Walton Blast Part of Four Unanswered Leading to Kitties Victory

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Game three between the Sacramento River Cats and the Albuquerque Isotopes was yet another low-scoring affair, and though Albuquerque tallied the first runs, Sacramento came back with four straight for a 4-2 victory on Thursday.

Three innings came and went without a run, and it wasn’t until the fourth that the Isotopes (17-43) snapped the scoreless contest. Facing off against River Cats (37-23) starter Carson Seymour, the Isotopes strung together a two-out rally that started on an error by Seymour on a ground ball to first. A walk and single loaded the bases, setting up Hunter Stovall to collect a pair of RBI on a single up the middle.

Shortly after Sacramento reached the scoreboard, tallying a run in the fourth after Hunter Bishop kicked off the frame with a single and later scored on a Blake Sabol sacrifice fly.

Moving into the sixth, the River Cats needed just three batters to snatch their first lead of the contest. Ater a groundout to begin the frame, Bishop doubled while Donovan Walton hammered a 1-0 pitch over the wall in right field for his third home run of the season, traveling a total distance of 406 feet while leaving the bat at 104.3 mph.

Insurance was added an inning later in the seventh, as Ismael Munguia doubled and later scored with two outs in the frame thanks to none other Bishop, who posted his third hit of the night with a single into right field. It was the first three-hit game for Bishop at the Triple-A level.

Once again, the bullpen held up its end of the bargain by combing on 4.2 innings while not allowing a single run. The victory went to Clay Helvey (4-2), his fourth of the season, as he yielded only a single hit in 2.2 innings of work with four punchouts.

Helvey was followed by Cody Stashak, who picked up a hold in a single inning of work while allowing one hit and walk with a pair of punchouts. Taking the baton last was the reigning Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Month Spencer Bivens, who pushed his scoreless streak to 10 games and 17.2 innings after he worked a perfect ninth with two strikeouts.

Bishop and Walton combined to do most of the damage, as the pair scored and also drove in three of the four Sacramento runs in the contest. Posting the only other hit was Munguia with his double, his first extra-base hit since he hit a double on May 25 at El Paso.

Tonight’s victory marked five straight for Sacramento, the second time they have done so this season. They are now 14 games above the .500 mark, the first time they have done so since they finished the 2014 season at 79-65.

The River Cats will aim to match their longest winning streak of the season (six games) in tomorrow’s contest, as game four between the River Cats and the Isotopes gets underway from Sutter Health Park on Friday at 6:45 p.m.