Late Tally Not Enough for Sacramento as Reno Snags Game Five

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A night after logging only two hits and still escaping victorious, the offense remained slow for the Sacramento River Cats on Saturday as the Reno Aces were powered by a four-run third inning that eventually led to a 5-1 win in game five of the series.

River Cats (15-17) starter Carson Seymour (1-3) started the game off hot, retiring six of the first seven he faced with the only batter reaching on a free pass. However, two walks to start the third preceded a Jorge Barrosa two-RBI double, an RBI Jake McCarthy triple, and another RBI double with this one from Trey Mancini that set the Aces (18-14) well on their way to victory.

One swing of the bat from A.J. Vukovich added an insurance tally, as he crushed his seventh homer of the season on the second pitch he saw while leading off the fourth inning. It was his second homer of the series after also hitting a grand slam on Wednesday evening.

It took all the way until the eighth for the River Cats to finally reach the scoreboard, avoiding the shutout with a sacrifice fly from Grant McCray in the home half of the frame. However, Sacramento never had more than one hit in an inning and failed to record an extra-base hit, and the Aces faced just five batters over the minimum.

Two of the Sacramento hits came from Osleivis Basabe, who snapped a four-game and 13 at-bat hitless streak by closing his night 2-for-3 with a run scored. Earning the other hit was Jose Ramos, who made his Triple-A debut and earned his first Triple-A hit in his first plate appearance during the third inning.

Sacramento has dropped four of five so far in the series with Reno, but the River Cats will look to close the series on a good note with a victory in the series finale when the two teams take the diamond at Sutter Health Park at 1:05 p.m. (PT).