Wild Finish Sees Cats Edged by Aces in Extras, 3-2

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – For a second straight game the Sacramento River Cats staked an early lead, but the Reno Aces found enough in their bag to force extra innings and eventually win in the 10th inning on a wild pitch to take down Sacramento on Thursday, 3-2.

Three batters into their first set of swings and the River Cats (14-16) jumped to the early advantage, as a Grant McCray double turned into the game’s first tally when Marco Luciano singled him home with a liner into left center. Two innings later and Sacramento added on, coming from the bat of McCray as he launched his second homer of the year on a ball to left field from a full count.

Quickly the Aces (17-13) started their comeback, and their comeback was complete by the time they tied the game in the top of the seventh. Both runs came from the bat of Aramis Garcia, hitting his fourth and fifth homers of the season in solo fashion in the fifth and seventh innings. Both dingers came against Sacramento starter Carson Whisenhunt, knocking him out of line for the win by the time he left the game after the top of the seventh.

The seven innings tossed by Whisenhunt were his new professional career, with his previous high being six that he did four times previously including twice this season. This was the longest outing by a River Cat since Tristan Beck did so twice during the 2022 campaign, with the last coming on Aug. 13, 2022 in an 8-4 loss at Salt Lake. It was another seven strikeouts for the southpaw, who did so without issuing a walk, logging his third quality start of the campaign.

Tied at 2-2 upon the end of the seventh, the final two regularly scheduled innings went by in the blink of an eye, forcing the game into extra innings. Part of that was due to Sean Hjelle, who tossed two scoreless innings to keep the game alive for the River Cats. That extended his scoreless streak to a team-best eight games, a stretch that has thus far spanned 13.1 combined innings.

Unfortunately for the River Cats, the Aces were able to take advantage of their free runner in the top of the 10th, though they did so in unusual fashion. New Sacramento hurler Antonio Jimenez (1-2) took a liner off the leg but still recorded an out, but followed that by making an errant pickoff attempt to second base with his throw sailing into center field. Eventually with a runner at third, a wild pitch from Jimenez allowed Reno to push across the game’s winning run.

Sacramento did have its chance in the bottom of the 10th, putting two runners aboard with one out and eventually into scoring position with two away. However, one final groundout brought the game to its close of 3-2.

Had there been a clear winner by the bottom of the ninth, this would have been the fastest nine-inning game in Sacramento’s history. The close of the ninth took just one hour and 55 minutes, which would have topped a contest during Sacramento’s inaugural season on April 16, 2000 at Salt Lake.

With his hit in the first, Luciano extended his current reached base safely streak to 16 games, now the longest such streak on the River Cats. He closed the night 1-for-4 with an RBI, while McCray had the only multi-hit game with a pair of extra-base knocks in the form of his homer and double.

The River Cats have now dropped three straight to the Aces and five of their past eight overall, so they will look to stop the slide when the two teams link up again on Friday at 6:45 p.m. (PT) from Sutter Health Park.