August is the month where they separate the men from the boys. The Sacramento River Cats look to be one of the upper-tier teams in the Pacific Coast League. Tickets for the first round of the playoffs went on sale Wednesday at Raley Field. Even though Tony DeFrancesco’s club has a 7.5 game lead over their rival the Fresno Grizzlies in the Pacific South Division, Sacramento still feels they must always look in the rear-view mirror to see which team is creeping up behind them. The River Cats begin an eight-game home stand tonight that will go a long ways in deciding who they might face down the road in the playoffs.

Sacramento begins its home stand against the Oklahoma City RedHawks. As of Wednesday, Oklahoma City (55-54) is 5 games behind the Albuquerque Isotopes for the American South Division lead. James Simmons (6-5, 5.38) takes the mound Wednesday against Elizardo Ramirez (7-8, 4.19) in what promises to be a run-scoring affair. Happy Hour on Thursday begins with Miller Lite ‘Que & Brew at Raley Field. Friday and Saturday are big nights for the River Cats. Friday is Library Night and Raider Nation Night at the ballpark. Kids who participated in the River Cats Summer Reading Program can enjoy a night at the stadium, while in the process meet Raiders legend Jim Otto who will be signing autographs during the game. Sacramento finishes up their series with the RedHawks on Saturday. Saturday is Elk Grove Night Featuring Brad Kilby and Family and Faith Night at Raley Field. Kilby will be honored before his hometown fans and Radical Reality will give a pregame demonstration of strength with River Cat players.

The River Cats begin a four-game series on Sunday with another team from the American South Division. Sacramento will host the New Orleans Zephyrs to rap up the home stand. Shawn Chacon (4-4, 6.94) is scheduled to start for the River Cats Sunday evening. Chacon will look to forget his previous outing at the Portland Beavers Monday with a fast start on Sunday against New Orleans. Against Portland Chacon gave up six hits and six runs in just 3.2 innings of work in the loss. The series finishes up on August 12 with US Bank AAA School Day Schools will be going to Raley Field for a fun, safe and educational field trip in the morning and some midday baseball afterwards.

The River Cats are happy to be home after splitting a four-game series at the Portland Beavers. The series was full of emotions for both teams as the margin of victory in each game was never higher than two runs. Catcher Eric Munson delivered with a two-run home run in the top of the ninth on August 2 to help Sacramento win game one of the series 4-2. Less than 24 hours later third baseman Brett Wallace lifted the River Cats to victory with a go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth off of Edwin Moreno as Sacramento won 2-1. The Beavers salvaged the series with back-to-back wins. Center fielder Drew Macias continued his timely hitting with a line-drive single to left off of Jay Marshall for the game-winning run as Portland won 3-2 in 12 innings. As of August 5, Sacramento is 13-4 in extra inning ballgames. The series wrapped up with Chacon’s 6-5 defeat. Sunday was just not a smooth ballgame for the River Cats.

Sacramento added more depth to their pitching staff on Wednesday with the signing of veteran Brett Tomko. Tomko will look to provide some veteran leadership as the River Cats look to make a run down the stretch.

Game Schedule
August 5 – 7:05 p.m.
August 6 – 7:05 p.m.
August 7 – 7:05 p.m.
August 8 – 7:05 p.m.
August 9 – 6:05 p.m.
August 10 – 7:05 p.m.
August 11 – 7:05 p.m.
August 12 – 11:35 a.m.