Sacramento homers 4 times, 9th inning rally burns River Cats

West Sacramento, Calif. — Four home runs were not enough to stave off a ninth inning comeback, as the Sacramento River Cats (33-44) fell 10-9 to the Reno Aces (40-37) on Saturday.

Leading 9-5 with two outs in the ninth, Reno rallied for five runs against right-handers R.J. Dabovich and Patrick Ruotolo (1-4) to steal the victory.

Shortstop Isan Díaz dealt the game’s first blow with a 408-foot (107.2 exit velocity) solo shot for his 15th homer of the year. The 26-year-old is averaging a home run every 9.67 at-bats.

After a four-run top of the fourth put Reno on top, Sacramento responded with five runs, two coming on third baseman David Villar’s go-ahead big fly.

A leadoff single by left fielder Yermín Mercedes, a double by first baseman Jason Krizan, and a two-run bloop single by designated hitter Austin Dean got the River Cats within one.

Villar unloaded on a 93.4 MPH fastball, sending it 419 feet (104.3 MPH exit velocity) for a 6-4 lead. The home run not only gave him a league-leading 21 on the season, it set a career-high for Villar in his debut Triple-A season.

Sacramento added three runs in the bottom of the seventh on back-to-back home runs by catcher Joey Bart and Mercedes, with Bart’s going 484 feet (112.7 MPH off the bat).

Left-hander Enmanuel De Jesus (3-1, 4.36) will face off with righty Ryne Nelson (5-5, 6.07) in a rare Sunday night game at 6:35 p.m. (PT) at Sutter Health Park for the annual Independence Eve Fireworks Extravaganza. Listen to Johnny Doskow call the game online at rivercats.com or on the MiLB First Pitch app.

Additional Notes

• Right-hander Taylor Williams served as the River Cats’ opener, striking out one with one hit allowed in 2.0 innings.
• Righty Shelby Miller struck out three in 2.0 perfect innings out of the bullpen.