SACRAMENTO, CA - The Iowa Cubs (39-32) held on for a 10-8 victory in a back-and-forth battle with the Sacramento River Cats (36-34), Monday at Raley Field.
SACRAMENTO, CA - The Iowa Cubs (39-32) held on for a 10-8 victory in a back-and-forth battle with the Sacramento River Cats (36-34), Monday at Raley Field.
The River Cats took a 2-0 lead on a Ryan Howard homer in the second, but Iowa quickly took over the edge with a three-run third. The I-Cubs took advantage of three walks in the frame as Ian Happ punched in one with a single and Jim Adduci lined a base hit to right to plate a pair.
Back-to-back homers from Austin Slater and Chris Shaw in the fourth gave Sacramento a temporary lead, but Trent Giambrone quickly erased the deficit with a two-run homer in the following frame. The home run brigade continued as Donnie Dewees clubbed a pinch-hit, two-run bomb in the sixth and Francisco Peña responded with a solo shot in the bottom of the frame.
Iowa kept the lead and Erick Castillo stretched the gap with a two-RBI double in the seventh. Castillo then plated the I-Cubs' final insurance run with a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning to push the edge to 10-5.
Sacramento didn't go quietly as Mike Gerber banged a leadoff homer in the final frame and Shaw followed with a two-run shot to make it a two-run game with one out. Craig Brooks, making his 2019 Iowa Cubs debut, labored to two outs before Randy Rosario came in and got Howard looking to close the game.
Trevor Clifton (2-6) snapped a six-game losing streak by earning the win with four earned runs allowed through 5.0 frames.
Postgame Notes:
• Trent Giambrone has homered in four straight games. He is the first I-Cub to do so since Rubi Silva July 17-21, 2015.
• Jim Adduci extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a 2-for-5 night. He ties Giambrone for the longest hitting streak for an I-Cub this season.
• Erick Castillo set a career high with three RBI and tied a career mark with three walks.
• Donnie Dewees hit Iowa's first pinch-hit home run since Jacob Hannemann did it on April 16, 2018 at Memphis off Preston Guilmet.
Iowa finishes its west coast swing with a 2:05 p.m. CT first pitch in Sacramento tomorrow. The team returns to Principal Park for a nine-game homestand beginning Thursday, June 20. For more information and tickets, visit www.iowacubs.com.
