McDonald, Encarnacion Power River Cats to 4-1 Win

SUGAR LAND, Tex. – The Sacramento River Cats kept their hopes alive of a series split thanks to a victory on Saturday, coming together behind a solid pitching performance while the offense did just enough for a 4-1 win over the Sugar Land Space Cowboys.

Making his Triple-A debut was Trevor McDonald (1-0), who appeared ready for the moment as he retired each of the first eight and nine of the first 11 batters he faced. It wasn’t until the fourth when he allowed his first hit, a two-out single by Pedro Leon, while his only run was allowed when he put a pair of runners on before exiting the game in the sixth.

While McDonald was doing his thing, the River Cats (10-16/53-47) offense gave him a bit of support starting with a run in the second on an RBI groundout by Jakson Reetz. In the fourth Reetz struck again, capitalizing on a one-out single by Ryan McKenna with a knock into left.

Though the Space Cowboys (15-10/64-36) struck for their only run in the sixth when Will Wagner delivered a broken-bat RBI single in the sixth, the run charged to McDonald, Sacramento struck again for insurance runs in the top of the seventh.

It was none other than one of the hottest hitters on the River Cats, Jerar Encarnacion, who with a two-run blast to right field on a 2-1 count extended his hitting streak to 16 games. He is now tied with David Villar for the longest hitting streak on the River Cats this season, and over this stretch is hitting an eye-popping .413 (26-for-63).

Gates remained in the game and worked his way through the eighth, allowing just the one hit with a walk while striking out three. Taking the baton for the final inning was Tyler Myrick (3), who worked hitless ninth but walked two and struck out one. All told, the three River Cats hurlers combined to allow just three hits.

Four of the nine hits for Sacramento came from the duo of McKenna and Trenton Brooks, producing two knocks and scoring a run each while the latter also had a double. For Brooks, has three multi-hit efforts in his last four games and is batting .643 (9-for-14). Driving in two of the four runs was Reetz, his ninth multi-RBI game this season. Meanwhile, in addition to his hitting streak, Encarnacion has driven in 21 RBI over 18 games in July.

The River Cats will attempt to split the series in the finale tomorrow, as the two teams get underway with first pitch at 4:35 p.m. (PT).