Knapp plates 2, Huang and bullpen shut down Aviators for series-opening dub 

West Sacramento, Calif. — An impressive effort by the pitching staff and two RBI doubles by catcher Andrew Knapp powered the Sacramento River Cats (49-63) to a 4-2 series-opening victory over the Las Vegas Aviators (55-57) on Monday night.

After the Aviators scored an unearned run off righty Wei-Chieh Huang in the first, designated hitter Jason Vosler and Knapp responded with back-to-back two-out doubles to tie the game at one.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the sixth when Knapp again lined a double, this time plating third baseman David Villar, for a 2-1 lead.

Sacramento added some breathing room in the seventh with solid base-running.

They made it 3-1 when first baseman Jason Krizan doubled to left-center and scored on center fielder Bryce Johnson’s RBI single. Johnson quickly stole second, and took third and home on a wild throw by catcher Beau Taylor.

Huang continued his impressive stretch, striking out four while allowing one unearned run on two hits and two walks in 3.0 innings.

Righty Sean Hjelle (5-6, 5.18) will try to make it three in a row in game two on Tuesday. He’ll take on lefty Jared Koenig (4-5, 4.32) at 6:35 p.m. (PT). Listen to Johnny Doskow call the game online at rivercats.com or on the MiLB First Pitch app.

Additional Notes

• Lefty Enmanuel De Jesus (2.0 innings), righty Gregory Santos (1.0 inning), lefty Ben Bowden (1.2 innings), and righty Shelby Miller (1.1 innings) combined to shut down Las Vegas over the final 6.0 innings, with Miller earning his fourth save with four strikeouts and one earned run.