River Cats complete sweep of Rainiers with 6-5 win

TACOMA, Wash. - The Sacramento River Cats (54-47) completed a three-game series sweep of the Tacoma Rainiers (48-53) with a thrilling 6-5 victory on Sunday afternoon.
Sacramento fell behind 1-0 early, but used a two-run second and three-run third inning to take control of the ballgame. Abiatal Avelino did the damage in the second by smacking an opposite field two-run homer to give the River Cats a lead they would not give back. Chris Shaw added to that lead with a mammoth home run, part of the three-run third inning. Later, Joey Rickard drove in a key insurance run with a single up the middle to score Ronnie Freeman and put the River Cats up 6-3 in the seventh.
Enderson Franco turned in a solid performance to keep the River Cats in the game, and picked up his fifth win of the year, going 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits, while fanning four. Tacoma made it interesting late by hitting a two-run jack in the eighth to cut the lead to one, but Fernando Abad came on in the ninth to slam the door and earn his 12th save of the season.
After a Monday off day, Sacramento will head to Fresno on Tuesday to open up a crucial three-game series with the Grizzlies. Lefty Andrew Suárez (5-6, 5.90) will take the mound in the opener, while Fresno will counter with right-hander Logan Ondrusek (4-4, 8.59). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. (PT). Catch all of the action live online at rivercats.com, on the MiLB First Pitch app, on Money 105.5 FM (PT).
Additional Notes

• Outfielder Chris Shaw reached a big milestone when he blasted his 100th career minor league homerun. Shaw has hit 54 of those home runs as a member of the River Cats, which sits fourth in franchise history. Chris Carter is the franchise leader with 65 long balls.
• Sacramento has a plethora of hot bats right now, as four players have active hitting streaks of seven games or more. Henry Ramos, Joey Rickard and Chris Shaw each extended their streaks to seven games on Sunday, while Francisco Peña rides a nine game streak but did not play in the game today.

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The Sacramento River Cats are the Triple-A affiliate of the three-time World Champion -San Francisco Giants. The team plays at Raley Field in West Sacramento, consistently voted one of the top ballparks in America. Season Tickets, Mini-Plans, and Flex Plans can be purchased for the River Cats' 20th season by calling the River Cats Ticket Hotline at (916) 371-HITS (4487). The only place to guarantee official River Cats tickets is at www.rivercats.com. For information on other events at Raley Field, visit www.raleyfield.com.