Villar, González homer, River Cats shutout Rainiers
West Sacramento, Calif. — A dominant pitching display and home runs by right fielder Luis González and third baseman David Villar lifted the Sacramento River Cats (19-19) to a 5-0 victory over the Tacoma Rainiers (12-26) to even the series on Wednesday. Right-hander Raynel Espinal (3-0) set the tone with
West Sacramento, Calif. — A dominant pitching display and home runs by right fielder Luis González and third baseman David Villar lifted the Sacramento River Cats (19-19) to a 5-0 victory over the Tacoma Rainiers (12-26) to even the series on Wednesday.
Right-hander Raynel Espinal (3-0) set the tone with a dominant effort on the mound. The 30-year-old struck out four while allowing two hits and one walk in 6.0 shutout innings.
Rehabbing San Francisco left-hander Jake McGee struck out the side in a perfect seventh inning. Lefty Sammy Long added another 2.0 shutout innings, striking out four to close out the win.
González kick-started the offense first with a leadoff home run to right field, his fourth big fly of the season.
The teams traded zeros for the following nine half innings until Villar skied a three-run home run onto the left field berm for three key insurance runs.
Lefty Enmanuel De Jesus (0-1, 5.68) will try for his first win on Thursday. He’ll take on former Sacramento lefty Tommy Milone (0-0, 1.80) at 6:45 p.m. (PT). Listen to Johnny Doskow call the game online at rivercats.com or on the MiLB First Pitch app.
Additional Notes
- Villar, the reigning PCL Player of the Week, now has a 1.116 OPS and leads the league with 13 home runs and 39 RBIs.
- Catcher Michael Papierski, who was acquired from Houston on May 14, eliminated a runner in scoring position in the sixth when he backpicked Tacoma second baseman Sam Haggerty leaning off third base. Papierski also plated shortstop Donovan Walton with a sacrifice-fly in the sixth.