Rallies Not Enough for Sacramento against Reno

RENO, Nev. – The Sacramento River Cats did their best to keep up with the bats of the Reno Aces on Saturday, but six unanswered runs in the second through the fourth innings sent Reno on their way to a victory over Sacramento by a score of 12-5.

Tonight marked the first loss for the River Cats (5-3) when they reached the scoreboard first, as Sacramento managed the opening tally with their first set of swing when David Vilar drove a ball into the right-center gap for a double that scored Marco Luciano, who had reached with a walk.

After getting through the first quickly included a pair of strikeouts, starter Mason Black (0-1) wasn’t as lucky in the next few innings as the Aces (4-3) drew level on a solo home run from Adrian Del Castillo on the first pitch of his at-bat in the second.

An inning later and Reno took the lead on an RBI double from Jorge Barrosa before making it a multi-run frame when they traded two outs for a run on an unusual 5-6-3 double play. A three-spot in the fourth further built an advantage, with RBI singles from Tim Tawa, Barrosa and Albert Almora Jr.

Sacramento pulled back within shouting distance after plating a run in each the fifth and sixth, starting when Brett Wisely’s double allowed him to advance to third on a single into shallow right by Ismael Munguia and then crossed home on a throwing error from Tawa. The inning was poised to be bigger, but an unfortunate double play on a hard liner from Trenton Brooks helped bring an end to the inning without more damage.

Following in the sixth, a second Wisely double in the contest pushed Blake Sabol from first to third where he scored on another Reno error. Again, there was a chance for more runs in the inning, but on the same play that Sabol scored, Wisely was cut down at the plate to end the frame.

The gap widened after a five-run sixth inning, with many of the same names striking again including run-scoring knocks from Jancarolos Cintron and Almora Jr., with the inning finally capped off by a home run from Kyle Garlick.

Trying to rally late, the River Cats added two final runs in the top of the eighth. Singles by Casey Schmitt and Wisely resulted in runs, as Schmitt was the first to do so when he crossed the plate on a double from Luis Matos into left center. Soon after, Wisely was crossed for a second time on a single into right field by Luciano.

Black was tagged for six runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings, though due to a pair of errors only three of the runs were earned. Only Tanner Andrews tossed a scoreless outing, working a clean eighth while striking out one.

Taking the win for Reno was Konnor Pilkington (1-0), his first of the season as he allowed just one run on two hits in 2.0 innings, though he also walked three.

Collecting another pair of doubles was Wisely, his fourth of the season with all coming in the past four games, ending the game 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Also adding a multi-hit game was Munguia as he closed out 2-for-5, while the trio of Matos, Luciano and Villar all tallied on hit and an RBI.

Tomorrow’s game determines whether it will end as a series split or a second consecutive series win for the River Cats, with the series finale first pitch on Sunday set for 1:05 p.m.