Mathisen, Tauchman slug River Cats to commanding win

West Sacramento, Calif. — The fireworks came early at Sutter Health Park on Saturday as third baseman Wyatt Mathisen’s grand slam and right fielder Mike Tauchman’s two-run shot lifted the Sacramento River Cats (50-64) past their rival Las Vegas Aviators (61-56).

A two-run big fly by Las Vegas first baseman Carlos Perez, who leads Triple-A West with 30 home runs, was not enough to down the River Cats, as they bombarded Las Vegas righty Homer Bailey (1-6) with six hits and a walk for a 6-2 first inning lead.

After the first two batters of the inning struck out, rehabbing left fielder Alex Dickerson woke the offense up with a two-out single, and catcher Joey Bart doubled. Center fielder Heliot Ramos continued his hot stretch with a two-run single to tie the game.

The rally was not done, however, as second baseman Jason Vosler singled and Tauchman walked to set up Mathisen’s 431-foot grand slam, his first for the River Cats.

Tauchman joined the hit-barrage in the third, launching a two-run home run 444 feet onto the right field berm. All three of his home runs for Sacramento have come on Saturdays.

Veteran righty Matt Shoemaker (3-3) settled in after the home run, finishing the day with just the two earned runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings with eight strikeouts and no walks.

Lefty Conner Menez picked up where Shoemaker left off, stifling Las Vegas with four strikeouts over 3.0 hitless innings to earn the save.

Right-hander Ronnie Williams (0-0, 1.93 ERA), will make his home River Cats debut, taking on the electric lefty A.J. Puk (2-3, 6.21) on Sunday at 1:07 p.m. (PT). Watch Johnny Doskow and J.T. Snow call the game live on the CW-31, or listen online at rivercats.com or on the MiLB First Pitch app.

Additional Notes

• Ramos notched his fourth straight multi-hit game, going 2-for-3. He is 9-for-18 in that span with four runs and four RBIs.
• Mathisen’s slam was the River Cats’ sixth of the season, with infielder Thairo Estrada hitting one on May 7, infielder Mitchell Tolman blasting one on May 8 and another on June 10, and outfielder Jaylin Davis doing so on June 18 and 27.