PCL Sacramento River Cats

Power Not Enough for Cats in First Season Meeting with Isotopes

July 26, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Sacramento River Cats News Release


ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Home runs were once again the story of the contest for the Sacramento River Cats during their series opener against the Albuquerque Isotopes on Tuesday, but despite hitting four blasts, a pair of two-run innings late in the contest swung the game in favor of Albuquerque, 9-6.

Matched up against the Isotopes (41-56) for the first time this season, the River Cats (43-53) started the scoring with some two-out magic in the top of the first. Marco Luciano was walked on four pitches, and Tyler Fitzgerald made Albuquerque pay by launching his 12th homer of the year over the wall in left center for a 2-0 lead. That ties Fitzgerald for the team lead in home runs along with Will Wilson at 12.

After an inning-ending double play stopped Sacramento from adding on in the second, Albuquerque tied the game with their own two-run blast in the bottom of the inning. It was a nearly identical formula, as a one-out walk preceded a homer from Jonathan Morales to knot the score.

Sacramento did not wait long to respond, as once more a walk spelled doom for the pitching team when Luciano crushed a hanging curveball over the wall in left center. That marked the second homer in as many games for Luciano making him the 12th River Cat to accomplish the feat, and gives him a hit in all six games he has played in for Sacramento. Scoring on the play after earning a free pass was Luis Gonzalez, who was making his first appearance on his rehab assignment with the River Cats.

During the fourth Sacramento would not be stopped from adding onto their lead, tacking on a run when Armando Alvarez lasered a ball that just cleared the wall in left field. Like Luciano, it was Alvarez's second homer in as many games.

That tally proved crucial as the Isotopes struck for three runs in the home half of the fifth, starting with a leadoff walk that was another omen for a home run. This one stayed in the park as Wynton Bernard hit a high fly ball that one-hopped the wall in center field, giving him just enough time to speed all the way around the bases for a two-run inside-the-park home run.

The subsequent at-bat saw Brendan Rodgers double into right-center field, then advance up to third after the ball was overran in the outfield. Rodgers came around to score the tying run two batters later on a single through the left side by Coco Montes.

Stepping up in the clutch once again was Alvarez, who became the seventh River Cat with a two-homer game in 2023 when he unleashed a deep homer to left center. It was his sixth homer of the year and, following a single in his final at-bat later in the eighth, continued his hot month of July in which he is hitting .429 (21-for-49) with nine runs scored, three doubles, three homers, and 11 RBI with a 1.115 OPS.

Dating back to their contest on July 21 against the Rainiers, each of the past 10 run-scoring hits for the River Cats have been home runs. Additionally, 14 of the past 15 runs scored by the River Cats have come via home runs, with the only exception when Fitzgerald scored on a wild pitch in the first inning during the series finale with Tacoma on Sunday. This was just the third time Sacramento has hit at least three home runs in consecutive games, the first instance since they did it in four straight from June 9-13.

Despite that power, a pair of two-run innings in the seventh and eighth wound up being the different in the contest. A one-out walk was again the undoing of the lead for Sacramento, as a Daniel Montano two-run homer put the Isotopes in front for good. Insurance was added the following frame when Montes drove in two with a single to left, pushing the game to its final of 9-6.

The loss was charged to Randy Rodriguez (0-1), his first of the year, while Dugan Darnell (2-0) collected the victory thanks to 1.1 innings of hitless work. Three River Cats posted multi-hit efforts led by the 3-for-4 from Alvarez and his two homers, while Fitzgerald and Wilson were each 2-for-4 with the former scoring once and driving two in.

Both teams return to the diamond tomorrow evening when they line up for game two of this series beginning at 5:35 p.m. PT.

Check out the Sacramento River Cats Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from July 26, 2023


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