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PCL Sacramento River Cats

Bart, Alvarez Homer but Cats Fall in Series Opener

June 28, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Sacramento River Cats News Release


WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Sacramento River Cats slugged their 20th multi-homer game of the season during the series opener with the Reno Aces on Wednesday, but it was not enough to keep up with Reno as they scored in each of the first three innings and five total to claim a 7-2 win.

All action started in the first for the Aces (45-31), with two of their first three runs in the game scoring on sacrifice flies. That first frame could have been much larger for Reno, as the bases were loaded when Phillip Evans hit his fly ball to center that scored Dominic Fletcher, who had reached with a walk to start the contest. However, River Cats' (34-41) starter Sean Hjelle (1-2) showed excellent composure to get out of the jam, inducing a ground ball for the final out to keep the damage limited.

Another walk came back to hurt Sacramento in the second, and all started with a free pass to P.J. Higgins. He turned that walk into a run when he stole second, moved to third thanks to an errant throw down, and then advanced the final 90 feet when the ball rolled under the glove of Dalton Guthrie in center field.

The second Reno sacrifice fly came during the third, this time from Dominic Canzone as he drove in Kyle Lewis after Lewis initially reached by drawing a free pass and then moved to third on a single.

A loud crack of the bat from Joey Bart leading off the fourth inning represented the Sacramento response, briefly cutting the lead back to a pair of runs as he launched his first homer of the season over the wall in left field. It was a weight off the shoulders of Bart, hitting his first home run after a homerless-streak of 136 at-bats between the River Cats (58 at-bats) and San Francisco (78 at-bats).

Stealing the recipe from Sacramento, the Aces used the long ball to begin their trip to the dish in the fifth, starting the frame with a bang courtesy a homer to right field by Josh Rojas. Immediately following with a double that one-hopped the wall in left field was Lewis, who then traded places two batters later with Canzone when the latter ripped his own two-bagger down the left-field line.

More insurance came during the seventh, as the third sacrifice fly of the evening for Reno came from Blaze Alexander. That, combined with an RBI single into center field from Jose Herrera, pushed the Aces' advantage to 7-1.

From Bart's dinger leading off the fourth through the end of the seventh, the River Cats managed just one base runner, a single through the middle from Tyler Fitzgerald in the sixth. Sacramento snapped that stretch by putting the first two batters of the eighth on base, a walk to Michael Gigliotti and a single by Guthrie, but the inning came to an unceremonious ending with three quick and consecutive outs.

Trying to put together one final rally, Armando Alvarez began the ninth by crushing a no-doubter to deep left-center field on the first pitch he saw. Despite that and Sacramento putting another pair of runners on, the River Cats could come no closer as the final ended at 7-2.

Taking the loss for Sacramento was Hjelle, who was charged with five runs (only four earned) on seven hits in 5.0 innings of work, punching out three but walking four. His counterpart Slade Cecconi (3-5) earned the winning decision, tossing 6.0 innings of one-run ball while yielding five hits and fanning seven.

A pair of River Cats' hurlers tossed clean innings in the game, as Cole Waites struck out two in a scoreless sixth while Nick Swiney logged his seventh consecutive outing without allowing a run by working the ninth and punching out one.

The River Cats nearly matched the Aces in hits (10-8), which included Guthrie and Fitzgerald logging a pair of knocks each though neither scored nor drove a run in. It was the No. 4 and 5 spots in the lineup that collected the Sacramento RBI, both coming on a pair of solo big flies from Bart and Alvarez.

Thursday will see these same two squads lineup for game two of this six-game set, with first pitch from Sutter Health Park scheduled for 6:45 p.m.

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