Sir Loins Shutout 66ers To Take Series Lead

Visalia, CA – The Visalia Rawhide (5-9) playing as the Central Valley Sir Loins amassed 18 hits and shutout the Inland Empire 66ers (4-9) on Saturday night at Valley Strong Ballpark. Visalia takes a three to two game series lead.

Visalia pitching combined for the team’s first shutout of the season. Starter Junior Ciprian pitched four shutout innings with six strikeouts and allowed just two baserunners.

Teofilo Mendez earned the win with two scoreless innings and two strikeouts. Erick Reynoso did not allow a hit in two innings of work and Alexis Liebano struck out the side to close out the game in the ninth.

Visalia’s offense bludgeoned Inland Empire pitching with hits from eight different players and runs in five consecutive innings from the second to sixth frame.

Eliesbert Alejos opened the scoring with an RBI double in the second inning. Pedro Blanco doubled the score in the third with an RBI double.

Visalia added two more runs in the fourth inning with a Kayson Cunningham RBI single and Alejos scoring on a stolen base attempt.

Blanco drove in another run on an RBI single in the fifth inning to extend the lead.

Cuningham scored the fifth run of the game in the sixth frame on a fielder’s choice. Pedro Catuy followed later in the inning with a two run homer off the barn in right field to cap the scoring.

Blanco finished with four hits- the third Rawhide player to total a four hit game this series. Cunningham added his second three hit game of the week and leads all qualified batters at the Single-A level with a .537 OBP and is second with a .419 BA

Jakey Jospeha hit three doubles while JD Dix, Jose Mejia and Alejos all totaled two hit games.

Visalia plays for the series win against Inland Empire on Sunday afternoon with a 2:05 PM first pitch as part of a Family Fun Sunday presented by Spirit Radio and Valley Children’s Healthcare.

Tipper’s Kids Club members can enjoy the postgame Kids Candy Dump presented by Party Works with 500 pounds of candy dumped on the field. Families can sign up their kids for Tipper’s Kids Club by visiting the Rawhide Ticket Office presented by Kaweah Health or at the ballpark’s guest services booth during games.

Adults 21 and older can enjoy eight dollar margaritas and micheladas on Sunday.

Sunday is also Visalia Transit Rider Appreciation Day. Riders can show their bus pass at the Rawhide Ticket Office presented by Kaweah Health to receive two free tickets to the game.

Gates open for season ticket holders at 12:45 PM and the general public at 1 PM.

Rawhide tickets are available through the team’s website and at the stadium box office sponsored by Kaweah Health starting at Noon on weekend gamedays.

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The Visalia Rawhide are the Single-A Affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks playing professional baseball in the Central Valley since 1946. The Rawhide's 2026 theme is "Savor the Season" as the team transforms into the Central Valley Sir Loins on Saturday gamedays.   

Stay up to date with the Rawhide on the team’s website and by following the Rawhide on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and X. The Rawhide play all home games at Valley Strong Ballpark located at 300 N Giddings Street Visalia, CA 93291.

Fans can purchase season ticket packages, group ticket plans, single game tickets and team merchandise through the Rawhide website and at the stadium ticket office sponsored by Kaweah Health. All Rawhide games can be watched on MLB.TV and the Bally Sports Live App with a free radio broadcast also available online. Select home games will be aired on KNXT MyTV53. For more information, visit milb.com/visalia, email [email protected] or call (559) 732-4433.