After a tough homestand vs. the Salt Lake Bees, Sacramento hit big to being their final roadtrip of the season at Las Vegas.
Scott Bandura doubled to lead off the game, his fourth leadoff double since stepping into the leadoff position on August 23. Four of his five total leadoff hits have been doubles, with a single on August 25.
Parks Harber drew a walk, then Bo Davidson knocked a 107mph line drive directly at the face of Vegas starter Jamie Arnold, who immediately walked to the dugout and exited the game.
The Aviators released an update Wednesday afternoon that stated: “Jamie Arnold suffered intra-orbital and maxillary sinus fractures. Dr. Brendan G. Johnson, a dual board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon, determined that no surgery is required. There is no timetable for return.”
Hayden Juenger entered in place of Arnold and Will Brennan grounded into a double play that scored Scott Bandura, and Diego Velasquez grounded out.
Joe Whitman was the starter for Sacramento, sending down the Aviators in order to begin the game.
The Cats started off the second with three-straight singles, the third from Aeverson Arteaga scoring Eddys Leonard. That hit from Arteaga extended his hitting streak to nine-straight games, his longest hitting streak since August 24-September 11, 2022 with Single-A San Jose when he hit in 15-straight.
Fernando Gonzalez then grounded into a double play that scored Charlie Szykowny. Bandura swiped second and advanced to third on a throwing error, but Harber lined out to end the inning.
Whitman allowed a single and a walk in the second but escaped without a run.
In the third, Bo Davidson led off with a single and Will Brennan his first home run of the night, putting Sac up 5-0 early.
Vegas went three up and three down, all line outs to Brennan in right field.
Gonzalez walked to lead off the fourth, but Scott Bandura grounded into the third double play of the night, and Harber flied out, marking the first of just two innings in which the Cats would not score.
After ground outs to Johnthan Rodríguez and Joey Meneses, the Aviators made a push with a Brayan Buelvas single and Jack Winkler reaching on a fielding error from Arteaga, but Bryan Lavastida ended the inning on a fly out.
Davidson doubled in the fifth, Velasquez drew a walk, and Leonard singled to score Davidson. 6-0 Sacramento.
Whitman allowed a leadoff single the Luke Mann, but sent down all three of the following batters.
Gonzalez tripled in the sixth, his first career three-bagger, and subsequently scored on a sac fly from Bandura.
Whitman allowed a single to Buelvas in the sixth but retired all three other batters.
Will Brennan led off the seventh with his second home run of the night, a solo shot to right field.
Whitman allowed another single in the seventh to Lavastida, but Luke Mann grounded into a double play and David Diaz flied out, keeping a goose egg on the board for Vegas.
The eighth was yet again led off with a home run, this time from Scott Bandura, his 10th of the season with Sacramento. It was a 416-foot shot to right field, Bandura’s longest recorded home run of his career.
Harber flied out, and Davidson knocked a triple, his first since August 19, 2025 with Double-A Richmond. It marked the first multi-triple game for Sacramento since July 9, 2025.
Will Brennan then blasted his third home run of the night, a two-run shot to right center field. He became the 17thh Triple-A player and fourth PCL player to have three home runs in a game this season.
He also became the 12th River Cat in recorded franchise history (since 2005) to have a three-homer game, and first since Austin Dean did so May 15, 2022. It was the first three-homer game and second multi-homer game of Brennan’s career (2 HR, June 20, 2024 with the Cleveland Guardians).
Brennan totaled five RBI on the night, the third five-plus-RBI game of his career, with the other two occurring in 2022 with Triple-A Columbus.
Velasquez doubled following the homer, extending his hitting streak to 11-straight games, his longest since hitting in 13-straight from April 18-May 2, 2025 with Richmond.
Ryan Walker entered in the eighth in place of Whitman. The Aviators would score their only run that inning, a 359-foot, solo shot to right field from Johnathan Rodríguez.
The ninth was the only other inning the River Cats did not record a run; however, Arteaga did knock another single to lead off the inning.
The Aviators earned one more hit in the bottom of the ninth but went quietly into the night for a final score of 11-1.
Sacramento recorded 18 hits on the night, including a whopping nine extra-base-hits. Both matched their season highs, both done previously on May 20 vs. Sugar Land.
They also had the leadoff batter reached base in all nine innings, with three singles, two doubles, a triple, two home runs, and a walk. It was the first time Sacramento has done so in recorded franchise history. It was also the first time a PCL team has had all nine leadoff batters reached base since Oklahoma City did so June 2, 2019 at Memphis.
Whitman earned the win, his fourth with Sacramento and ninth on the season. He threw 7.0 scoreless innings, allowing five hits, one walk, and fanning three batters. It marked the second time this season a River Cats pitcher has thrown back-to-back 7.0+ inning starts. It was also the first time a River Cat has thrown a combined 15.0+ innings in back-to-back starts since Andrew Suárez did so on August 7 and 12, 2018 (15.1 combined innings).
Davidson went 4-for-5 on the night with a single, double, and triple; just a home run shy of the cycle and was on deck before Harber grounded out in the ninth. It marked Davidson’s third four-hit game with Sac, all three coming at Las Vegas.
The second-half lead battle is happening in Oklahoma City this week as Sugar Land visits the Comets. OKC took Game 1, earning sole possession of first place, and inevitably leaving Sacramento still 5.0 games behind.