Jose Yepez’s strode to the plate with the game tied 2-2.  Moments later, Yepez stroked a seeing-eye single that broke a 2-2 tie in the ninth inning and was the difference in Tacoma’s 4-2 win over the hometown River Cats. The Rainiers catcher cracked a sharp shot straight up the middle that just got by the outstretched hand of Sacramento pitcher Vinnie Chulk and skipped off of both shortstop Eric Sogard and second baseman Jemile Weeks' hands before it slowly rolled into the outfield to give Tacoma the win. 

A smaller than average crowd was on-hand for the River Cats first Saturday game of the season. Maybe it was the cooler temperatures from the previous couple of games or maybe it was the first Second Saturday in a while that was being held downtown that kept Raley Field from being filled to capacity.

Either way, it didn’t stop the 8,987 in attendance from being loud and into the game. Especially when the “Groove Crew” and their fancy dance moves perform near each dugout after the sixth inning. This group of guys drag the field every three innings and stop what they are doing to bust out choreographed dance steps in between their work. A crowd pleaser that started late last season had carried over to this year as well.

Cats starting pitcher Yadel Marti, in his first professional game in the United States since defecting from Cuba, was effective in his first start of the season yielding only four hits to go with five strikeouts in his six innings of work before getting the hook. Even though pitching well, first year Cat Manager Darren Bush had Marti on a pitch count and decided to pull him after he pitched six strong innings.

In came Danny Farquhar to relieve Marti and, during his second inning of work, Farquhar became his own worst enemy. He cost his team a run when he overthrew first base for an error while trying to pick off Alex Liddi who was late tagging up on the play. Farquhar’s toss went well over the head of Cat first baseman Wes Timmons allowing Liddi to take second. Liddi would later score on Rainiers shortstop Sean Kazmar’s double in the seventh inning giving Tacoma a two run lead after seven.

Tacoma starter Chris Seddon was just as sharp as Marti. Seddon pitched six strong also giving up six hits and striking out five. Seddon even gave up a couple of walks but never a run and handed over a scoreless line to Manny Delcarmen and two other relief pitchers.

The pitching was truly at a premium this game with Sacramento’s pitchers striking out seven with only two walks and Tacoma’s pitching corp striking out 10 River Cats.

It wasn’t until the bottom of the eighth when the Cats scored for the first time in the game. After second baseman Weeks opened the eighth with a single, followed by Sogard with another single, the big man Chris Carter strolled to the plate with no outs and two on.

Just as the River Cats were getting to Tacoma reliever Royce Ring, who relieved Delcarmen, in came Dan Cortes. Carter promptly smacked a line drive off of Cortes and into left centerfield. The ball rolled to the wall and allowed both Weeks and Sogard to score. The bad news for the Cats was that it was the only hit Cortes would give up as he proceeded to strike out the next two batters he faced. Cortes closed out the eighth and Sacramento had to settle for a temporary tie.

Vinnie Chulk entered the game in the ninth to hold the fort down for the Cats. He was not able to keep the Rainiers at bay. Chulk allowed a single to Carlos Peguero, followed by hitting Mike Wilson with a pitch. After getting Kazmar to ground out, Yepez cracked that two-run single off of both middle infielders hands that put the visiting Rainiers out front for good.

Jai Miller started the ninth off with a single to left field only to be caught in a double play on a grounder by Josh Horton. The next batter was Weeks and he promptly struck out to end the game.

Despite the loss, Manager Darren Bush was pleased with his starter’s work off the mound.

“Marti did a great job,” said the soft-spoken Bush. “He threw the ball well, packed the zone. He did a really good job of getting early contact and getting us into the sixth inning giving us a chance, really good.”

After Carter’s two-run double, Bush thought things were lined up for the Cats to take the lead.

“A big hit, right there, put us in a good position to have three shots with some guys coming up to swing the bat. We just didn’t push it across.”