Schmitt, Fitzgerald Propel Offense in 11-7 Cats Victory

EL PASO, Tex. – The pair of Casey Schmitt and Tyler Fitzgerald continued their hot streaks while the middle of the lineup combined for five RBI, as the Sacramento River Cats stayed hot at the dish and secured their third straight win with an 11-7 decision over the El Paso Chihuahuas on Thursday.

With the first three batters of the game the River Cats (29-19) loaded the bases, setting up David Villar with a prime spot to deliver a two-RBI single into left field that let the River Cats play the entire contest with the lead. Two batters later and Brandon Martorano got in on the action, singling through the right side for his first RBI since he had five on May 8 at Salt Lake.

In the second it was Fitzgerald striking yet again, as he led off with his fifth homer in three games thanks to a solo shot to right field. That made Fitzgerald the first River Cat to homer in three straight games since Trenton Brooks did so from Sept. 7-9, 2023. Just a little bit later in the inning Brady Whalen added a sacrifice fly, scoring Schmitt who had doubled after the Fitzgerald big fly.

Three runs in the second and third was the Chihuahuas (18-30) response, plating their first after an Oscar Mercado triple came across to score on an RBI groundout from Tirso Ornelas. In the third El Paso used consecutive singles to start the inning, eventually scoring the first on an RBI knock from Brett Sullivan while the second scored on yet another RBI ground out.

Sacramento turned the heat back up in the fifth, starting with a single into left center by Fitzgerald with runners at the corners that scored a run. Next up was Schmitt, who crushed the first pitch he saw out to left center for a 9-3 advantage. This marked the second time that Schmitt homered in consecutive games, as he also did so from April 14 against El Paso and April 16 at Oklahoma City. It also marked the third straight game with three or more home runs for Sacramento, the first time since they did it from Aug. 10-12, 2023 at Las Vegas.

The two sides nearly traded runs from that point on, starting with a Matthew Batten home run in the bottom of the fifth. That was countered in the top of the sixth when Brady Whalen put himself in scoring position with a double, then scored in the next at-bat thanks to an RBI single from Martorano.

Each team scored in their half of the seventh, and who else by Schmitt as he blasted a 1-0 pitch to straightaway center field for his ninth of the season. That made Schmitt the second River Cat this season to record multiple multi-homer contests along with Fitzgerald, and the duo matches the pair of Armando Alvarez and Jakson Reetz who also accomplished the feat last season.

El Paso matched with another solo homer in their half thanks to Sullivan, and then plated two final runs in the bottom of the ninth but fell short by an 11-7 final. It was the third consecutive game that Sacramento had scored double-digit runs, which is the first time they have done so since they did it in four straight from July 1-4, 2021 at Las Vegas. Even further, it marked the sixth time that Sacramento has won three straight this season.

Sacramento starter Spencer Howard struck out three while allowing four runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings, leaving Clay Helvey (3-2) to collect his third win of the season by going 2.2 innings with one run allowed on three hits. Reggie Crawford tossed a scoreless eighth with a strikeout.

Fitzgerald and Schmitt combined for seven runs, with Schmitt crossing four times to set a new career high. His previous was three, which he had done twice. Meanwhile, Fitzgerald scored three times for a third straight game, the first River Cat to do so since Joey Rickard did so from Aug. 22-24, 2019.

All nine River Cats that came to the plate tallied hits, four of which came from Schmitt which was the first time he had done so since doing it with the Giants on May 11, 2023 at Arizona. He once again fell a triple shy of the cycle, logging a double and the pair of dingers.

The River Cats will attempt to make it four straight wins on Friday, as the two teams line up for game four of the series at 5:35 p.m. (PT).