Teng Tosses Gem, Cats Crush Way to 8-2 Victory Over Aviators

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Pitchers set the tone early and the offense matched, as the Sacramento River Cats scored half of their runs on homers while the pitching compiled 11 strikeouts in an 8-2 victory over the Las Vegas Aviators in their series opener on Tuesday.

Sacramento starter Kai-Wei Teng (2-5) was in a groove from the get-go, working around a throwing error in the force and a two-out ground rule double in the second to stay clean. It was one of the best outings of the season for Teng, as he did not allow another runner to reach base and retired each of the last 12 batters he faced. In all, Teng set season-highs in innings (6.0) and strikeouts (seven) while matching his season-lows in hits (one) and walks (zero).

While Teng was shutting down the Aviators (25-26/62-64), the River Cats’ (24-28/68-59) offense was working on providing run support starting with a Hunter Bishop RBI fielder’s choice in the second. However, the big inning of the night came in the home half of the fourth when Sacramento used four straight inning-opening hits to produce four runs. The first three each were singles, with Bishop recording another RBI on his knock, but all culminated in a three-run blast from Blake Sabol for his seventh dinger of the campaign.

Continuing the scoring in the fifth, the River Cats loaded the bases with a pair of walks and a hit batsman, eventually tallying a run on a bases loaded walk by Sabol in front of a wild pitch that forced another run home.

Taking over on the bump following Teng’s stellar outing was left-hander Ethan Small, who followed it up with a scoreless inning of his own, erasing a leadoff hit with a double play to face the minimum. Right-hander Spencer Howard was tagged for a pair of runs in the top of the eighth on a two-run blast from Colby Thomas that hooked down the left-field line inside the foul pole, but that was the only offense Las Vegas could muster, as Howard worked around a double in the ninth to preserve the victory.

Providing one final run for the River Cats was newcomer Cavan Biggio, who launched his first homer with Sacramento in the bottom of the eighth that brought the game to its final score of 8-2. That finished off the win for Teng, his first since July 28, his last shutout performance.

At the dish, both Luis Matos and Trenton Brooks closed out with a pair of knocks, the latter of which scored three runs for the first time in a game this season. Meanwhile, five other River Cats tallied knocks including the homers for Sabol and Biggio, while Bishop drove in a pair of runs.

Winners of three in a row, the River Cats will look to keep their winning streak alive when they line up for game two of their series against Las Vegas on Wednesday at Sutter Health Park, with first pitch set for 6:45 p.m. (PT).