losing streak against the Reno Aces. That stretch started back on June 15 when the Aces snagged each of the final three to split a six-game set, and continued with a home and home sweep of six games from July 1-6.

What’s more, the win was snapped a seven-game losing streak in walk-off contests for Sacramento, as they had captured each of the first three walk-off games before dropping their last seven in a row. Oddly enough, each of the last four games between Sacramento and Reno have ended in walk-off fashion as Reno did it to the River Cats three times in Reno to end that July 4 series. This was Sacramento’s first walk-off win that wasn’t a home run, with the last win in such games coming on May 14 at home over Oklahoma City.

Finally, the River Cats ended a three-game losing streak in extra innings, winning two of their first three before dropping each of the next three. Four of the eight extra-innings games that Sacramento has played has come against Reno, and they improved to 3-1 in such games.

Right-hander Carson Ragsdale did not factor into the decision but punched out seven batsmen tonight, allowing three runs on five hits with a pair of walks. Four River Cats relievers tossed scoreless outings which included the Sacramento debut for Kyle Cody, who was just promoted from Richmond earlier in the day. On last was Tyler Myrick (2-2), collecting his second win of the year by working a clean 10th inning despite the free runner.

Not only did he play the hero, but Walton closed the night the only River Cat with three hits, his first three-hit effort since June 28 at Las Vegas. There were also a trio of River Cats to end with a two-hit night, as each Encarnacion, McKenna and Koss had a pair of knocks with McKenna scoring twice while driving in a run.

Sacramento will look to defend its early advantage in this series during game two on Wednesday, as the two teams line up for first pitch from Sutter Health Park at 12:05 p.m. (PT).