Cats Win Fourth Straight for Fourth Time Behind 8-5 Final

RENO, Nev. – For the fourth time this season the Sacramento River Cats have won four straight games, overcoming a 3-0 hole for the second time in their series against the Reno Aces to earn an 8-5 final on Thursday.

Two scoreless innings passed before the Aces (30-36) broke the tie, plating three in the third which included an RBI double from Bryson Brigman just two batters into the frame while Jordan Lawlar and Kyle Garlick each chipped in RBI singles.

Quickly the River Cats responded, countering with three runs of their own in the top of the fourth with the highlight a two-RBI triple from Donovan Walton. It was Walton’s second three-bagger of the season, his first since he had one on May 24 at El Paso. It also gave Walton his second two-RBI game of the series.

An inning later and Sacramento captured the lead for good, tallying a run when Grant McCray slugged his first Triple-A homer of his career. It was a mammoth blast for McCray, traveling 442 feet and leaving the bat at 107.6 mph before clearing the wall in right field.

Crucial insurance was added in the top of the eighth, as the River Cats once more scored a trio of runs that started with a solo home run from David Villar. It was his 10th team-leading 10th blast of the season, coming on a 1-0 pitch out to right center. That was later followed with a bases loaded walk for Brett Auerbach while Tyler Fitzgerald added a sacrifice fly.

Three Aces singles in the home half of the inning led to a run, with Brigman producing the RBI. Both teams traded runs in the ninth, as a Villar single that scored Luis Matos was matched by a Andres Chaparro single in the bottom of the ninth for Reno, bringing the game to its 8-5 final.

The win moved the River Cats 18 games above the .500 mark, the first time they have been that far over the level mark since they closed the 2012 season at 28 games above .500.

Earning the win for the River Cats was southpaw Carson Whisenhunt (2-3), his second of the year. Though he fell one out shy of a quality start, the East Carolina product punched out five and allowed two earned runs (three total) on seven hits in 5.2 innings. It was the fourth straight game that he’s tossed 5.0 or more and the second straight going 5.2 frames.

Right-hander Cody Stashak earned a hold, working 1.1 scoreless innings with only one hit and a pair of strikeouts, stranding an inherited runner in the sixth.

Producing his third straight multi-hit game was Matos, as he closed the evening 2-for-4 with a run scored, two doubles, and a walk. It was the second straight game in which Matos has recorded two doubles, the first River Cat this season to do so. Over his past three games, he is 8-for-14 (.571) with four doubles, two homers and nine RBI.

Though Sacramento claimed victory in their contest, so did the Sugar Land Space Cowboys as they topped Oklahoma City to maintain a one-game advantage over Sacramento in the race for the first-half title. The River Cats will seek to close the gap when they look for their fourth victory of the series against Reno on Friday at 6:35 p.m. (PT).