Knapp homers vs former team, walks burn River Cats for series-opening defeat 

Tacoma, Wash. — Two multi-run homers were not enough to power the Sacramento River Cats (55-69) to a game one victory as they fell 8-5 at the Tacoma Rainiers (58-66) in Tuesday's series opener.

Scoreless in the top of the second with no outs, catcher Andrew Knapp won an eight-pitch at-bat vs lefty Justus Sheffield (5-7) with a three-run shot to left-center. The big fly was Knapp’s eighth in 25 games since joining Sacramento.

A balk and a sixth-inning solo shot by designated hitter Kyle Lewis spoiled an otherwise solid outing by righty Sean Hjelle (6-8). Hjelle struck out six and forced six ground outs while allowing four runs on seven hits and no walks in 5.1 innings.

Down 3-1, Tacoma tied the game in the fifth with a double, a single, a wild pitch, an auto balk on too many pickoff attempts, and a sacrifice fly. One inning later, Lewis gave the Rainiers a lead they would not relinquish with his sixth homer of the year.

The Rainiers poured on in the seventh with four runs on two hits and four walks against the bullpen for a commanding 8-3 lead.

Righty Norwith Gudino (2-4, 9.00) will try to even the series with a win on Wednesday. He’ll take on righty Konner Wade (4-6, 4.96) at 7:05 p.m. (PT) Listen to Johnny Doskow call the game online at rivercats.com or on the MiLB First Pitch app.

Additional Notes

• Sacramento made things interesting in the ninth on a 406-foot two-run home run by second baseman Ford Proctor (102.4 MPH exit velocity).
• Lefty Enmanuel De Jesus struck out one in 0.2 innings. Righty Yunior Marte struck out one in a perfect inning of relief.
• The River Cats have hit at least two homers in nine of their last 10 games, totaling 26 over that span.