Suarez brilliant as River Cats clobber Isotopes

Avelino comes up a triple shy of the cycle on three hit night

(Ralph Thompson Anysportphoto.com)

July 3, 2019

West Sacramento, Calif. - The Sacramento River Cats (43-41) beat up on the Albuquerque Isotopes (35-50) Tuesday night by a score of 11-2, backing a gem from lefty Andrew Suárez with a 16-hit offensive outburst.
Suarez turned in an electric performance for the River Cats, tossing eight shutout innings of one-hit ball with four punchouts. The left-hander cruised to his fourth victory of the season, pitching to contact and keeping the Isotopes hitters off balance throughout the evening. He left after eight innings, throwing 101 pitches (69 strikes), and retiring 16 of the last 17 batters he faced.
Sacramento backed the effort from Suarez with a well-rounded attack from up and down the lineup. Francisco Peña and Abiatal Avelino each picked up a three-hit game on Tuesday, with Avelino finishing just a triple shy of the second cycle in River Cats history. The young shortstop leads the River Cats with 28 multi-hit games this season and is now hitting .286 for the year.
The River Cats will deploy the opener strategy in the series finale, tossing the left-hander Sam Selman (3-1, 1.74) to start, with righty Enderson Franco (2-3, 6.65) to follow. Albuquerque will go with left-hander Kyle Freeman (0-3, 11.12). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. (PT). Catch all of the action live online at rivercats.com, on the MiLB First Pitch app, on Money 105.5 FM.
Additional Notes

With Abiatal Avelino's home run in the fourth inning, the River Cats now have 142 on the year. In 2018, Sacramento had 82 home runs on June 2 - 60 fewer than our total this year.
The River Cats piled up 16 hits on Tuesday night, just one shy of their season high of 17. In 12 games against the Isotopes this season, Sacramento has collected 153 total hits for an average of 12.7 per game.

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The Sacramento River Cats are the Triple-A affiliate of the three-time World Champion -San Francisco Giants. The team plays at Raley Field in West Sacramento, consistently voted one of the top ballparks in America. Season Tickets, Mini-Plans, and Flex Plans can be purchased for the River Cats' 20th season by calling the River Cats Ticket Hotline at (916) 371-HITS (4487). The only place to guarantee official River Cats tickets is at www.rivercats.com. For information on other events at Raley Field, visit www.raleyfield.com.