Sacramento Splits Series After Three-Run Homer by Tacoma

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – One swing of the bat was the undoing for the Sacramento River Cats in the series finale against the Tacoma Rainiers on Sunday, with Jake Scheiner once again doing the damage as his three-run homer in the fifth was the difference in a 4-1 Tacoma win.

In all six games in the series the River Cats (26-31) got on the board first, today starting with a run in the top of the second. To start the frame Jacob Nottingham was hit by a pitch, later advanced 90 feet on a passed ball with two outs, and ultimately scored on an RBI single through the left side from Will Wilson.

Not long after the Rainiers (28-29) were able to equalize, as Adam Engel scored on a two-out RBI single from Pat Valaika after he initially reached on an infield single from a check swing. To get into scoring position he took advantage of a failed pick off by Sacramento starter Keaton Winn.

The middle innings turned into a bit of a pitching duel, as both Winn and Tacoma hurler Darren McCaughan (3-2) sat down each of their next seven hitters. While Winn exited after four innings with two hits allowed and six strikeouts, McCaughan took his streak a step further and made it to nine in a row from the end of the second through the middle of the fifth, finally ending on a single into center by Luis Matos.

That hit by Matos extended his active hitting streak to eight games, as he is batting .474 (18-for-38) with seven runs scored, three doubles, one homer and eight RBI over that time. Though he fell a knock shy of matching the Triple-A season-high of six consecutive multi-hit games, he ended the series against the Rainiers at an impressive 16-for-30 (.533) with five runs, two doubles, the home run and eight RBI.

Entering for Winn was Phoenix Sanders (0-1), who quickly recorded two outs with a pair of flyouts, but then fell victim to a two-out Tacoma rally. It started with a double over the head of Clint Coulter in right field, who was joined on base by Taylor Trammell after drawing his second free pass of the game. A night after unloading on a grand slam, Scheiner struck again as he sent a two-strike pitch over the fence in left field for a three-run homer and a 4-1 lead.

Staked with run support, McCaughan ultimately made it through seven full innings, allowing just one more base runner through his final two frames of work. He left in line for the victory with a final line of just one earned run on three hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts.

Trying to keep the score close, lefties Chris Wright and Erik Miller combined to throw three hitless and scoreless innings, though they did walk a pair each. First it was Wright going 1.1 starting in the sixth, striking out two, while Miller took over and went the final 1.2 and recorded all five of his outs via the strikeout.

Sacramento would face off against a pair of pitchers on a Major League rehab assignment in the final frames, starting with Penn Murfee in the eighth who tossed a clean inning with a pair of strikeouts. On to close the book was Andres Munoz, picking up his first save of the season as he faced the minimum while preserving a 4-1 win and a series split. Overall, Tacoma pitching retired each of the last 10 Sacramento hitters.

There were just two other hits in the contest for the River Cats outside of the single for Matos, with the rehabbing Joey Bart going 1-for-3 while Will Wilson’s RBI single was the other. Taking the loss was Sanders, his first of the season.

Sacramento returns to Sutter Health Park on Tuesday as the River Cats open a six-game set against Las Vegas with first pitch at 6:45 p.m.