Espinal punches out 9, Ramos plates 2 in Friday night shutout

West Sacramento, Calif. — Behind stellar pitching performances by right-hander Raynel Espinal (2-0) and the bullpen, the Sacramento River Cats (15-13) regained a share of first place with a 4-0 win over the Las Vegas Aviators (15-13) on Friday night.

Sacramento pitchers combined to strike out 14 while allowing four hits and three walks in the shutout win.

Espinal set the tone from the get go, tying his season-high nine strikeouts. The veteran earned his second win of the season, first as a starter, allowing three hits and three walks in 5.0 shutout innings.

The River Cats’ bullpen picked up where Espinal left off. Right-hander Luis Ortiz struck out three in a perfect 2.0 innings, while righty Patrick Ruotolo earned his second Triple-A save with two strikeouts in 2.0 innings.

Catcher Ricardo Genovés broke the scoreless tie in the fifth when he grounded a hit off the third base bag. Sacramento left fielder Luke Williams was able to sprint from first to home in time to beat Las Vegas left fielder Dalton Kelly’s throw.

Center fielder Heliot Ramos doubled the lead two batters later when he blooped a hit past Las Vegas right fielder Ramón Laureano to score Genovés.

Ramos plated Genovés again in the seventh, grounding a ball to second to plate the catcher. Overall Ramos went 2-for-5 with two RBIs.

Genovés added his second RBI of the game in the eighth, knocking in Williams with a single to left field.

The River Cats have yet to announce their starter for Saturday. The TBD will take on left-hander Jared Koenig (1-2, 3.54) at 6:37 p.m. (PT). Watch Johnny Doskow and Brock Stassi call the game on CW-31, or listen online at rivercats.com or on the MiLB First Pitch app.

Additional Notes

• One day after working three walks in his River Cats debut, first baseman Mike Ford walked 2 times on Friday, giving him five through two games.
• Designated hitter Tommy La Stella went 0-for-2 with two walks in his third rehab game.