RedHawks Fall To Sacramento Late Friday Night

The Sacramento River Cats used a strong starting pitching performance and back-to-back home runs to defeat the Oklahoma City RedHawks 4-2 before 8,962 at Raley Field Friday night.

Through three innings neither team had a hit and they combined to put a total of one runner on base. That changed in the fourth inning when Sacramento (23-18) scored twice.

Michael Choice started the scoring with an RBI single, and Stephen Vogt added an infield RBI single with two outs in the inning to make it 2-0.

The RedHawks (24-16) followed suit and got on the board in the fourth. Marc Krauss and Che-Hsuan Lin hit back-to-back doubles to cut the River Cats lead down to 2-1.

Sacramento extended its lead in the bottom of the inning. Former RedHawk Scott Moore and Andy Parrino led off the inning with back-to-back home runs to give the River Cats a 4-1 edge.

The RedHawks cut the lead down to 4-2 in the eighth following an RBI single by Andy Simunic. A double steal by Simunic and Jonathan Villar put the tying runs in scoring position with one out. Brett Wallace followed with a strike out and then Brandon Laird flied out to end the inning, keeping the RedHawks down by two.

The RedHawks would bring the tying run to the plate with two outs in the ninth, but Austin Wates grounded out to end the game. Dan Otero recorded the final four outs for Sacramento to earn his 10th save in as many opportunities.

Andrew Werner turned in arguably his best start of the season for Sacramento and picked up his fourth win. Werner (4-5) tied a season high with seven innings and allowed only one run and three hits. The lefty struck out five and walked two.

RedHawks pitcher Ross Seaton got off to a phenomenal start, retiring the first nine hitters he faced. Things started to slip away from him starting in the fourth inning and he would exit three batters into the fifth. Seaton (0-4) lost his third-straight start, allowing four runs and six hits over four-plus innings. He struck out three and walked one.

The RedHawks and River Cats meet again Saturday night at 9:05 p.m.