The River Cats started out the road trip in Reno with a win Tuesday night in a 12-3 victory over the Aces.
Scott Bandura led off the River Cats for the third time this season, moving into the position after Nate Furman was recalled to San Francisco. Bandura singled, followed by a walk from Parks Harber. Will Brennan then knocked an RBI single to score Bandura and Eddys Leonard followed suit with an RBI single of his own to score Harber, giving Sac an early 2-0 lead.
Matt Gage made his second rehab appearance with Sacramento. Gage joined the River Cats on August 22, rehabbing a left elbow strain. He was originally placed on the 15-day IL on July 4 and was transferred to the 60-day IL on August 2. He threw just 1.0 inning, sending the Reno batters down in order.
Harber added on with an RBI double in the second, and after a quiet third, they added five more runs in the fourth, four of which came on back-to-back doubles from Leonard and Adrián Sugastey.
The Aces would score their first run at the bottom of that inning on a 403-foot, leadoff homer from Pavin Smith, his fourth with Reno.
Brennan added two more on to the Cats’ total with a single in the fifth. Reno would score another run in both the fifth and sixth innings, but that would be it for the Aces.
Bandura tripled in the seventh, giving him four total hits on the night. It was his third three-bagger at the Triple-A level, as well as his third four-hit night.
Harber and Thomas Gavello each knocked sac flies to put two more runs on for good measure, for a total line of 12 runs on 15 hits.
Wilkin Ramos earned the win, his fifth of the season, allowing just the one run from Pavin Smith on three hits, with three strikeouts in 3.0 innings of work.
Cristian Alvarado entered in the seventh and pitched the final three innings, allowing two hits and fanning two batters, and earning his second save with Sacramento.
Their luck continued Wednesday night, though maybe in slightly less convincing fashion. Thomas Gavello singled to score Diego Velasquez and Eddys Leonard in the second to get the Cats on the board first.
They added on with an 0-2, two-run shot from Will Brennan in the third. It was Brennan’s sixth home run of the season, three of which have come this month (also, August 2 and 18).
Brennan, who struggled on the last road trip in Vegas, found his spark again back home and hadn’t let up, hitting in every game since then.
The Aces answered back with a two-run homer of their own in the fourth from Demetrio Crisantes. It was his second with Reno since making his Triple-A debut on July 21.
Brennan doubled in the fifth to score another run, giving him three total RBI on the night in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
Gavin Logan also doubled to score a run for Reno in the sixth, and Sugastey would knock yet another RBI double for Sac in the eighth.
Philip Abner replaced starter Cesar Perdomo in the bottom of the eighth and allowed an RBI single to LuJames Groover for the final run scored of the night.
Perdomo earned the win, his seventh at the Triple-A level and sixth in a row. He is the second PCL pitcher to earn six consecutive winning decision this season, alongside Oklahoma City’s Cole Irvin who did so from May 19-July 19.
Perdomo allowed three runs on eight hits (1 HR) with three walks and five strikeouts in 7.0 innings. It was the first time in his career he has thrown 7.0 innings in back-to-back starts.
Eric Cerantola pitched 1.1 hitless innings to close out the game, earning his third save with Sacramento, and Triple-A-leading 14th save of the season.
Things came crashing down Thursday night as the River Cats were shut out, 5-0.
Starter Joe Whitman gave up an RBI single in the first to Manuel Pena and an RBI double in the second to Pavin Smith. After a quiet three innings, he then allowed an RBI double to Gavin Conticello.
A glimmer of hope in the seventh as Diego Velasquez knocked the team’s only extra-base-hit, a double, followed by a single from Eddys Leonard. The light was quickly snuffed, however, when Zach Morgan grounded into a double play.
Whitman was replaced by Will Bednar who went on to give up two more runs in the bottom of the seventh on a Tyler Locklear single and a Kristian Robinson sac fly.
Finally, R.J. Dabovich made his return to Triple-A, closing out the game in the ninth. Dabovich last appeared with Sacramento in April of 2024 before a series of injuries kept him at the lower levels. He was activated from the 60-day IL and joined Sacramento on August 26.
Despite multi-hit nights from Brennan, Velasquez, and Leonard, the Cats went quietly into the night. It was their second shutout defeat at the hands of the Aces this season, the other being May 5 when they were defeated 4-0. It also marked their 13th shutout defeat against Reno all time.
