PCL Sacramento River Cats

Villar, González homer, River Cats shutout Rainiers

May 18, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Sacramento River Cats News Release


West Sacramento, Calif. - A dominant pitching display and home runs by right fielder Luis González and third baseman David Villar lifted the Sacramento River Cats (19-19) to a 5-0 victory over the Tacoma Rainiers (12-26) to even the series on Wednesday.

Right-hander Raynel Espinal (3-0) set the tone with a dominant effort on the mound. The 30-year-old struck out four while allowing two hits and one walk in 6.0 shutout innings.

Rehabbing San Francisco left-hander Jake McGee struck out the side in a perfect seventh inning. Lefty Sammy Long added another 2.0 shutout innings, striking out four to close out the win.

González kick-started the offense first with a leadoff home run to right field, his fourth big fly of the season.

The teams traded zeros for the following nine half innings until Villar skied a three-run home run onto the left field berm for three key insurance runs.

Lefty Enmanuel De Jesus (0-1, 5.68) will try for his first win on Thursday. He'll take on former Sacramento lefty Tommy Milone (0-0, 1.80) at 6:45 p.m. (PT). Listen to Johnny Doskow call the game online at rivercats.com or on the MiLB First Pitch app.

Additional Notes

Villar, the reigning PCL Player of the Week, now has a 1.116 OPS and leads the league with 13 home runs and 39 RBIs.

Catcher Michael Papierski, who was acquired from Houston on May 14, eliminated a runner in scoring position in the sixth when he backpicked Tacoma second baseman Sam Haggerty leaning off third base. Papierski also plated shortstop Donovan Walton with a sacrifice-fly in the sixth.

Check out the Sacramento River Cats Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from May 18, 2022


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