Franco backs River Cats' win with strong showing

West Sacramento, Calif. -- The Sacramento River Cats (44-41) took four of five from the Albuquerque Isotopes (35-51), capping it off with a 1-0 shutout on Independence Eve.
After opener Sam Selman struck out two in a scoreless first, right-hander Enderson Franco entered the game and proceeded to toss six scoreless innings with four strikeouts. The staff, comprised of four pitchers, allowed just eight baserunners the entire night and kept the Isotopes off the board for Sacramento's fourth shutout of the season.
The lone run came off the bat of outfielder Steven Duggar, whose solo shot in the third was his first Triple-A home run of the season. He's hit safely in each of his four games since joining the club, though tonight's was the first not part of a major-league rehab assignment. He was reinstated from the Injured List on Wednesday but subsequently optioned to Sacramento.
The River Cats will head up Interstate 80 to Reno and face the Aces for four games before hitting the All-Star break. Taking the ball in game one will be right-hander Yoanys Quiala (4-4, 5.34) and he'll be squaring off with fellow righty Riley Smith (1-0, 12.71). First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. (PT). Catch all of the action live online at rivercats.com, on the MiLB First Pitch app, on Money 105.5 FM.
Additional Notes
• The River Cats have had two 1-0 victories in 2019 in which their winning run was a solo homer. Their first came on May 31 at home against Las Vegas when outfielder Mike Gerber's homer was the difference. Prior to this season, this feat had not happened since 2015 when Adam Duvall won the game for Sacramento against Salt Lake.
• As expected with games featuring only one run, Wednesday night's near-sellout crowd saw the shortest game of the 2019 season for the River Cats, besting the previous fastest by three minutes.