Things continued to look bleak Friday night as Matt Gage made his third rehab appearance. Gage pitched only 0.2 innings but allowed plenty of damage this time beginning with a leadoff single. Then allowed a series of RBI hits that scored four total runs, putting Sacramento in an early hole. It was the fourth time this season the River Cats had given up four-or-more runs in the first inning.
The second through fifth innings were quiet from both teams, with the only hit from Sacramento being a single by Parks Harber, and the only hit from Reno being a single from Santiago Espinal, both in the fourth.
Adrián Sugastey drew a leadoff walk in the sixth, followed by a double from Aeverson Arteaga to put Sugastey at third, and finally a groundout from Scott Bandura that sent Sugastey home to give Sacramento their first run since the eighth inning Wednesday night. That’s 15-straight scoreless innings.
The Kitties made a push in the seventh when Diego Velasquez knocked a single and Charlie Szykowny – making his Triple-A debut– recorded his first Triple-A hit, a double, to send Velasquez to third. But they were unable to capitalize as Sugastey grounded out to end the inning.
The Aces would salt the earth behind them as they scored two more runs in the eighth due to a throwing error by Harber.
Gage was dealt the loss, allowing four runs on four hits, with one walk and no strikeouts.
Saturday brought maybe the toughest loss of the series. Will Bednar made his first start since 2024 in place of the originally scheduled starter, Seth Lonsway, who had his contract selected by San Francisco and made his big league debut in Game 1 of the Giants’ doubleheader; throwing 2.0 innings to close out the game, allowing three runs (2 earned) on five hits, and striking out his first and last batters.
Bednar on the other hand didn’t look so hot down in Reno. After retiring the Aces in order in the first inning, he gave up back-to-back walks to lead off the second. Then allowed three hits to score four runs. Samir Chires replaced Bednar in the third, making his Triple-A debut. Pavin Smith knocked a 416-foot, two-run homer to score two more runs.
After a quiet fourth, Ryan Slater placed Chires, also making his Triple-A debut. He gave up three consecutive singles, scoring Demetrio Cristanes, then walked Tommy Troy to load the bases.
Adrian Del Castillo blasted a 437-foot grand slam to give Reno five total runs in the inning and put them up 11-0. It was the second grand slam hit by Del Castillo this season, and the fourth of his career.
It also marked the fifth grand slam given up by Sacramento pitching this season, three of which came in the month of August.
Reno scored their final run of the night in the sixth off a single from Gavin Conticello.
The River Cats avoided a second shut out with a triple from Aeverson Arteaga in the eighth that scored Thomas Gavello and Zach Morgan. It would be the only runs they scored.
A final score of 12-2 tied their largest margin of defeat this season, done also on May 5 at Salt Lake when they lost 18-8. It was their fifth time this season recording three-or-fewer hits in a game.
Finally, Sacramento won Sunday’s game in go-ahead fashion, securing a split on the series. But it wasn’t easy.
They once again allowed Reno to strike first in the second inning on an RBI double from Santiago Espinal off starter Trystan Vrieling, who was the sixth player to make their Triple-A debut this series.
They recorded three more in the third on RBI singles from LuJames Groover, Pavin Smith, and A.J. Vukovich.
The Cats scored two of their own on a single from Zach Morgan in the fourth.
However, Tyler Locklear knocked his ninth homer of the season with a two-run shot in the fifth. 6-3 Reno. Morale was looking slim.
A glimmer of hope when Zach Morgan doubled to begin the seventh. Then an RBI double from Bo Davidson. And an RBI double from Will Brennan. It was the third time the River Cats have recorded three doubles in a single inning; all of such occurances have happened in August.
Vukovich knocked an RBI double of his own in the seventh. 7-5 Reno. No runs in the eighth.
Top of the ninth. Last chance.
Back-to-back walks from Scott Bandura and Parks Harber. Bo Davidson, who struggled immensely this series after having the week of his life in Las Vegas was up to the plate.
And he didn’t disappoint. Bo hit a 409-foot home run to right field to give the Kitties an 8-7 lead. All but one of Bo’s recorded home runs have been over 400 feet, with the only exception being a 344-foot homer vs. Tacoma on August 21.
And just to top it all off, Will Brennan scored on a balk by Drey Jameson.
The Cats would happily settle for a split on the series, avoiding a four-game losing streak and avoiding their first series loss since June 30-July 5 at El Paso.
This week, the Sacramento River Cats return home to face the Salt Lake Bees at Sutter Health Park from September 1-6.