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PCL Sacramento River Cats

Home Runs Highlight Second Straight One-Run Win for Sacramento

July 23, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Sacramento River Cats News Release


WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - There was little separation between the Sacramento River Cats and the Tacoma Rainiers on Sunday as the two teams spent most of the contest separated by just a single run, but in the end, it was Sacramento earning a split of the six-game set thanks to a 5-4 win.

Eight of the nine runs scored in the contest came via the home run, as both the Rainiers (47-49) and the River Cats (43-52) hit three apiece. There was a seesaw nature to the game, as every time Sacramento tried to pull away, Tacoma stole the runs right back.

It started with the fourth when a two-run homer from Armando Alvarez gave the River Cats a 3-0 lead, his fourth of the season to snap a 15-game homerless streak. Alvarez has been hot as the weather in July, as he is batting an eye-popping .400 (18-for-45) with three doubles, one homer and nine RBI and hits in 10 of his 14 games played.

That cushion shrank back to one in the top of the fifth when the Rainiers countered with their own two-run homer from Mason McCoy. The dinger immediately followed a double by Cooper Hummel and came against Sacramento starter Miguel Yajure for his only runs allowed in the contest.

Scoring continued in the bottom of the frame, with both runs for Sacramento coming on solo home runs. The first to do it was Will Wilson, crushing his 12th big fly of the year to break a tie with Tyler Fitzgerald for the team lead. Trying to fight through an 0-2 count, Wilson took advantage of a hanging curveball on the inner half and sent it over the wall in left field. Much like Alvarez, it snapped a previous 22-game homerless streak for Wilson, a span that lasted 66 at-bats.

Two batters later it was Marco Luciano slugging his first Triple-A home run, as he also took advantage of a mistake curveball when he hit a laser down the left field line on the first pitch he saw that just stayed inside the foul pole. Though it was not back-to-back, it marked the eighth time this season that the River Cats have hit multiple home runs in the same frame.

Like a game of horse, Tacoma did their best to match Sacramento as the Rainiers were able to leave the yard in consecutive at-bats during the away half of the sixth. Facing off against Tristan Beck, the duo of Zach DeLoach and Adam Engel once more brought Tacoma within one after DeLoach hit his 11th of the year to right field while Engel went the other way with his eighth to left center.

The long ball was a welcome sight for Tacoma, as Sacramento had held them without a homer in each of the last three games, their longest home run drought of the year.

Following the sixth there was just one hit by either team until the end of the game, a double from Michael Gigliotti to lead off the seventh, though he would be left stranded at third. Much of the reason was the pitching, as Beck worked around a two-out walk in the seventh before handing the baton to Drew Strotman. A quick eighth inning which included stranding his own two-out walk earned a hold for Strotman, his first of the year.

On to close out the contest was Erik Miller, the winning pitcher in last night's walk-off victory, and he was sharp yet again as he faced just the minimum three hitters after a two-out walk was erased on a caught stealing to end the contest. That clinched the fifth save of the campaign for Miller, who holds just a 1.37 ERA (four earned runs in 26.1 innings) since May 12 while recording all five of his saves in that time.

The only run scored on the day that did not come from a big fly was the game's first run in the opening inning, when Fitzgerald singled with two outs and promptly stole second and third, eventually scoring on a wild pitch.

Today's victory marked the 14th one-run win of the campaign for the River Cats, all of which have come at Sutter Health Park where they are 14-5 in such games (14-11 overall).

Yajure was just a single out from qualifying for the win, but even without a decision turned in a solid final line as he allowed two runs on four hits over 4.2 innings of work with six strikeouts. Taking the credit for the win was Beck, his second of the year as the only two hits he allowed in 2.1 innings were the pair of solo home runs.

Charged with the loss for Tacoma starter Darren McCaughan (5-5), responsible for all five Sacramento runs on six hits in 5.0 frames, though he did punch out seven. Three Rainiers relievers combined to allow just a single hit in those final three innings.

Alvarez was the only River Cat to record multiple hits by going 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI, while Luciano and Fitzgerald closed the game 1-for-4 each. A trio of River Cats finished 1-for-3 in Jakson Reetz, Gigliotti and Wilson, with Wilson and Reetz each scoring a run.

Ready to turn the page to the next series, Sacramento will be in action again on Tuesday when they begin a six-game series against the Albuquerque Isotopes for the first time in 2023, with first pitch scheduled for 5:35 p.m. PT.

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