Early Lead Slips Late as Cats Stumble in Extras Against Express

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento River Cats seemed to be on their way to a shutout victory on Wednesday, but a four-run eighth inning by the Round Rock Express forced extra frames where Sacramento eventually fell in 10 innings, 5-4.

Only one run was scored in the first two-thirds of the contest, which was a triple from Hunter Bishop that turned into a run on a groundout by Jerar Encarnacion, giving the River Cats (42-29) an early edge.

That was the only run early because both starters were in a groove from the jump, as Carson Whisenhunt tossed his first scoreless outing since May 4, blanking the Express (35-35) over 4.1 innings while punching out seven. His counterpart, former MLB all-star and San Francisco Giants legend Johnny Cueto, matched him nearly every step of the way and departed after 6.0 innings of work and only the one run allowed.

Insurance came for Sacramento in the top of the seventh, scoring three more runs on the strength of consecutive RBI doubles from Blake Sabol and Jakson Reetz. Sabol delivered his first, scoring Marco Luciano who had reached with a walk. Following that was Reetz with a ball that hopped over the wall, but both runners were already in scoring position and crossed home plate. For Reetz, it was his 13th double of the campaign.

In the next half inning was where Sacramento ran into trouble, as a botched double play attempt left a runner on base with two outs in the inning. Round Rock capitalized with an RBI single from Jantzen Witte, while Jax Biggers followed immediately with a home run that tied the game. It was the second homer in as many days for Biggers, both of which have been two-out, three run homers.

Though Sacramento had a runner on second with two outs in the bottom of the ninth thanks to a ground rule double by Logan Porter, he was left stranded as the game moved into extra frames.

Two quick outs had the River Cats ready to get back into the dugout, but a wild pitch by Sacramento hurler Tanner Andrews (2-3) forced in what became the winning run. The River Cats then went down in order in the home half of the 10th to bring an end to the contest, but not after a little excitement as Villar hammered a pitch the opposite way that fell short on the warning track for the final out.

This marked the fifth loss in a row for the River Cats, their second of the season as they also dropped five consecutive from May 5-10 when they lost the series finale against Tacoma before falling in the first four at Salt Lake.

Andrews took the loss after the wild pitch, though he did not allow a hit in the contest. In addition to Whisenhunt, both Clay Helvey and Cody Stashak put up a scoreless outing, as Helvey went 2.2 innings with a hit and four strikeouts while Stashak yielded two hits with a punchout.

Six River Cats recorded a hit, among the most clutch were RBI doubles from Sabol and Reetz while Bishop had his second triple of the season and scored once. Meanwhile, both Luis Matos and Porter also doubled, but neither scored a run.

Game three of this series will take place on Thursday night from Sutter Health Park at 6:45 p.m.