Cats Clinch Series Against Sugar Land Behind 8-4 Win 

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – After trading runs nearly all game long, the Sacramento River Cats finally gained the upper hand thanks to a two-run knock by Armando Alvarez that put Sacramento in front of the Sugar Land Space Cowboys for good, ultimately leading to an 8-4 victory on Saturday.

The River Cats (65-77) jumped in front for the first time during their first set of swings, as Marco Luciano worked a walk before advancing to third on a single by Tyler Fitzgerald where he scored on an RBI fielder’s choice by David Villar.

An inning later and Sacramento added onto its advantage, doing so with one swing of the bat by Armando Alvarez. Sitting in a 2-2 count with one out, Alvarez hooked a ball down the left-field line that just stayed inside the foul pole for his 17th homer of the season.

It took until the third inning for the Space Cowboys (55-88) to respond, breaking through onto the scoreboard when David Hensley doubled to right field that scored Cesar Salazar, who had opened the frame with a walk. Two batters later and Sugar Land knotted the contest, scoring the tying run on their own RBI fielder’s choice when the River Cats were unable to complete a double play attempt.

Sacramento got the long ball going again in the fourth when Donovan Walton blasted a leadoff homer to right center, but Sugar Land flipped the script with their own two-run home run from Bligh Madris during the top of the fifth which gave the Space Cowboys their first and only lead of the contest.

Much like Sacramento’s early lead, the Space Cowboys were unable to retain their edge after Alvarez came up clutch with his second and third RBI of the night. Two runners were put aboard after Villar drew a free pass while Heliot Ramos was hit by a pitch, and both were moved into scoring position on a textbook sacrifice bunt by Bryce Johnson.

That set the stage for Alvarez, who delivered a looping single just over the reach of the jumping Rylan Bannon at second base. As the ball rolled into the right-center gap, it gave both Villar and Ramos the time they needed to scamper home and retake the lead, 5-4.

Following a scoreless sixth, the River Cats put the game away in the home half of the seventh with the largest inning of the game by either side. Villar kicked things off with a two-bagger to left center, then was joined on base when Ramos was given a free pass.

To advance both into scoring position Johnson laid down another textbook sacrifice bunt, with Jakson Reetz cashing in by roping a double down the left-field line that scored both easily. Reetz then crossed the palte in the subsequent at-bat when Walton collected his second RBI with a single into center field.

Those runs were the final of the contest despite Sugar Land putting one runner on in both the eighth and ninth, but the River Cats erased each with a dobule play in the eighth while catching the other stealing in the ninth.

Collecting the win in a relief appearance was Randy Rodriguez (2-2), his second of the year as he entered to earn the final out of the fifth before logging the first two outs of the sixth. Rodriguez had taken over for starter Kai-Wei Teng, who allowed four runs on four hits in 4.2 innings of work while issuing six walks.

Taking the loss for Sugar Land was Shawn Dubin (1-5), who was also charged with a blown save after he was tagged for five runs on three hits in just 2.2 innings.

The duo of Alvarez and Walton had a pair of hits each, with Alvarez’s performance leading the way thanks to his trio of RBI with a home run. Meanwhile, Walton also had a homer and drove in two of his own, and Villar was 1-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and a double.

Sunday will see the series finale between the two teams, and Sacramento will try to take five of six games when the two sides line up against each other beginning at 1:05 p.m. from Sutter Health Park.