Early Lead Holds for Cats, Claim Victory 6-3 on Saturday

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Saturday marked the second win in a row for the Sacramento River Cats, once more putting together a complete performance that started with a solid pitching effort and contained offense throughout, ultimately leading to a 6-3 win on Saturday over the Albuquerque Isotopes.

One day following Robbie Ray spinning 5.1 scoreless innings on rehab, Alex Cobb (1-0) kept the rehab starts going by tossing 5.0 innings without allowing a run, striking gout four while yielding a pair of hits and a walk. He had one punchout in each of the first three frames, and left by retiring each of his final four hitters faced.

While Cobb was dealing, the River Cats (7-13/51-44) offense got right to work starting with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. The first came from one swing by Casey Schmitt, launching a solo blast on a 2-2 count out to left field. That was the start of three consecutive hits, as it was followed by a double from David Villar that was an inch away from being back-to-back homers, scoring in the next at-bat when Jerar Encarnacion singled into left field.

Scoring continued with runs in each the third and fourth, both of which were solo home runs as Marco Luciano launched his eighth of the year while McCray turned an 0-2 pitch into his third blast of the year. The homer for McCray was not just his first in Sacramento, it was his first hit at Sutter Health Park as he snapped an 0-for-21 streak.

Sacramento’s final two runs came during the sixth, doing so with their fourth homer of the night when McCray lifted off yet again. It was his second homer in as many at-bats, crushing a 2-1 pitch into right field that also scored Jakson Reetz after he reached on a throwing error.

The Isotopes (10-10/36-59) broke up the shutout bid in the eighth by smashing three solo homers, with the inning starting on a Trevor Boone blast out to left center. Later in the frame it was back-to-back homers from Kris Bryant, his first on his current rehab assignment, followed by Elehuris Montero when he turned a ball around into center.

Following Cobb, Austin Warren entered and also turned in a scoreless inning, while Tyler Myrick (S, 2) worked the final 1.1 innings with a trio of strikeouts for his second save of the year.

Seven River Cats ended their nights with a knock, which included both McCray and Brett Auerbach with a pair of hits each. McCray’s two-homer night made him the ninth River Cat to do so this season, while Luciano has hit four home runs in his past five games.

Having already claimed a victory in this three-game set, Sacramento will look to make it a sweep when the two teams take the field for the series finale at 1:05 p.m.