Sacramento pulls off stunning sweep
The River Cats were relentless Monday night in Tacoma, coming back from an early 3-1 deficit to win 7-6 on a line-drive single by Adrian Cardenas in the seventh inning. The hit scored Matt Carson, and Tacoma Manager Daren Brown was ejected after voicing his displeasure with the call at home.
The win was Sacramento's fifth in a row, heading into a four-game series at Reno this week.
Despite an early home run by Eric Sogard, Sacramento found itself down 4-1 after the first inning. Right-hander Josh Outman had a start similar to that of a week ago where he had an extended first inning. On April 13, Outman threw 41 pitches in the first inning, going only 2.0 innings while allowing four earned runs. Outman threw 35 pitches in the first inning Monday night, allowing four runs in the first but pitching better as the night wore on, retiring eight of nine batters at one point.
Outfielder Matt Carson chipped away at the lead with a one-run double in the second inning and hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning to give the River Cats their second lead of the ballgame at 5-4.
That run lasted a short until Tacoma third baseman Alex Liddi doubled to right, bringing in two runs for a 6-5 lead in the fifth.
Catcher Josh Donaldson, batting .094 on the season, picked a good time to hit his first home run of the year, tying the game in the sixth.
In the seventh, Carson found himself in another position to put his team up after stealing second with one out. The red-hot Cardenas was able to bring him in, although Brown and catcher Josh Bard didn't see eye-to-eye with home plate umpire Brian Sinclair. Cardenas' hit was his second on the night and gave him his team-leading seventh multi-hit game.