River Cats' Merloni goes 5-for-5

Lou Merloni went 5-for-5 with three RBIs on Friday as the Sacramento River Cats outslugged the Tucson Sidewinders, 15-13, at Tucson Electric Park.

Merloni doubled twice, singled three times and walked to extend his modest hitting streak to five games. He also scored three times while raising his batting average 24 points to .261.

Neither team had problems at the plate in a game that featured 43 hits. Sacramento's Dee Brown was 4-for-6 with a homer and a double, while Daric Barton and Kurt Suzuki each had three hits. J.D. Closser and Nicholas Blasi slugged two-run homers as every batter hit safely for the River Cats (35-26).

Chris Carter was the only Sidewinder with fewer than two hits as Tucson collected 21. Dave Krynzel homered and drove in three runs, while Jeff Salazar missed the cycle by a homer and also had three RBIs.

Salazar, Danny Richar, Chad Tracy and Mark Johnson had three hits apiece for the Sidewinders (32-28). Richar was ejected after taking a called third strike in the ninth.

Sacramento starter Brad Knox (2-2) picked up the win, despite getting tagged for five runs on 11 hits in five innings. He struck out three without issuing a walk. Jeffrey Gray fanned two over the final 1 2/3 innings for his fourth save.

Tucson's Evan MacLane (4-5) was scorched for 11 runs on 12 hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings. He struck out one and served up three homers in his first start since May 27.