Lamb Slam Leads River Cats to Victory over Comets

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – A first inning grand slam set the tone for the Sacramento River Cats, who rode that momentum and outlasted the Oklahoma City Comets for an 8-6 win on Friday night.

A pair of walks opened the game for the River Cats (24-25) while the bases were loaded shortly after when Brett Wisely was hit by a pitch, but a pair of strikeouts had Sacramento in danger of not scoring. Devin Mann drew a bases loaded walk to force home the game’s opening run, but it was Jake Lamb that truly delivered when he crushed a 2-0 offering over the wall in left field.

That blast was not only the second homer of the season for the Lamb, but it was also the seventh grand slam in his career and the first since May 7, 2022 as a member of Oklahoma City. It marked the fourth grand slam by a River Cat this season, the last being Marco Luciano on May 10 at Tacoma.

Sacramento added one more run in the third before the Comets (29-20) hit the scoreboard in the bottom part of the inning, as Andrew Knizner scored on a wild pitch after being hit by a pitch and moving to third on a double from Daniel Johnson.

However, one swing of the bat from Alex Freeland cut the deficit in half when he homered to right center on a 3-1 pitch with only one out in the frame. Two other runners scored on the play in Steward Berroa and Esteury Ruiz, both of which reached on singles earlier in the frame.

Oklahoma City continued the scoring with one tally in the bottom of the fourth when an Austin Gauthier triple into right-center field scored Hunter Feduccia to score all the way from first base.

In the top of the fifth Sacramento slowed the Comets’ momentum by plating a pair of runs, starting when Knizner walked and Johnson reached on a throwing error. With runners at the corners Johnson swiped second and ultimately scored along with Knizner when Devin Mann punched a ball back through the middle.

The best chance for Oklahoma City down the stretch was in the seventh when they scored a pair of runs, though they did so without a hit when Sacramento reliever Joey Lucchesi allowed a pair of inherited runners from Joel Peguero to score on a groundout and sacrifice fly.

Earning the win for the River Cats was Sean Hjelle, who entered in relief and worked two innings while allowing only one run on two hits with a trio of strikeouts. Lucchesi worked two innings despite allowing the two inherited runners to score, keeping his own line clean with one hit plus one walk and strikeout each. On for the ninth with a slim lead was Justin Garza (S, 5), who earned his fifth save with a perfect frame and one punchout.

Three River Cats tallied a pair of hits in Johnson, Mann and Hunter Bishop, the latter of which had a pair of infield hits. Combing to drive in seven of the eight Sacramento runs was the duo of Mann and Lamb, the latter of which doing with his grand slam.

The River Cats have earned at minimum a series split with Oklahoma City, and they will look to win the series outright when the two teams line up for game five of the series on Saturday at 4:05 p.m. (PT).