EL PASO, Tex. – The Sacramento River Cats offense kept humming in game two of their series with the El Paso Chihuahuas, pushing across five runs in the first two frames which sent Sacramento on its way to a 10-6 victory on Wednesday. For the first time this season, the
EL PASO, Tex. – The Sacramento River Cats offense kept humming in game two of their series with the El Paso Chihuahuas, pushing across five runs in the first two frames which sent Sacramento on its way to a 10-6 victory on Wednesday.
For the first time this season, the River Cats (28-19) scored double-digit runs in consecutive games (fifth time overall in 2024), and all was started with a leadoff homer from Tyler Fitzgerald. On the third pitch of the game, he sent one out the opposite way to right field, the first leadoff home run by a River Cat this season and the first since Bryce Johnson did so on Aug. 15, 2023 against Tacoma.
After two quick outs, David Villar added onto the lead with his fourth homer of the year, a solo shot to right center that doubled the Sacramento advantage. It was the first time this season that the River Cats have hit two home runs in the first inning, and the first time since they also did so last year on Aug. 12, 2023 in a 10-8 loss at home against Las Vegas.
Doubles two batters apart in the second continued the offensive assault, as Jakson Reetz lined his seventh double of the year and scored when Ismael Munguia traded places thanks to his sixth two-bagger. Up next was Fitzgerald, who hit his second homer in as many at-bats with a 423-foot blast out to center field, pushing the River Cats lead out to 5-0.
For Fitzgerald, he is the first River Cat to have consecutive multi-homer games since Jason Krizan accomplished the feat on Aug. 29 and 30, 2021 against Reno. In total he is just the fourth River Cat to do so since 2005, joining Chris Carter (May 17-18, 2012 at ABQ) and Jaylin Davis (Aug. 16-17, 2019 vs. Reno).
Though a Cal Mitchell homer broke the Chihuahuas (18-29) onto the scoreboard in the home half of the third, Sacramento tacked on two more in the top of the fifth. Striking first was Donovan Walton, who singled into right field to score Schmitt while Reetz doubled home Walton in the very next at-bat.
That was the third double of the afternoon for Reetz, which is the most in a game by a River Cat this season and one shy of the franchise record established last season by Brett Wisely on April 16, 2023 at Reno. In total, each of the last six hits for Reetz have been two-baggers, giving him a total of nine on the campaign.
El Paso tried to stay close by plating three in the fifth, starting with a homer to kick off the frame by Oscar Mercado. It was the second straight day he had done so, as Mercado also led off the fifth in last night’s contest with a dinger. Following a walk, Mitchell struck for his second home run of the day to make it a three-run inning and cut the score down to 7-4.
All three home runs were allowed by River Cats starter Tommy Romero, the most in a game by a River Cat this season. In fact, it was just the fourth time this season that Sacramento has allowed three home runs in a game, with the last instance coming on May 7 at Salt Lake.
Undeterred, Sacramento found another pair of insurance runs in the top of the sixth behind a Schmitt homer, his seventh of the season. Scoring on the play was Fitzgerald, who had walked just in front of the Schmitt blast.
The Chihuahuas kept fighting with runs in the bottom of the sixth and eighth, though the latter was equalized by an RBI double from Schmitt in the top of the eighth.
That would signal all the offense in the contest, as the River Cats finished the afternoon with nine extra-base hits, tied for the most in a Sacramento game this season. This was the first time since Sept. 5 and 6 of last season that the River Cats have scored double-digits in consecutive games, and they also logged double-digit hits for the 17th time in 2024.
Romero finished just one out shy of qualifying for the win, allowing four runs on three hits in 4.2 innings with five strikeouts. It was the first earned runs he had allowed since April 19, a stretch that lasted five games and 22.2 innings.
That left the victory for Juan Sanchez (2-0), who yielded only one run on three hits in 2.0 innings with a strikeout. Tossing the final 2.1 innings was Justin Garza, giving up only one on one hit.
Both Schmitt and Reetz finished with three hits in the contest, and the two combined for five of the nine Sacramento extra base hits. Meanwhile, Schmitt and Fitzgerald each drove in a trio of runs and combined to score five times. Ismael Munguia had his RBI double and a great defensive play out in left field, as he reached a sprint speed of 27.1 feet per second and covered a total of 74 feet to make a sliding catch to his right.
Thursday will see Sacramento attempt to secure their third win in a row, which would be the fifth three-game winning streak of the season. All the action gets underway beginning with first pitch at 5:05 p.m. (PT).
