River Cats fall to Nashville Sounds 5-3 Monday

Originally published on SacramentoPress.com on Aug. 7, 2012

The Sacramento River Cats’ six-game winning streak came to an end Monday night as they fell to the Nashville Sounds 5-3 at Raley Field.

Sacramento looked to be on their way to another win when they scored the first two runs of the game in the bottom of the second inning. With runners on second and third base and two outs, left fielder Shane Peterson hit one up the middle to give the Cats an early 2-0 lead.

The lead wouldn’t hold up as the Sounds were able to get to River Cats starting pitcher Graham Godfrey in the fourth inning. The Sounds were able to put up two runs in the fourth to tie the game at 2-2.

Sacramento was opportunistic in the sixth inning, capitalizing on a couple of walks by Sounds pitcher Brian Baker to take the lead again.

With Michael Taylor on second and Daric Barton on first due to two walks, Grant Green singled to left field to score Taylor and give the River Cats a 3-2 lead. The run prompted the Sounds to pull Baker off the mound in favor of Juan Perez, who got Peterson to ground out to end the inning.

The lead would once again not hold up as the Sounds came back swinging the very next inning. Designated hitter Khris Davis hit a two-RBI single to give the Sounds back the lead, at 4-3. The lead would prove to be enough for the Sounds. An insurance run was added in the top of the ninth on a home run by shortstop Jeff Bianchi, his second of the season.

Sacramento had a great opportunity to take back the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning when they had the bases loaded with no outs. But from there, ex-River Cat Fautino De Los Santos was able to work his way out of trouble.

After getting Barton to pop out into an infield fly rule, De Los Santos got Green and Peterson to strike out swinging, leaving the River Cats with zero runs on a prime opportunity.

Sacramento takes on the River Cats two more times this series, with the next game occurring Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. at Raley Field.