Cats Cruise to Victory Behind Three Homers 

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento River Cats were in control of game two with the Sugar Land Space Cowboys from beginning to end, tallying multiple runs in four of the first five innings including a grand slam from Trenton Brooks as Sacramento cruised to an 11-5 victory on Wednesday.

It did not take long for the River Cats (62-77) to take an advantage in the contest, scoring twice in their first trip to the dish thanks to one swing from David Villar. Following a two-out walk and the 25th stolen base of the season by Tyler Fitzgerald, Villar blasted a no-doubt homer to straightaway left field on a 3-0 pitch for his 15th dinger of the year.

One inning later and Brett Wisely joined the home run party, leaving the yard on a 2-1 offering from Space Cowboys (55-85) starter Spencer Arrighetti (2-5) with a shot to right field that pushed Sacramento’s edge to 3-0. Not done with the scoring, the River Cats loaded the bases with a pair of walks and a single by Wade Meckler but scored only once more on a bases loaded walk to Marco Luciano.

Continuing the trend in the third, Sacramento put their first two runners aboard with consecutive singles from Brooks and Heliot Ramos, and both later scored on two-RBI double by Ricardo Genoves when he sent a liner into the left-center gap. A free pass to Meckler and Luciano being hit by a pitch once more filled the bags up the River Cats, which allowed Fitzgerald to collect his 67th RBI of the campaign when he drove in Genoves.

Both halves of the fifth inning were nearly identical, including the fact that both scored four runs in grand fashion. All started in the top half of the frame when the Space Cowboys loaded the bases thanks to a pair of Sacramento errors, one fielding and one throwing, combined with a single from Dixon Machado. With the bags full, David Hensley stepped to the plate and sent a 3-0 pitch over the wall in left field for a grand slam.

However, the River Cats were ready to match as they also loaded the bases, doing so with a single, a fielder’s choice error where no out was recorded, and a walk. That set the stage for Brooks, who hammered the first pitch he saw into the Sugar Land bullpen past the fence in right field that kept a sizeable lead for Sacramento, 11-4.

That blast marked the eighth grand slam of the season for the River Cats, which are tied for their third-most in a single season since at least 2005. They sit one shy of the nine that they hit in 2012 and are now three shy of their franchise record of 11 hit in 2006. While this was the first grand slam for Brooks with the River Cats, it was his second total of the season after also hitting one with Las Vegas on May 17 against Salt Lake as a member of the Las Vegas Aviators.

Only one more run was scored in the contest, coming in the top of the ninth as Sugar Land tried to build a comeback attempt. Singles by the first two batters of the inning and a walk saw the bases fill up yet again, allowing Shay Whitcomb to cash in an RBI on a single into center field with two outs. However, the River Cats turned to the bullpen and Erik Miller to log the final out, doing so with a punchout to punctuate the victory for Sacramento.

Both starters were the pitchers of record, as Miguel Yajure (2-5) captured the win after allowing just four unearned runs on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work. On the other side of the decision was Arrighetti, who was charged with four runs on three hits with four walks in just 2.0 innings.

A trio of River Cats finished with two-hit nights, led by the 2-for-5 performance by Brooks as he scored twice in addition to his grand slam. Matching him in hits was Fitzgerald, who was 2-for-4 with a run, double and RBI, while Ramos was also 2-for-4 with a run scored and a two-bagger.

Each team will try to gain an advantage in this six-game set when they line up for game three on Thursday with first pitch scheduled for 6:45 p.m.