River Cats Outslug Isotopes on Friday Evening, 12-8

Albuquerque, NM – Center fielder Wynton Bernard had yet another dynamic night at the plate, igniting multiple Albuquerque rallies, but the visiting Sacramento River Cats (12-10) had two huge innings that were the difference in a 12-8 win over the Isotopes (9-13) on Bark in the Park night at Isotopes Park.

Bernard is now 18-for-46 (.391) this season with five doubles, two triples, six home runs and 19 RBI.

After spotting the River Cats a single run in the top of the first inning, Albuquerque answered in their half with three singles, the last by Carlos Pérez to plate Sean Bouchard and tie the game at 1.

Sacramento chased starter Frank Duncan with four runs in the second, highlighted by a three-run homer from rehabbing San Francisco Giants outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. Duncan lasted just 1.1 innings.

Bernard almost single-handedly brought the Isotopes back in the game. He had an RBI double in the second, doubled home two more runs in the third, then belted a two-run homer over the center field fence in the fifth, tying the game at seven. In the midst of Bernard’s latest explosion was a solo home run from Tim Lopes, his second of the season.

In the fateful five-run sixth, Sacramento singled Lucas Gilbreath to death to go back in front by a commanding margin. In a six-batter, 10-pitch span, six River Cats singled on either seeing-eye ground balls or bloopers into the outfield.

Coco Montes shined at the plate for Albuquerque, going 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored in his Triple-A debut. Lopes also had a trio of knocks.

Topes Scope: - Bernard is the first Isotope to homer in three consecutive games since Sam Hilliard did so last June.

- Albuquerque lost for the fourth time when scoring seven or more runs (4/12 vs. Tacoma, 4/17 vs. Tacoma, 4/26 vs. Sacramento).

-Jake Bird tossed two perfect innings in relief. It was his ninth career appearance at Triple-A featuring two innings or more, and six of those have been scoreless. Bird has now pitched against Sacramento three times spanning 2021 and 2022, and has tossed a total of five perfect innings with nine strikeouts.

- At three hours and seven minutes, this was only the second Isotopes game to exceed three hours in length since the new Pace of Play rules started being enforced on April 15.

- This is the first Albuquerque series of the season to be tied at two games apiece through four contests. In the prior three sets, the Isotopes either trailed or led 3-1.

On Deck: On Women In Sports night at Isotopes Park, Albuquerque hosts Sacramento in game five of the series Saturday evening. Left-handed pitcher Dillon Overton (2-1, 4.50) is scheduled to start for the Isotopes while the River Cats will send righty Tristen Beck to the mound in his Triple-A debut. First pitch is set for 6:35 PM, and gates open early at 5:00 in conjunction with Little League Night. Fireworks will follow the game, weather permitting.