PCL Sacramento River Cats

River Cats Punctuate Game Four Win Over Bees with Late Dingers

Published on July 7, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Sacramento River Cats News Release


WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The duo of Heliot Ramos and David Villar combined to slug three home runs for the Sacramento River Cats in game four of the series with the Salt Lake Bees, all of which came in the eighth inning or later as they capped off a solid all-around contest in an 8-1 victory on Friday.

Both teams had their chances to score in the early innings, putting at least one runner on base in every half inning through the first three frames. That included doubles for the River Cats (40-44) by Tyler Fitzgerald in the first and Ford Proctor in the second, but both were left stranded.

Meanwhile, the Bees (41-43) had a trio of fly balls bring an end to their first swings that left Trey Cabbage on base after he was hit by a pitch to begin the frame. Then, they grounded into a double play in each the second and third that killed any momentum building for Salt Lake.

Runs came in a bunch for Sacramento when they broke the scoreless tie, repeating their formula from yesterday as they dropped a three-spot in the fourth. Two walks by Isan Diaz and Ford Proctor plus a single by Heliot Ramos loaded the bases with just one out, with Diaz representing the game's first run when Bees starter Luis Ledo (2-3) was called for a balk prior to delivering the pitch.

The other two runs came with two outs in the inning, the first scoring when Michael Gigliotti pulled a ball on the ground to the right side. Though it was fielded on a diving effort, the throw was not in time which allowed Ramos to cross home on the play. Following was Bryce Johnson, who singled into center field and pushed the score to 3-0 by driving in Proctor.

Again, the Bees threatened to score in the home half of the inning, but River Cats' starter Kai-Wei Teng (2-1) induced his third ground ball double play of the contest, the second consecutive inning-ending twin-killing. Sacramento took advantage when they came to the dish in the fifth with another two-out rally, as Diaz drew another free pass and scored in the next at-bat on an RBI double down the left-field line by Ramos.

Action went quietly until the bottom of the seventh when Salt Lake ensured the River Cats would not complete their first shutout of the campaign by building their own two-out rally. Phoenix Sanders, who had entered in the sixth for Sacramento and turned in a clean inning, was one out away from repeating the feat but saw a double off the center-field wall by Chris Okey come around to score on a bloop single into right field by Jared Oliva.

Sacramento countered once in the eighth on a loud pop from Ramos, who crushed a solo dinger 455 feet into left center that made him the ninth River Cat this season to homer in consecutive contests.

Far from done, Ramos took it a step further in the ninth as he blasted another ball over the fence in right center for his second homer of the night, this one a two-run shot that gave him his second straight four-RBI game. Ramos became the sixth player in a Sacramento uniform to have a two-homer game this season, and the fourth to leave the yard in consecutive at bats (last: Fitzgerald, 6/18 at Sugar Land). On his current rehab assignment he has gone scorched earth, logging hits in all five contests while going 12-for-21 (.571) with seven runs scored, four doubles, one triple, three homers and nine RBI. Additionally, he has totaled a 1.286 slugging percentage and a 1.877 OPS over that span.

Those final two dingers from Ramos sandwiched the sixth homer of the campaign by Villar, as he launched a solo big fly with one out in the top of the ninth. For Villar, he continues to be a run producer as he has driven in or scored at least one run in 15 of the 23 games he has played in this year. That final blast resulted in the ninth three-homer game of the year for the River Cats.

Though Sacramento scored four runs over the final two frames, Joey Marciano received credit for a save as he relieved Sanders in a 4-1 contest during the seventh, then hurled the last 2.1 scoreless innings with just two hits allowed and two strikeouts. Teng was excellent for a second straight start despite issuing three walks and hitting two batters, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings while allowing a pair of hits and fanning three.

Seven of nine River Cats tallied hits, and all were led by the 4-for-5 performance by Ramos. It was his first four-hit game of the season, and he paired with it three runs scored and four RBI thanks to his couple of dingers. Gigliotti finished a perfect 2-for-2 with an RBI and a pair of singles but reached base a total of four times as he also earned a walk and was hit by a pitch.

It took until his final at-bat, but Joey Bart extended his active hitting streak to nine games with a double in the ninth, and he is hitting .351 (13-for-37) with eight runs scored, three doubles, three homers, 13 RBI and a 1.061 OPS.

Having earned at least a split of the final series before the all-star break, the River Cats will go for the series victory when these two teams take the field for game four at 5:35 p.m. (PT) on Saturday.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 7, 2023


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