Sacramento Shuts Out Tacoma to Close Series 

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – One run in each of the middle innings sent the Sacramento River Cats on their way to victory, closing out the six-game set against the Tacoma Rainiers on a high note with their first shutout win of the season by a 5-0 final on Sunday.

On a day where the River Cats (51-68) logged 13 knocks, the scoring came slowly as Sacramento had runners on base in each of the first three innings but failed to capitalize. That included loading the bases in the second before doing so again in the third with no outs, but the Rainiers (64-56) found a way to escape danger.

It was not until the fourth that Sacramento finally broke through, and one night after making his Triple-A debut that saw him hit an RBI double, Turner Hill singled into right field and later moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Dilan Rosario. Helping push the run home was Brett Wisely, as his single moved Hill to third and Wisely’s eventual stolen base forced an off-the-mark throw by Cooper Hummel that sailed into center field and allowed Hill to score the game’s first run.

It was less work for Sacramento to tally their second run, as Armando Alvarez blasted his 12th homer of the year thanks to a shot that sailed into the bullpen in right field. This was the third time this season that Alvarez has homered in consecutive games, as he also launched a two-run blast in last night’s contest, with the previous instance coming last series in Las Vegas when he left the yard on Aug. 10 and 11.

During the sixth, David Villar joined the home run party as he blasted one of his own to right field on a 1-0 pitch. Far from done, Villar would be responsible for one of the insurance runs by Sacramento in the eighth when he once more crushed a homer, giving him his first two-homer game of the season (ninth River Cat to do so).

Both of those knocks for Villar came on the heels of a single in the home half of the first, which had extended his reached base safely streak to 21 games. He was already the third River Cat this season to reach the mark, and now holds the second-longest such streak after passing the 20 games of Brett Wisely (first: Matt Beaty, 24). Additionally, it extended his season-best hitting streak to 10 games, making him the third Sacramento player to reach that mark in 2023 (also: Clint Coulter, 15, Joey Bart 10).

The only other run that scored in the game came courtesy of a wild pitch, as Wisely scored after he had tripled with one out in the eighth just mere pitches before Villar’s home run. That was the second Sacramento triple of the day, as Hill had legged out his own three-bagger in the fifth.

It was a bullpen game for Sacramento, as Darien Nunez hurled the first inning and struck out two of the three batters he faced before flipping the ball to Drew Strotman (4-6) in the second. Stroman was solid, allowing only one hit while also walking three and fanning four in 3.2 innings of work.

Nick Avila collected the final out of the fifth and worked a scoreless sixth, while newcomer Matt Frisbee made his first appearance with Sacramento this season by going 1.1 hitless innings despite issuing a pair of free passes. For their efforts, both earned a hold.

Preserving the shutout was the duo of Sean Newcomb and Erik Miller, with the former also collecting a hold after he worked 0.2 innings and punched out two. Last was Miller, who came on in a non-save situation and tossed a clean ninth to maintain Sacramento’s first shutout since they blanked Reno by a 6-0 final on Aug. 27, 2022.

Not only was it the River Cats’ first shutout win this year, but this was also the first time in over a calendar year that the Rainiers had been shutout. The last time Tacoma failed to score a run in a contest came on Aug 3, 2022 when they were defeated by Sacramento in a 1-0 decision.

The loss was charged to Tacoma starter Adam Oller, as he allowed a pair of runs on eight hits with three walks and four strikeouts in 5.0 innings.

Seven of the nine River Cats to come to the plate logged hits, five of which were multi-hit games led by a perfect 3-for-3 effort from Villar. Falling just behind him was Wisely, Alvarez, Hill, and Donovan Walton, each with two-hit days that also included triples from Wisely and Hill.

Sacramento will now hit the road as they prepare for a six-game set against the El Paso Chihuahuas beginning on Tuesday, with first pitch at Southwest University Park tossed at 5:35 p.m. PT.