PCL Sacramento River Cats

Cats Come Together for Third Straight Win

Published on August 24, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Sacramento River Cats News Release


EL PASO, Tex. - Stiff pitching and late offense were the battery for a third straight win for the Sacramento River Cats, holding the El Paso Chihuahuas to a run on three hits during a 6-1 decision in Wednesday's game three.

Action seemed like it might go sideways in the home half of the first for the River Cats (53-68), as starter Mason Black (1-0) walked the first two Chihuahuas (53-69) then saw the two combine for three stolen bases. Black was strong as he fanned the next two, and after a final walk to load the bases, eventually struck out the side with a final punchout looking.

Meanwhile, Sacramento threatened to score in the top half of the second thanks to a leadoff walk by David Villar and a single to left center by Joey Bart. A Brett Wisely single later loaded the bases, but with two outs they were unable to capitalize.

The game went quickly until the top of the fifth when the River Cats broke the scoreless tie, and it took only two batters to accomplish as Armando Alvarez doubled to right field and scored immediately on a Wisely single up the middle. Walks issued to Jakson Reetz, Mitch Haniger and Tyler Fitzgerald loaded the bases, and Villar laced a single through the left side that scored both Reetz and Haniger.

Meanwhile on the mound, Black found his groove after working around a leadoff walk and throwing error in the second, settling down and facing the minimum until his exit after the fifth inning. For the second straight outing he logged eight punchouts, which matched his season high with the River Cats.

A leadoff walk to Trenton Brooks, making his Sacramento debut, led to a 4-0 lead during the top of the sixth. He moved up to second on a ground out from Alvarez, then later scored on a knock into left center by Reetz.

El Paso scraped together its only run during the seventh, using a leadoff single and a two-out base hit through the right side to make the game 4-1. Charged with the run was Darien Nunez, who gave up only one hit and walked one in 1.2 innings of work.

It did not take long for Sacramento to get the tally back, as Reetz connected with the first pitch he saw in the eighth inning on a two-run blast out to left field. Scoring was Wisely, who had just been issued a free pass in front of the homer. It was the ninth blast in a Sacramento uniform for Reetz, who ended his day with a trio of RBI.

Following Nunez, the duo of Randy Rodriguez and Juan Sanchez continued the stellar pitching. Rodriguez allowed a single hit and walked two in 2.0 innings while Sanchez worked a clean ninth with a strikeout to preserve the win. That clinched the win for Black, the first in his Triple-A career, while his counterpart Jay Groome (4-8) was tagged with the loss by yielding three runs on five hits in 5.0 innings.

With his walk in the in the second and his two-RBI single in the fifth, David Villar extended both of his streaks as he has now reached base safely in 23 straight games and has logged a hit in 12 consecutive contests. He is just one game away from matching the longest Sacramento reached base safely streak by Matt Beaty at 24 games, and is three away from matching Clint Coulter's season-best hitting streak of 15 games. To close the night, Villar was 2-for-4 along with a walk.

Also logging a multiple-hit game was Bart, Wisely, and Reetz, with Bart going 2-for-4 with a double and a walk while the latter two were each 2-for-3. Reetz also scored a pair of runs while Wisely scored once and drove one in.

Tomorrow will see the River Cats go for their fourth consecutive win, as the two teams line up for game three at Southwest University Park at 5:35 p.m. PT.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 24, 2023


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