Sacramento Silences Reno, Takes Series Opener 17-1

RENO, Nev. – Four multi-run innings helped the Sacramento River Cats cruise to a victory in their series opener with the Reno Aces, highlighted by their best inning of any game this season with eight runs in the eighth leading to a 17-1 win at Greater Nevada Field on Tuesday.

Both teams went scoreless through three innings, though River Cats (31-21/67-60) starter Hayden Birdsong (1-1) had to dance around danger and leave the bases loaded during the home half of the third. Sacramento responded with some run support with a trio of runs in the top of the fourth, highlighted by a two-out, two-run homer from Brett Wisely. That marked Wisely’s sixth homer of the year, but his first at Triple-A since April 30.

An inning later and the River Cats added on two more, using a leadoff single and subsequent walk to push the lead out to 5-0. After a scoring detour in the sixth, Sacramento pushed across one more in the seventh thanks to Jesus Rodriguez. His single into right center scored Wade Meckler, who had also singled and then stole second to reach scoring position.

However, the big inning of the night was the eighth, as the River Cats sent 12 men to the plate and tallied a total of eight hits which matched their season best in any inning this season. This was the second time they have done so against Reno, as the last time the River Cats scored eight in an inning was on July 6 at Reno. Those eight tallies came on a total of eight hits, which is their new best in any frame during 2025.

The inning started with a Bryce Eldridge double and then later saw the power-hitting first baseman leave the yard with two outs, making him the third River Cat this season to tally multiple hits in the same inning along with Grant McCray and Sergio Alcántara. Both aforementioned players did so on April 10 at Tacoma, McCray achieving the feat in the first while Alcántara did so during the ninth. Overall, Eldridge is the eight River Cat since the start of 2005 to tally multiple extra-base hits in the same inning.

During the bottom of the eighth the Aces (15-37/52-75) broke the shutout bid, scoring once after a one-out triple from Andy Weber scored on an ensuing groundout by Jose Herrera.

Weber then took the mound in the top of the ninth in the lopsided contest and could not fool any hitters with his slow speed as he allowed three more runs on three hits. All of which scored on a three-run blast by Logan Porter, his sixth homer of the campaign.

Birdsong left after five innings, allowing only two hits though he did walk four to seven strikeouts. It was his first twin of the season, and just his second overall win at the Triple-A level.

Two River Cats finished with a three-hit night in Thomas Gavello and Wade Meckler. The former of the pair finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored, two doubles, and one RBI, while the latter closed out 3-for-6 with two runs scored, one double, and one RBI. Five others tallied multi-hit games including Eldridge, McCray, Wisely and Marco Luciano.

Tonight’s victory marked the eighth straight over the Reno Aces, as well as their largest margin of victory this season at 16 runs. The last time Sacramento earned a 16-run victory was when they trounced the Las Vegas Aviators by an 18-2 final in Sacramento on June 11, 2023.

Sacramento will look to continue their momentum when the two teams meet tomorrow for game two at 6:35 p.m. (PT) from Greater Nevada Field.