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Sacramento Snags Second Straight Over Oklahoma City

Bishop Drives in Three of Four River Cats Runs, Including Inside-The-Park Homer
Hunter Bishop takes off from the batter's box after connecting on his inside-the-park home run during Sacramento's contest against Oklahoma City on May 15. (Ralph Thompson Photo)
May 16, 2024

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento River Cats followed a similar script to their series-opening win against the Oklahoma City Baseball Club on Wednesday, using a two-run homer to break a 1-1 tie before ultimately collecting a 4-1 victory. For a second straight game Oklahoma City (23-18) took a lead

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento River Cats followed a similar script to their series-opening win against the Oklahoma City Baseball Club on Wednesday, using a two-run homer to break a 1-1 tie before ultimately collecting a 4-1 victory.

For a second straight game Oklahoma City (23-18) took a lead in the first inning, as Drew Avans smacked a leadoff home run on the fourth pitch of the game.

After going down in order in each of the first three innings, the River Cats (24-17) strung together a two-out rally thanks to the duo of Trenton Brooks and Hunter Bishop. Brooks became the first Sacramento base runner in the contest by working a walk and then promptly stole second base, his fifth steal of the year. That put him in prime position to score on Bishop’s liner into right field, knotting the score at 1-1.

Unlike Tuesday when that score held until the bottom of the ninth, tonight’s tie score lasted until the seventh when the River Cats put up a three-spot in the home half of the frame. Once more it was the duo of Brooks and Bishop, as the former earned another free pass in front of Brooks, who drove him home with one swing of the bat.

Sitting in a 1-0 count, Bishop sent a sinking liner into left field towards the foul line where Miguel Vargas was giving chase. Despite his best diving effort, Vargas came up empty-handed which allowed the ball to roll all the way to the wall while Bishop scampered around the bases for an inside-the-park home run.

That was the 12th inside-the-park home run for the River Cats since 2005, the first since Tyler Fitzgerald did so last season on June 15 at Sugar Land. It marked the second inside-the-park home run at Sutter Health Park this season, as former River Cat Armando Alvarez did so as a member of the Las Vegas Aviators on April 27.

A sacrifice fly from Turner Hill added one more run of insurance, but it was a run that was not needed due to Sacramento’s solid pitching. Starter Carson Whisenhunt went 5.0 innings for just the second time this season, punching out six while allowing one run on four hits with one walk, but did not factor into the decision.

Neither did Reggie Crawford, but he made a memorable Triple-A debut by working a scoreless sixth inning. Though he hit the first batter he faced and issued a walk, the former was caught stealing while the latter was erased on an inning-ending double play. In all, Crawford threw just 12 pitches, five for strikes, and topped out at 99 mph on the radar.

Earning his first win of the season was Cody Stashak (1-0), who allowed two hits in a scoreless frame but also struck out a pair. On to earn a long save was Spencer Bivens (S, 6), who inherited the bases loaded in the eighth but escaped danger with a double play before sitting down the side in order during the ninth. Bivens remains perfect in save opportunities this season at 6-for-6, pitching 1.2 innings or more in all but one of those chances.

Bishop ended his night 2-for-4, his first multi-hit game in Triple-A and is now 3-for-8 (.375) on the season. He also drove in three of the four Sacramento runs, his first three-RBI game in 2024 and first since he also had three RBI on Sept. 8, 2022 as a member of the Eugene Emeralds. Brett Auerbach had a multi-hit night by going 2-for-3, and Ismael Munguia has now logged hits in seven of his past eight after going 1-for-4.

The River Cats will attempt to collect a series split in game three of this series tomorrow, with first pitch from Sutter Health Park at 6:45 p.m.