Sacramento Snaps Losing Streak Thanks to Exciting Eighth

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Three-run innings for each team set the tone early, and while the Sacramento River Cats and Tacoma Rainiers went into the latter third in a tie game, Sacramento capped off a four-run eighth with a pinch-hit homer from Isan Diaz to snap a seven-game losing streak thanks to an 8-5 win on Thursday.

Both offenses were ready in the first frame, as the Rainiers (46-47) logged three singles in the inning with the last from Taylor Trammell producing an RBI. However, the River Cats (41-51) countered right away, and it took only one pitch as Bryce Johnson uncorked the first pitch he saw to straightaway left field to tie the game.

Sacramento was far from done, as walks to Tyler Fitzgerald and Joey Bart had a pair on in front of a double down the right-field from Heliot Ramos, which scored Fitzgerald. Though Bart held at third, he scored two batters later on an Armando Alvarez knock into center.

Continuing the trend, Tacoma stole all three runs back when they came to the plate in the second. Zach DeLoach kicked off their swings with a single and was joined aboard by Cooper Hummel following a walk, with both coming around to score on a double by Mason McCoy. In the subsequent at-bat, an error would allow McCoy to score all the way from second to give Tacoma a 4-3 edge.

Continuing to seesaw, it took just two batters into the home half of the third for Sacramento to push across the tying run. It was a perfectly executed hit-and-run by Heliot Ramos and Jakson Reetz, as Ramos singled to left and then took off on the pitch while Reetz drove a ball into the left-center gap. That knock went just deep enough for Ramos to score in front of a close play at the plate, equalizing the score at 4-4.

Offense cooled off through the middle innings for both teams, as neither team had a base runner starting in the fourth until a two-out single by Brian O’Keefe in the top of the sixth. Tacoma would strand O’Keefe and a leadoff walk by Hummel in the seventh, while Sacramento failed to capitalize on a two-out double by Fitzgerald in the bottom of the frame.

A pair of doubles in the Tacoma half of the eighth against the newly entered Nick Avila (12-0) had the Rainiers in front for a third time in the game. Trammell turned a pop fly into shallow left field into a double, and two batters later, Zach DeLoach’s liner with two outs hopped over the wall in right field and gave Tacoma a 5-4 advantage.

Ready to answer were the River Cats, putting a runner just 90 feet from home when Ramos began the inning with a ball down the right-field line that rolled into the corner and allowed him to speed all the way to third. Following a Reetz free pass, Alvarez delivered his second RBI knock of the night when he drove the first pitch he saw into right center, tying the game at 5-5.

Still with a pair on in scoring position following a sacrifice bunt from Jack Larsen, stepping to the plate for a pinch-hit opportunity was Isan Diaz. Working his way into a hitter’s count, Diaz unloaded on a 2-0 pitch and sent it deep into right field past the team bullpens to give Sacramento its first lead of the contest, 8-5.

That homer was the first for Diaz since he left the yard on June 30, snapping a 48 at-bat homerless streak. It was the second pinch-hit homer in a Sacramento uniform for Diaz, his first since he also did so last year on June 11 in a 4-3 win at home over Reno. This was the first pinch-hit dinger for the River Cats in 2023, and overall was the 20th pinch-hit big fly since 2005.

Taking the baton to preserve the win was Erik Miller, who sat down the Rainiers in order to collect his fourth save of the campaign. Miller continues to be lights-out since May 12, as he has just a 1.42 ERA over his last 25.1 innings of work in 22 games.

Collecting credit for the victory was Avila, keeping his record unblemished at a perfect 12-0 to move back into sole possession for the most wins in all professional baseball. Tonight’s victory represented Sacramento history for Avila, as his 12 (non-consecutive) wins without a loss are tied with Jason Windsor (2006) for the River Cats franchise record.

On a team level, tonight’s win snapped Sacramento’s season-long seven-game losing streak, giving them their first win since they topped Salt Lake 8-1 on the road back on July 6.

A trio of River Cats closed the contest with three-hit efforts, as Fitzgerald, Ramos, and Alvarez each went 3-for-4. Fitzgerald scored a run while recording a pair of two-baggers, Ramos scored twice and drove one in while falling a homer away from the cycle, and Alvarez had two clutch RBI while also scoring once. However, none of Sacramento’s 13 hits were more clutch than Diaz’s go-ahead homer in the eighth.

The River Cats will have a chance to tie the series when these two teams take the diamond tomorrow, with first pitch of game four scheduled for 6:37 p.m. at Sutter Health Park.