Moss clubs 1,000th Minor League hit

Brandon Moss' single to right field in the sixth inning of Sacramento's 5-1 win over Tucson on Thursday wasn't any more or less remarkable than any other single, except that it was the one hit that had come after 999 others in his Minor League career.

The 29-year-old outfielder went 2-for-5 in the River Cats' victory, in the process picking up the 999th and 1,000th Minor League hits of his 10-year career in professional baseball.

With two outs and Chris Carter standing on first in the sixth inning, Moss reached out and poked Tucson lefty Colt Hynes' fastball to right field for hit No. 1,000.

"Me and another guy, Wes Timmons, were both close to 1,000 coming in, so I knew that I was approaching it," said Moss. "It's one of those things where you'd rather have the hits in the big leagues, but it's still something you're proud of as an accomplishment. It obviously speaks a little bit to longevity and stuff like that, it's still nice."

Moss' milestone evening raised his average to .359 over 16 games with Sacramento and helped the River Cats improve to 15-6.

"When it's part of a win, you can be happy and kind of take it in a little bit better," he said. "It's still something cool to do, but at the same time, nothing's as good when you lose as it is when you win."

Moss, a veteran of parts of five Major League seasons and three different teams, has 160 hits to his name in the bigs. He said he'd like to add to that total, and wanted to keep things in perspective as he tries to work to earn his place on a Major League club once again.

"You just keep playing, doing what you do and let the good Lord lead you where he may," he said. "I'll end up where I end up. The amount of career hits isn't going to be something that gets you back to the big leagues. It's not one of those things where I look at it as something that could help me get back. You just keep playing and doing what you have to do."

Jermaine Mitchell picked up three hits, including a triple, and scored three times for Sacramento. No. 7 Oakland prospect Derek Norris went 2-for-4, adding a double and an RBI. Carter, Collin Cowgill and Adam Rosales all added two hits apiece.

Starting pitcher Graham Godfrey (1-0) put together a strong outing for his first win, allowing one run on four hits and two walks while striking out seven over seven innings.