River Cats fall 8-5, despite big second inning

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The second night game of the season at Sutter Health Park was the first career start for RHP Ryan Walker. Walker had been used exclusively out of the bullpen since being drafted but came out strong striking out the first two batters of the game and carried this momentum through his outing as he was able to work two scoreless innings.

The River Cats offense woke up early in the game Wednesday night as they scored five in the bottom of the second. The onslaught began with a Ford Proctor single after he was driven in by Clint Coulter to open the scoring. The big play in the inning was when Ricardo Genoves doubled into the left-centerfield gap driving in all three base runners and extending the Sacramento lead to 4-0. Heliot Ramos added on a sacrifice fly scoring Genoves to cap off the five run second.

El Paso slowly began to chip away at the lead in the top of the following inning when RHP Kade McClure took the mound as back-to-back singles opened the third before Matthew Batten singled on a flyball into shallow left field cutting the lead to 5-1. Fernando Tatis Jr. smashed a ball over the left field fence to cut even further into the Sacramento lead in the fifth as the Chihuahuas made it only a three-run deficit.

The Chihuahuas took control of the game in the sixth inning when ten batters came to the plate allowing El Paso to claim a 6-5 lead. El Paso sent 10 men to the plate without the benefit of a hit or an error. Yorman Rodriguez hit a back-breaking two run double in the eighth to extend the lead to 8-5.

The River Cats tried to fight back in the bottom of the eighth and ninth inning but was shut down by the back end of the Chihuahuas bullpen including RHP Moises Lugo who picked up his first save of the season.

Sacramento will be back in action at home tomorrow at 6:45 (PST) as they look to get their first win of the series against El Paso.