Late Five-Run Rally Not Enough for Sacramento Against Las Vegas

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Down by five with time running out, the Sacramento River Cats found a way to knot the game thanks to a five-run eighth inning, but they could not force extras as a four-run ninth for the Las Vegas Aviators signaled a 9-5 defeat for Sacramento on Friday.

A one-out walk to Ryan Noda in front of a Jordan Diaz double into left center brought home the game’s first run for the Aviators (27-27/64-65), allowing them to play with a lead for the majority of the contest. Though offense was slow through the middle innings, there were no share of scoring opportunities for Las Vegas, including the fourth when they had runners at the corners with one out but were both left stranded.

Meanwhile, the River Cats (25-30/69-61) put a pair on in the first with a walk and a David Villar single into left center, but a pair of strikeouts shut down the inning without any damage. They logged two more hits in the sixth, starting the inning with a Drew Cavanaugh single while Luis Matos joined him two batters later. However, even with a wild pitch moving both into scoring position, neither could cross the plate after an inning-ending groundout.

It wasn’t until the seventh when the Aviators tacked on three more runs, doing so thanks to a trio of hits that saw RBI knocks from Noda and Diaz while the third run of the frame scored on a wild pitch. One more tally was added in the eighth, one that proved crucial as back-to-back doubles from Davidson and Colby Thomas pushed the score to 5-0.

Sacramento then took just one inning to equalize the contest, scoring all five of their runs in the eighth. Each of the first three batters reached base, all in different fashions with a hit batsman, single from Cavanaugh, and a walk to Cavan Biggio. Despite a pitching change, both of the next two batters were issued free passes that forced home Sacramento’s first two runs. Only Hunter Bishop recorded an RBI hit in the inning with a single to right field, while a groundout and sacrifice fly from Trenton Brooks officially knotted the contest.

The tie game did not last long, as the Aviators avoided extra innings with a four-run top of the ninth, three of which scored on a home run from Davidson on an 0-1 pitch off of Kolton Ingram (1-2). That secured a 5-for-5 night for Davidson while hitting for the cycle, the first to do so against Sacramento since Cooper Hummel did so with the Reno Aces July 31, 2021 at Sutter Health Park.

Ingram’s outing resulted in his second loss of the season, as he yielded all four runs during his only inning of work in the ninth. Sacramento starter Carson Ragsdale pitched solidly through five frames, allowing only one run on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts. It marked the fourth straight outing in which Ragsdale has punched out five or more hitters.

Collecting two of Sacramento’s six hits in the contest was Cavanaugh, closing his night 2-for-4 while scoring a run. Also earning a knock and scoring once was the duo of Biggio and Matos, the latter of which also tallied an RBI along with Villlar, Bishop and Luciano.

Game five of this series gets underway at 6:37 p.m. (PT) from Sutter Health Park.