New guy Nogowski plays hero, Bracho earns 8th save

Salt Lake City, Utah. — Down 5-4 with just four outs remaining, the Sacramento River Cats (53-66, 1-1) roared back to defeat the Salt Lake Bees (50-71, 1-1) on first baseman John Nogowski’s three-run home run to win their first game of the Final Stretch.

The River Cats entered the game 0-20 when trailing after seven innings on the road (2-49 overall). They looked well on their way toward extending the drought when the first two batters of the eighth grounded out.

Yet back-to-back singles from right fielder Jaylin Davis and center fielder Heliot Ramos sparked a rally, setting up the newly-signed Nogowski for some late heroics.

After taking a near strike three, Nogowski launched a 2-2 pitch to deep left field for his first hit, and home run, for the River Cats.

Right-hander Trevor Gott tossed a shutdown eighth, and righty Silvino Bracho slammed the door on any more fireworks with his eighth save of the season.

The eighth-inning comeback was not Sacramento’s first of the game. The River Cats were down 4-2 in the seventh and tied the game with three straight two-out hits from catcher Ricardo Genovés, pinch hitter Jason Vosler, and left fielder Braden Bishop.

Right-hander Matt Shoemaker had another solid effort on the mound, allowing four runs (two earned) on eight hits and one walk, while striking out six in 6.0 innings.

Young righty Ronnie Williams (0-0, 2.08) looks to make it two in a row with a win over Salt Lake lefty Jack Dashwood (1-2, 8.15) at 5:35 p.m. (PT) on Saturday. Listen to Johnny Doskow call the game live online at rivercats.com or on the MiLB First Pitch app.

Additional Notes

• Ramos, the Giants’ No. 4 prospect on MLB Pipeline, went 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs, and an RBI, while Davis went 2-for-4 with two runs.

In his first career Triple-A game, Genovés (Giants’ No. 18 prospect on MLB Pipeline) went 2-for-4 with a double and a run.