Sacramento Moves to Sole Possesion of Second Place in the Second Half Standings with a 9-6 Win Over Tacoma

The Sacramento River Cats continued their hot streak tonight with a 9-6 victory over Tacoma.

The Rainiers struck first, however. Ryan Bliss knocked a two-run, 422-foot shot to center field off starter Anthony Molina in the third.

Tacoma had a bullpen game as the originally scheduled starter, Jhonathan Díaz, had his contract selected by Seattle this morning.

Things were looking bleak. It took the River Cats 6.1 innings to get a runner on base with Tacoma retiring 16-straight before Diego Velasquez knocked a double.

And they didn’t let it go to waste. Following Velasquez’s double, Nate Furman walked and Scott Bandura topped it off with his eighth home run with Sacramento, a 385-foot shot to right center field, putting Sacramento up 3-2.

The momentum continued into the seventh with a Grant McCray RBI single. McCray rejoined the River Cats last week for the first time since May 29. He was placed on the 7-day IL on June 4, sent on a rehab assignment to the ACL Giants on July 6, and immediately recalled to San Francisco on July 10. He batted .081 (3-for-37) with one home run, two RBI, seven walks, four stolen bases, and a .389 OPS with the Giants.

Whitcomb walked, followed by a Will Brennan RBI double to score McCray, and a two-run single from Adrián Sugastey, who has looked phenomenal in his time with the Cats.

Next, Nate Furman, who also rejoined Sacramento last week after making his major league debut, knocked an RBI double and advanced to third on a fielding error. Finally, Furman scored on a Scott Bandura double before Tacoma was able to force ground outs from Parks Harber and Bo Davidson to end the bleeding, but not before Sacramento earned a six-run inning.

Tacoma wouldn’t go down easily, however. Spencer Bivens plunked Willie MacIver to begin the eighth. Mastrobuoni and Bliss each grounded out, and Victor Labrada drew the Rainiers’ first walk of the evening. Michael Arroyo then knocked an RBI single, followed by Lazaro Montes with a two-run double into right center field for three total runs.

The Kitties went three up and three down in the eighth, and though Sacramento had all but won, the Rainiers wouldn’t go quietly, getting three hits and scoring one run off closer Nick Zwack.

But it wouldn’t be enough, giving the River Cats a four-game winning streak and putting them in sole possession of second place in the second-half standings, just four games behind the leading Sugar Land Space Cowboys.