River Cats Win on Walk-Off Grand Slam

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Sacramento River Cats took game three of their four game set with the Salt Lake Bees early Sunday morning by a score of 6-5 on a walk-off grand slam by Jarrett Parker in the bottom of the 18th inning.  

The River Cats and Bees bullpens posted 10+ scoreless innings as 14 different relief pitchers combined for 31 strikeouts before the offenses came to life in a 7 run 18th. Sacramento reliever Brett Bochy surrendered a tie-breaking home run to Bees catcher Carlos Perez in the top of the 18th. The run was the first since the top of the seventh when the Bees tied the game at two on a Josh Rutledge sacrifice fly. The Bees would add to the total on an Alfredo Marte two RBI double, taking a 5-2 lead as the game headed to the bottom of the 18th.

Out of pitchers, Salt Lake sent catcher Charlie Cutler to the mound to close out the game. Carlos Triunfel started the inning for the River Cats with a double down the left field line and was followed by a Guillermo Quiroz walk. Two batters later, Duvall also walked, loading the bases for Jarrett Parker. Parker turned on a 1-0 pitch, sending it into the bullpen for a walk-off grand slam home run.

Overshadowed by the wild ending were a number of brilliant pitching performances from both bullpens and both starters. Salt Lake's Nick Tropeano tossed six two-run innings while striking out seven. Sacramento's Ty Blach made his Triple-A debut to the tune of seven two-run innings while striking out six and walking none. Sacramento's Michael Broadway, Steven Okert, Curtis Partch, Clay Rapada, and Hunter Strickland kept the game tied with a dominant showing in relief. The five pitchers totaled 15 strikeouts over ten innings, allowing only five hits and one walk.

The River Cats threatened a number of times, putting runners in scoring position in the 10th 14th, and 17th innings, but couldn't find that one hit to bring a run across. Overall, Sacramento was 4-15 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base. Salt Lake was 3-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine.

The 18-inning game is tied for the longest game (by inning) in River Cats franchise history. The last time Sacramento played 18 innings was in 2012, in what was a 2-1 loss to the Tacoma Rainiers. The official game time was 5:22, just ten minutes shy of the franchise record, from the same game against Tacoma.

Tonight was also Travis Ishikawa's first game with Sacramento. He was 0-3 with a strikeout to start his Major League rehab assignment. Catcher Andrew Susac left the game early after taking a foul ball to his throwing hand. While the severity of the injury is unknown, Susac appeared to be in pain and left the game immediately.

The finale of this four game series takes place Sunday at Raley Field. First pitch is at 1:05 p.m. The River Cats will start RHP Jake Dunning (0-0, No ERA) and the Bees will go with RHP Alex Sanabia (0-0, No ERA).  

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The Sacramento River Cats are the Triple-A affiliate of the 2014 World Champion San Francisco Giants. The team plays at Raley Field in West Sacramento, consistently voted one of the top ballparks in America. River Cats Season Tickets, Mini-Plans, and Flex Plans can be purchased for the 2015 season by calling the River Cats Ticket Hotline at (916) 371-HITS (4487). For more information about the River Cats, visit www.rivercats.com. For information on other events at Raley Field, visit www.raleyfield.com.