Dean, Machado homer as River Cats take 5 of 6 vs Aces 

West Sacramento, Calif. — Two homers and a shutdown effort by righty Ronnie Williams (1-0) and the bullpen fueled the Sacramento River Cats (55-68) to a 5-2 victory in Sunday’s series finale with the first place Reno Aces (68-55).

Right fielder Austin Dean, who hit a walk-off grand slam on Friday, kicked off the scoring in the bottom of the second, lining a curveball from righty Corbin Martin 419 feet to center field for a 2-0 lead (105.9 MPH exit velocity).

After Reno tied the game in the top of the third, Sacramento retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by designated hitter Willie Calhoun.

The River Cats added on an inning later when shortstop Dixon Machado lined his second homer of the homestand, a 406-foot two-run shot to make it 5-2 (102.4 MPH exit velocity).

Williams had a solid effort in a season-high 5.0 innings, earning the win with five strikeouts and two earned runs on four hits and no walks.

The River Cats will enjoy a Monday off day before heading north to take on the Tacoma Rainiers at 7:05 p.m. (PT) on Tuesday. Listen to Johnny Doskow call the game online at rivercats.com or on the MiLB First Pitch app.

Additional Notes

• Lefty Andrew Vasquez, righty RJ Dabovich, righty Ken Giles, and lefty Joey Marciano (seventh save) each tossed a scoreless frame to close out the win. The Sacramento bullpen has not allowed an earned run in their last 14.0 innings.
• Dean and Machado’s blasts gave the River Cats their eighth multi-homer game in nine outings, totaling 24 big flies over that span.