Ellis Blasts Cats to 5-4 Walk-Off Win Over Comets

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – When it seemed as if the Sacramento River Cats might fall on hard luck for a fourth straight game, getting down to their final strike with two outs in the ninth inning, Drew Ellis blasted a walk-off three-run homer that powered Sacramento to a 5-4 win over the Oklahoma City Comets on Thursday night.

The game-winning blast from Ellis came when the River Cats (1-2/37-41) were on their ninth life, launching his second dinger of the evening. One of the three runs that scored on the play was Wade Meckler, who had kept the inning alive with an RBI single earlier in the inning and then initiated a double steal with pinch runner Hunter Bishop.

Back in the fifth was when Ellis smashed his first homer, a solo shot for Sacramento’s first tally of the game that traveled 416 feet over the clubhouse in left field. That now give Ellis three homers in his past three games, and over his previous four is a combined 6-for-15 (.400).

That home run leveled the game after the Comets (2-1/48-30) had taken the initial advantage in the top half of the fifth, pulling in front after a pair of leadoff walks in the inning turned into a run on an RBI safety squeeze bunt single by Elijah Hainline, his first Triple-A hit of his career.

However, the late-game theatrics were needed after Oklahoma City dropped a three-spot in response during the top of the sixth inning. James Outman started with a double, and a pair of walks loaded the bases. A wild pitch brought home Outman, while Esteury Ruiz singled up the middle to clear the rest of the bases and take a three-run edge.

Sacramento had many chances throughout the contest to take the lead but left another 12 runners stranded tonight even in victory. That includes leaving the bases loaded in three consecutive innings in the fifth, sixth and seventh frames, ultimately going 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

Taken off the hook for the loss initially was Sacramento starter Kai-Wei Teng, who did not allow a hit and yielded just an unearned run in four innings with a season-high eight strikeouts (15 batters faced). Doing some heavy lifting late to keep the game in reach was the duo of Antonio Jimenez and Ryan Watson (2-0), the first of which worked 2.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts while facing the minimum. Watson was on for the finish, ultimately taking the win while allowing one hit with one punchout.

Ellis was the hero at the plate, the only River Cat to log a multi-hit game by going 2-for-5 with four total RBI. Responsible for the other Sacramento RBI on the night was Meckler, who closed 1-for-3 with a run scored and two walks. Meanwhile, Osleivis Basabe was also 1-for-3 while the duo of Tyler Fitzgerald and Luis Matos were each 1-for-4.

Sacramento is on the board in the series, but they still trail two games to one, and they look to draw even when the two teams take the diamond on Friday beginning at 6:45 p.m. (PT).