Roller Coaster Night Ends With Extra Inning Walk-Off

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA. - It was a roller coaster kind of night for the River Cats as they defeated the Fresno Grizzlies 5-4 with a walk-off in extra innings. After blowing an early lead, Sacramento came back to force extra frames before walking things off in the bottom of the 13th on a Kevin Frandsen RBI-double.

With two outs in the 13th, the River Cats finally broke through on Frandsen's walk-off double to left-center. Two batters earlier, Kelby Tomlinson picked up his second hit of the night, a two-out single to center, before stealing second. With first base open, the Grizzlies elected to intentionally walk Ryan Lollis and face Frandsen. Frandsen, who entered the game in the seventh inning in place of the ejected Adam Duvall, sent a double into the gap to score Tomlinson and send the River Cats home with their sixth extra-inning win of the season.

Sacramento staked themselves to an early lead as Duvall mashed a three-run home run in the bottom of the first. The homer was Duvall's 17th of the season, making him the active home run leader in the PCL.

The Grizzlies got two back in the next inning on a two-run homer from Tyler White. The two runs were the only two that River Cats' starter Clayton Blackburn (3-3, 4.07) would allow. The right-hander threw 5.2 innings, giving up the 2 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 7.

Things took a turn for the worse in the seventh, as the Grizzlies scored twice to take a 4-3 lead. Duvall was also ejected in the inning after arguing with first base umpire Adam Schwarz. Receiving a throw at first, Duvall was ruled to have missed the bag and Fresno's Robbie Grossman was called safe. 

The River Cats countered again, getting a run in the eighth to tie the game at four. After Carlos Triunfel roped a triple off the top of the wall in left-center, he scored on a sacrifice fly by Ronny Cedeno.

The bullpen was excellent for Sacramento in the win as five different pitchers put together 7.1 innings of two-run ball. Mike Broadway and Brett Bochy allowed just two baserunners in four innings of work from the 10th through 13th innings.

Left-hander Nik Turley (3-3, 6.21) gets the nod for Sacramento tomorrow night. The southpaw beat Fresno in their first meeting, throwing 6 shutout innings at Chukchansi Park. For the Grizzlies, it'll be fellow southpaw Luis Cruz (4-4, 4.87). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

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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.