River Cats' late rally beats Tacoma Rainiers

Originally published on SacramentoPress.com on June 29, 2010


The Sacramento River Cats rallied late to defeat the Tacoma Rainiers Monday night by a score of 7-5 at Raley Field.

After walking the first batter of the game, Cats starting pitcher Graham
Godfrey gave up a quick two-run home run to Rainiers left fielder Matt
Tuiasosopo, putting the Rainiers on the scoreboard first. Godfrey then
proceeded to retire the next three batters to get out of the inning without
any further damage.

The River Cats were able to get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the
second inning when Cats center fielder Matt Carson sent a pitch soaring over the wall in left-center field for a one-run home run.

It did not take long for the Rainiers to get that run back, quickly scoring
another run in the top of the third inning when the Rainiers' David Winfree
grounded out into a fielder's choice scoring shortstop Chris Woodward.

Steven Tolleson was able to hit his sixth home run of the season to open up
the bottom of the fourth inning, making the score Rainiers 3, River Cats 2.

Cats left fielder Matt Watson led off with a single to right field.
Designated hitter Dallas McPherson was then able to advance him to third
base with a single of his own to right field. With one out, Carson hit an
RBI single to right field, scoring Watson. The inning ended with the next
batter, Josh Donaldson, striking out swinging and Carson being caught
stealing second base by the Rainiers’ Adam Moore.

With the score tied at three, the Rainiers were able to pull away from the
River Cats yet again in the top of the eighth inning.

After a lead-off single by the Rainiers’ Tuiasosopo, Cats reliever Jamey
Wright walked Brad Nelson to put runners on first and second. Winfree then
advanced both runners with a ground out to Wright. After intentionally
walking Mike Carp to load the bases, the Rainiers' Moore singled to right
field, scoring Tuiasosopo. Wright then walked Jack Hannahan to walk in
Nelson for another run to put the Rainiers up 5-3.

At this point, Cats manager Tony DeFrancesco had seen enough and needed a mound visit to bring in reliever Michael Benacka. With the bases loaded, Benacka struck out the next two batters to get the Cats out of the inning and only down by two runs.

The Cats' Tolleson then led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a
single, prompting the Rainiers to put Billy Traber on the mound instead of
Yusmeiro Petit. The Cats' Watson was then able to reach first on a fielding
error by Woodward, advancing Tolleson to second base. With two runners on base, McPherson found a good time to hit his seventh home run of the season, adding three runs to the River Cats’ total.

With two outs, and on a 3-2 count, Cats catcher Josh Donaldson sent his 10th home run over left-center field to put the River Cats up 7-5.

With the lead, the Cats sent out newly acquired reliever Ross Wolf to close
the game. Wolf closed the game smoothly, striking out the first two batters
and getting the third to ground out to third base, securing a 7-5
nail-biting victory.