Two RBI from Matos Too Little for Sacramento Against Round Rock

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento River Cats scored the first and last runs of their Friday night contest with the Round Rock Express, though they could not keep up with a three-run third that powered Round Rock to a 5-2 win at Sutter Health Park.

A leadoff walk to Wade Meckler resulted in the game’s first run two batters later when Luis Matos doubled to left field, giving the River Cats (40-33/76-72) the early advantage.

That edge lasted only two innings as the Express (42-31/76-72) snatched the lead with one swing of the bat from Abimelec Ortiz, who took advantage of a fielding error and a shallow single to left field by driving by home on a three-run blast over the bullpens beyond the right field fence.

Round Rock chipped in an insurance tally in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Alex De Goti, and for good measure chipped in one more during the ninth thanks to a Keyber Rodriguez RBI single.

Down but not out, the River Cats loaded the bases in the bottom half of the frame and seemed poised for a big inning, but unfortunately they managed to score only once on a Matos sacrifice fly.

Charged with the loss was starter Seth Lonsway (2-4), who allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits over four full innings while striking out three without a walk. Three Sacramento relievers combined to allow only one hit in three innings, which included 0.2 innings from right-hander Cole Waites and 1.1 run-free frames by Braxton Roxby.

Going 2-for-4 in the contest was Marco Luciano, who was able to snap an eight-game and 33 at-bat hitless streak. Also posting a multi-hit contest was Meckler, who was 2-for-3 with a run scored and pair of walks. Outside of Matos, Fitzgerald was the only other River Cat to log an extra-base hit thanks to his two-bagger.

This was the first time Sacramento did not hit a home run in the past week, stopping a streak of seven consecutive contests with a big fly. That was tied for their season high, a mark that they have reached now a total of four times.

This six-game set has been split evenly through four games thus far, with both team looking to gain the upper hand when they meet again at Sutter Health Park at 6:37 p.m. (PT).