Dubón, Bart power offense early as River Cats hold off Rainiers

Tacoma, Wash. — The Sacramento River Cats (28-38) came out hot in game one of their six-game series in Tacoma, holding on to defeat the Rainiers (35-31) behind three RBIs by catcher Joey Bart and shortstop Mauricio Dubón’s home run.

Bart powered the offense to a 3-0 lead with a two-run double in the first, coming around to score two batters later on second baseman Jason Krizan’s sacrifice-fly. Bart later added a third RBI with a bases-loaded walk in the second.

Dubón broke things open in the third, making it 8-0 with a two-run homer, his first Triple-A big fly of the season. The versatile Dubón finished the day 2-for-3 with two walks, two runs, and two RBIs.

Starting with left fielder Dillon Thomas’ solo home run in the fourth, Tacoma scored seven unanswered, but right-hander Gerson Garabito was able to stave off the Rainiers’ comeback for his first professional save.

Rehabbing right-hander Aaron Sanchez (1-1) was excellent over his first five frames, but things snowballed in the sixth inning. Sanchez finished the winning-effort with a season-high 91 pitches, allowing five runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings.

Center fielder Heliot Ramos logged his first Triple-A hit in his first at-bat, blooping a single to center field off Tacoma starter Penn Murfee (0-1). The Giants’ No. 3 prospect on MLB Pipeline went 1-for-5 out of the fifth spot in the lineup.

Sacramento right-hander Tyler Beede (0-3, 6.56) looks to make it two in a row, taking on a Tacoma TBD on Friday. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. Listen to Johnny Doskow call the game live online at rivercats.com or on the MiLB First Pitch app.

Additional Notes

• Former Rainier left fielder Braden Bishop extended his hitting streak to 16 games with his second-inning RBI double. He trails teammate Joe McCarthy and 2018 infielder Kelby Tomlinson’s 18-game streaks for the franchise-best marks in the Giants’ era of the River Cats.
• In addition to Sanchez, rehabbing infielder Tommy La Stella had a strong showing, going 2-for-2 with a walk and three runs, while right-hander Reyes Moronta struck out one in 0.2 innings.