Timmons, River Cats power past Las Vegas 51's

Originally published on SacramentoPress.com on Aug. 30, 2011
The Sacramento River Cats pounced early on the Las Vegas 51s en route to a 13-1 victory on Monday night at Raley Field.

Sacramento first baseman Chris Carter started the scoring with a two-out solo homerun deep over the left field wall.

Sacramento continued their attack on Las Vegas starting pitcher Kyle Drabek in the second inning. With runners on first and third, Sacramento shortstop Adam Rosales lined a single to left field to score another run and load the bases with only one out. Drabek then walked three consecutive batters to give the River Cats a 5-0 lead. Drabek finally got out of the inning after getting third baseman Josh Donaldson and left fielder Michael Taylor out.

The River Cats weren’t done when they came back up to bat in the bottom of the third inning. After singles by Landon Powell, Joel Galarraga and Adam Rosales, starting second baseman Wes Timmons hit a two-out grand slam over the left field wall. Timmons finished the game 2-4 with six RBIs.

Las Vegas’ Drabek threw 79 pitches in only 3.0 innings, giving up nine earned runs on eight hits while walking four and striking out four. Starting left fielder Jason Lane came in to pitch in a relief appearance in the sixth inning, pitching 2.0 innings, while allowing only one hit and striking out one batter.

Starting pitcher Carlos Hernandez gave the River Cats 8.0 solid innings, allowing four hits and one unearned run while striking out six.

Las Vegas scored their lone run in the seventh inning when pinch-hitter Ricardo Nanita was hit by a pitch and Las Vegas third baseman Chris Woodward singled to put runners on first and second with two outs. Second baseman Manny Mayorson then reached on a fielding error by Donaldson, allowing Nanita to score for Las Vegas.

Newly-called up southpaw Charles Mye came in to pitch in relief in the ninth inning. In his Sacramento debut, Mye pitched 1.0 inning and gave up no hits and one walk.

The River Cats continue their series with the Las Vegas 51s on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. at Raley Field. Sacramento has three consecutive home games left before finishing the season on the road at Colorado Springs. The River Cats will start their postseason on Sept. 7, taking on the Reno Aces in the PCL Pacific Conference Series.