rivercats.com

Josh Terrell
Rivercats.com Beat Writer

West Sacramento, Calif.- After fans filed-through the whole River Cats team for autographs to start the game, Sacramento pitchers sawed-off the Isotopes’ bats to finish it.

Dallas Braden and four Cats relievers combined for a season-high 16 Albuquerque strikeouts en route to a 4-2 win, taking the series from the American South-leading ‘Topes. The victory was the River Cats (33-22) third-straight.

Braden returned from illness for his third start in a Cats uniform after a stint with the Oakland As in which he went 1-3 with a 6.41 ERA in four starts, winning his major league debut on the road versus the Baltimore Orioles. Bed-ridden for several days with what was originally thought to be pneumonia but turned-out to be bronchitis, it was his first time facing live batting in three weeks.

Up against ‘Topes starter Chris George, Braden came out firing on all cylinders in his first River Cats start since May 4th. Getting ahead early in counts to keep the ‘Topes on their heals, Braden whiffed the top of the order on just 14 pitches in the first and struck-out the side in the second.

“It felt good to be on the mound. It was my fastball and location, getting ahead early, the changeup was good,” Braden said.

“I feel fine. It’s not like my arm was hurt or I got banged-up. I just kind of sat-out and tried to regroup.”

The lefty dazzled the Raley Field crowd with an impressive seven strikeouts out of a possible nine over three innings, scattering three hits and two walks in keeping the ‘Topes off the board. Braden has now allowed one lone run over 15 innings for Sacramento for a miniscule 0.60 ERA.

“Very impressive for three innings after getting over his sickness. Once he gets healthy he’s going to go out there and give us a quality outing,” manager Tony DeFrancesco said.

It didn’t take long for the Cats to give the home fans something to cheer about. Nick Blasi earned a walk in the first, then moved into scoring position with his third theft of the season. Slated in the pivotal fourth-spot, Jason Perry then roped George’s 2-2 pitch into right field, scoring Blasi easily to put the Cats in business 1-0.

Chris Ashby opened-up the third with a ground-out against Braden, the first non-strikeout out for the ‘Topes. Albuquerque then used their all-around team speed to play a little small ball, beating-out two consecutive infield hits then moving them to second and third on Josh Labandeira’s fielder’s choice.

But it was Braden’s day as he made Chad Hermansen look funny on a wild miss for strike three to escape unscathed.

The Cats struck again in the third after J.J. Furmaniak pulled into second with a double off the centerfield wall with one down, then Blasi hit a sharp ground ball to shortstop to move his teammate up ninety feet. With two outs, Dee Brown then hit a grounder up the middle past George for an RBI-single, scoring Furmaniak and handing Sacramento a two-run lead.

On a sixty-pitch count for stamina reasons after battling his illness, Braden was relieved by Jeffrey Gray in the top of the fourth after the first two ‘Topes reached base.

Gray was immediately put to the test after walking the first batter he faced to fill the bases with no outs, and it was the reliever’s time to prove himself in a sketchy situation in front of the home crowd. He struck-out Brett Carroll for the first out, but then fell behind Ashby 3-1. A strike moved it to a full count, then Ashby tapped into an easy 6-4-3 double play, and Gray and the Cats were off scott-free.

“I got myself into a jam with that lead-off walk, but I was just telling myself to get out of it, to come off clean,” Gray said.

“I got [the double play] on a fastball, and I got lucky that [Ashby] didn’t square it up. J.J. and Lou turned it really pretty.”

Gray was jammed again in the fifth, walking ‘Topes hulk Val Pascucci to load the bases with two outs. A high ball four from Gray to designated hitter John Gall forced home the ‘Topes’ first run, but a lazy to center off the bat of Scott Seabol kept Sacramento in-charge 2-1.

“I was thinking the same thing – get out of it. I was really mad at myself for walking that guy in, but the next guy did exactly what I wanted him to do,” Gray said.

“But that’s baseball.”

Gray surrendered the sole run over two innings of relief work, striking-out one but allowing three free passes to first and one hit.

Long reliever Brad Ziegler and his submarine-style got the call for the Cats in the sixth to maintain the lead, his third appearance of the season for Sacramento. But Eric Reed followed an Ashby walk with a line-drive down the first base-line into the corner, Reed’s fifth triple that tied the game up 2-2.

Ziegler was much better in the seventh, shutting-down the ‘Topes with a double-play and a strikeout. Ziegler earned the win (1-1) after the Cats took the lead in the seventh.

The Isotopes’ George gave-up the two Sacramento runs early but generally pitched well, recording quick 1-2-3 innings in the second, fourth and fifth. But with George still on the mound in the seventh, Albuquerque first baseman Val Pascucci handed the River Cats the lead with some ugly fielding that produced two critical errors.

After Jeremy Brown worked a freebee to first and was replaced by pinch-runner Kevin Melillo, Lou Merloni bunted himself aboard with an infield hit. With none down, Lloyd Turner popped a short bunt that bounced in front of the charging Pascucci, who mishandled the ball. Pascucci’s recovery throw to first sailed wide, and Melillo came flying home to put the Cats up 3-2.

Reliever Lee Gardner spelled George, but Furmaniak’s perfect sacrifice bunt up the first base-line then brought Merloni home, padding the River Cats lead 4-2.

With the unearned run in the inning, George allowed four runs – three earned – over six innings. He gave-up six hits, three walks and struck-out five Cats to take the hard-luck loss (3-5). George has allowed nine earned runs over 24 2/3 innings in four starts, but is just 1-3 over the span.

In a baseball rarity, the ‘Topes Brett Carroll struck-out against Cat reliever Alec Zumwalt in the eighth for his fourth strikeout of the game – against four different Sacramento hurlers.

Santiago Casilla strolled out of the bullpen with guns blazing. He got ahead of then struck Reed out, but Merloni’s throw to first on a chopper by Robert Andino was high, pulling Eric Barton off first for an E-5. Andrew Beattie came in to pinch hit, singling through the right side of the infield to put ‘Topes on the corners with one out.

Casilla then buzz-sawed through the heart of the Albuquerque lineup, blowing-by Hermansen and Pascucci on just six pitches to strikeout the side and preserve the win for his third save.

The River Cats will welcome the Round Rock Express to Raley Field tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. as Brad Knox (1-2, 2.89) faces-off against righty Jared Gothreaux (3-3, 4.92).