Díaz, Villar slug River Cats to 4th straight win 

Salt Lake City, Utah — Second baseman Isan Díaz and first baseman David Villar once again bashed the Sacramento River Cats (47-61) to victory, as they won 9-3 over the Salt Lake Bees (51-57) on Thursday.

Díaz quickly gave Sacramento the lead, lining the second pitch of the game for the River Cats’ first leadoff home run since outfielder Luis González on July 6 at Salt Lake.

One inning later, Sacramento added on with two singles, a walk, a sacrifice fly by center fielder Bryce Johnson, and a three-run homer by Villar to make it 5-0.

Up 5-3 in the eighth, Díaz broke the game open with a three-run, 414-foot homer to right-center field (106.5 MPH exit velocity). The 26-year-old finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs and his third multi-homer game of the season.

Villar, who leads the team with 24 home runs, and Díaz, who is second with 23, rank second and fifth in the league despite both missing a month of PCL action.

Right-hander Sean Hjelle (5-6) successfully battled the inclement weather, earning the win with two strikeouts and three earned runs on four hits and five walks over 5.0 innings.

Lefty Scott Alexander was first out of the bullpen, spinning 2.0 one-hit shutout innings. Right-hander Michael Stryffeler struck out one in a scoreless eighth, giving him 4.0 shutout frames to start his River Cats career. Lefty Ben Bowden struck out the side in the ninth to secure the win.

The River Cats will try to make it a season-high five in a row in a battle of TBDs on Friday at 5:35 p.m. (PT). Listen to Johnny Doskow call the game online at rivercats.com or on the MiLB First Pitch app.

Additional Notes

• Newly-acquired right fielder Steele Walker notched his first hit, extra-base hit, and RBI as a River Cat on Thursday, going 2-for-5, which included a ninth-inning RBI double.
• Left fielder Heliot Ramos had a solid day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two runs, a walk, and a stolen base.