River Cats Explode for 15-9 Win Over Reno on Independence Eve
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Fireworks did not just take place after the contest but throughout the entire game as the Sacramento River Cats and the Reno Aces combined to score 24 runs, but a pair of six-run innings helped Sacramento secure the series sweep with a 15-9 final. In a
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Fireworks did not just take place after the contest but throughout the entire game as the Sacramento River Cats and the Reno Aces combined to score 24 runs, but a pair of six-run innings helped Sacramento secure the series sweep with a 15-9 final.
In a game that featured 22 hits, five of which were homers, the River Cats (5-4/41-43) managed just nine of those knocks but picked the biggest times to get them. Osleivis Basabe’s fifth homer of the year started the scoring in the home half of the first, lifting off with a solo shot in Sacramento’s second at-bat.
After tallying one more in the second on a bases loaded walk, the River Cats dropped their first six-run frame of the evening in the home half of the third. That had given Sacramento the lead back after they had gone down 4-2 when Reno scored twice in the second and third, both of which came on two-run homers.
While the River Cats found an insurance tally in the fourth on a Marco Luciano solo home run, his team-leading 14th of the season, the Aces (3-5/40-44) slowly crawled back into the contest by producing one run in each the fifth and seventh frames while plating three in the sixth.
Locked in a tie game entering the eighth, the River Cats unleashed one final barrage of runs in their final trips to the plate with their second six-run frame. In an inning that featured a sacrifice fly and a two-RBI single by Luciano, the highlight was the first Triple-A home run in the career of Zach Morgan as he turned around a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left-center that brought home the game to its resting point of 15-9.
Each team trotted out six pitchers on the night, but the one to earn the winning decision was Matt Gage (W, 1-0), one of the newest River Cats after singing a minor league deal with San Francisco yesterday. The former San Francisco Giant returned to the organization and worked one scoreless frame to earn the win while allowing one hit, walk, and striking out one. He was not the only River Cat to work a run-free frame, as Tristan Beck.
Three different River Cats tallied multiple hits in the contest, including Luciano who was a perfect 2-for-2 while drawing three free passes and driving in three. Each the duo of Basabe and Grant McCray were 2-for-4 with two runs scored, though the former had a pair of extra-base hits (double and homer) and a walk.
Speaking of McCray, he stole his 20th base of the season during the sixth inning, making him just the third River Cat to steal 20 bases in a season since the start of the 2017 season along with Tyler Fitzgerald (2023) and Bryce Johnson (2022).
The win solidified a series sweep for the River Cats, their first since they also took a three-game set with the Tacoma Rainiers nearly five years ago from July 19-21, 2019.
Now finished with the Sacramento portion, the two teams will meet again on Independence Day at 6:35 p.m. (PT) in Reno, Nev. at Greater Nevada Field for the beginning of another short three-game series.