Middle Innings Lift River Cats to 5-4 Victory Over Aviators
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – One run in each of the fourth through sixth innings proved to be the difference for the Sacramento River Cats against the Las Vegas Aviators, manufacturing runs in the middle frames that helped Sacramento outlast Las Vegas by a 5-4 final at Sutter Health Park on
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – One run in each of the fourth through sixth innings proved to be the difference for the Sacramento River Cats against the Las Vegas Aviators, manufacturing runs in the middle frames that helped Sacramento outlast Las Vegas by a 5-4 final at Sutter Health Park on Saturday.
A two-run blast from Tyler Fitzgerald in the first inning helped the River Cats (15-11/51-50) shake off what was a three-run top of the first by the Aviators (11-15/60-41). All five runs scored on a homer as JJ Bleday hammered a full count offering over the wall in right field just three batters into the game, but Fitzgerald was able to answer with an impressive blast of his own that travelled 407 feet out to left center.
Logan Porter’s double in the fourth turned into the game-tying run in the fourth on a passed ball, while Fitzgerald and Osleivis Basabe teamed to produce the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth on a Basabe single through the left side.
Two batters into the sixth and Sacramento added a crucial insurance run as Thomas Gavello was hit by a pitch to start the frame and scored all the way from first when Christian Koss, who had his rehab assignment transferred to Sacramento earlier in the day, ripped a double down the left-field line.
That run came up big when the Aviators found a run in the eighth when local product Daniel Susac homered to left field on a 2-1 offering by Braxton Roxby, but Sacramento closer Ryan Watson (S, 6) slammed the door shut in the ninth with one hit allowed and two strikeouts.
That preserved the win for left-hander Raymond Burgos (1-1), who entered in relief and worked 3.2 scoreless innings with two hits allowed and three strikeouts.
Fitzgerald closed his night with three hits in five trips, the biggest being his homer in the first while scoring one other run. Both Koss and Jerar Encarnación had a hit on their rehab assignments, and Porter closed with a 2-for-4 effort with a double and run scored.
The two teams conclude the six-game set on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. (PT) from Sutter Health Park.