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River Cats dig out of 11-run hole

Baisley collects six RBIs in 13-11 win over Round Rock
August 12, 2010
Four nights after blowing an 11-run lead, Jeff Baisley and the Sacramento River Cats were on the other end of a comeback on Wednesday.

Baisley hit a game-tying three-run homer in the ninth inning and Eric Sogard doubled in the go-ahead run as Sacramento rallied for a 13-11 victory over the Round Rock Express.

Round Rock matched the biggest inning in franchise history by scoring nine times in the first. The Express tacked on two runs in the second, but Baisley delivered a two-run double in the River Cats' five-run fourth.

"It wasn't positive [in the dugout], but once we put up that five-spot we started to come alive," he said. "We saw it happen four days ago, so we knew it could be done and we never quit."

On Saturday, Sacramento built a 12-1 lead in the fifth inning at Albuquerque, only to lose a 13-12, 12-inning decision.

"Losing a 12-1 deficit and coming back from 11-down, you feel like you stole a win," said Baisley, who also homered in Saturday's setback. "You're down 11-0. What are the chances of coming back from that?"

The River Cats' odds improved when Corey Wimberly smacked a two-run homer in the sixth. Baisley lifted a sacrifice fly in the seventh, but Sacramento trailed, 11-8, heading to the ninth.

Baisley, the Athletics' 12th-round pick in 2005, finished with six RBIs. The 27-year-old hit a two-run double in the fourth inning, and a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning cut the deficit to three, setting up his dramatic blast in the final inning.

Round Rock's Casey Daigle (1-2) had not allowed a run in his previous five appearances and retired leadoff batter Matt Carson on a groundout. But Baisley followed singles by Adrian Cardenas and Michael Taylor with his fifth Triple-A homer of the season.

"I've been swinging the bat well," said Baisley, who extended his hitting streak to six games. "I just told myself not to do too much and he hung a slider, so it worked out well."

Anthony Recker doubled, Wimberly singled and Sogard doubled to give Sacramento its first lead of the night.

"He was 0-for-4 coming in and he hadn't looked particularly good at that point, but he got the job done there where it counted," Baisley said. "It was just as big a hit as mine was."

Wimberly raced home on a wild pitch to cap the five-run ninth and make a winner of Jon Hunton (6-4). Baisley had nothing but praise for a River Cats bullpen that limited Round Rock to two hits over the final seven innings.

"They can keep doing that all they want," he said. "To shut them out the rest of the game, we couldn't have done it without that."

Major League veteran Brett Tomko retired only two of the nine batters he faced and was charged with seven runs on six hits and two walks. Graham Godfrey surrendered four runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings, but Jared Lansford restored order with three scoreless frames.

Michael Benacka fanned two in a perfect ninth for his fourth save.

Taylor finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored, while Baisley fell an RBI short of the career high he set on May 5, 2008 against Iowa. He has three homers and 12 RBIs in his last five games.

"When I first got up here I hit well, but I've been struggling since the All-Star break," said Baisley, who batted .325 with 34 RBIs in 51 games in the Texas League before he was promoted last month.

"I've been working with our hitting coach (Brian McArn) and the last few games I've started to feel good. It's the best I've felt in a while."

Robert Emrich is a contributor to MLB.com.