Cats Return Home with 14-Run Outpouring Against Aviators

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento River Cats were ready with the bats on Tuesday, as they opened their six-game series against the Las Vegas Aviators by pouring on 14 runs en route to a dominant 14-1 victory.

Four of the five innings that the River Cats (15-7) scored in were multi-run frames, including plating five in the fifth which matched their best inning of any game this season (also: April 18 at Oklahoma City in the sixth).

Scoring started in the second with a trio of runs, all kicked off by the first triple of the campaign by Casey Schmitt that extended his team-best hitting streak to 11 games. The bases loaded soon after on a pair of walks, which led to RBI singles from both Chase Pinder and Luis Matos, the latter of which was a two-RBI knock.

Five hits led to the five runs in the fifth, the highlight of which was the sixth homer of the year from Heliot Ramos. Sitting in a 1-0 count, he blasted the offering with an exit velocity of 112.9 mph, sending the ball 402 feet out to left center.

Also in the inning was an RBI ground rule double to left field by Schmitt, which pushed his RBI streak to nine consecutive games. That is the longest such Sacramento streak since Mac Williamson also drove in a run in nine straight games, doing so from Aug. 6-18, 2018.

David Villar got in on the action with his own RBI single, scoring Brett Wisely who had initiated the frame with a knock of his own. The other run in the inning came from Trenton Brooks on a sacrifice fly to right field.

The Aviators (11-10) answered with a leadoff homer by Tyler Soderstrom to begin the sixth, but his sixth home run of the year proved to be the only Las Vegas run of the afternoon.

Sacramento countered with a run on the second RBI double of the contest from Schmitt, scoring Wisely who had reached with a free pass. Schmitt’s two RBI on the day pushed his season total to 24, which is the Sacramento franchise record for most RBI in the first 22 games of a season.

A pair of singles and walk loaded the bases in the seventh, setting up Marco Luciano for a two-RBI single when he flicked a ball into right field on a defensive swing. Scoring for a third time in the game was Wisely when he was knocked in another Villar single, the first time he’s scored three runs in a contest this year.

Two insurance runs were added in the eighth, both of which crossed on bases-loaded walks with the RBI belonging to Matos and Luciano.

Though he did not pitch long enough to factor into the decision, starter Carson Whisenhunt did not allow a run through his 3.2 innings of work, giving up three hits and walking two while striking out a season-best seven batters. Three of those came in the first inning when he struck out the side, all of which went down looking. It was the first time since his Triple-A debut that he did not allow a run (five starts).

Capturing the win was Spencer Bivens, his second of the campaign, allowing just the solo homer to Soderstrom while going 2.1 innings with four punchouts. Appearing with Sacramento for the first time since making his big league debut was Nick Avila, who did not have a decision but hurled 2.0 hitless innings with two strikeouts.

Eight River Cats produced hits in the game, six of which had multi-hit games that included two-hit contests from each of the first four spots in the lineup. Matos and Luciano drove in three apiece on their two hits, while both Villar and Ramos had two RBI with their two hits. Schmitt was the only player with a three-hit game, while Wisely and Ramos each crossed the plate three times.

This six-game series continues with game two on Wednesday, with first pitch from Sutter Health Park at 6:45 p.m.