The Sacramento River Cats won their sixth game in a row, defeating the Las Vegas 51s by a final score of 4-3 on Wednesday night at Raley Field.

Las Vegas got on the scoreboard first when starting right fielder Adam Loewen doubled to left field and scored shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, who was on second base after a single and a walk to Jayson Nix.

It didn’t take long for the River Cats to respond and get on the scoreboard as well. Jai Miller hit his 31st homer of the season to lead off the second inning and give the River Cats their first run. Then with designated hitter Josh Donaldson on second, center fielder Jermaine Mitchell doubled to score Donaldson. Wes Timmons came up to bat next, and rally going with a two-out infield single that scored Mitchell from second. The River Cats took a 3-1 lead going into the third inning.

Las Vegas scored runs in the fourth and fifth innings to tie the game 3-3. The 51s scored their third run on a heads-up play, taking advantage of a relaxed River Cats defense. Nix popped up a foul ball that River Cats catcher Joel Galarraga caught, but Darin Mastroianni was aware that nobody was covering home plate and tagged up to score. But the tie did not last too long.

River Cats starting pitcher Max Perlman threw 70 pitches in four innings while giving up five hits, a walk and two earned runs.

In the bottom of the sixth, Donaldson hit a two-out blast over left-center field to break the tie and give the River Cats the lead. The home run was Donaldson’s 17th of the season.

Reliever Michael Wuertz came in to pitch and had a perfect seventh inning, striking out two and inducing a ground ball for the third out. Joey Devine also came in relief, pitching a perfect eighth inning before handing the ball over to Fernando Cabrera to close the game for Sacramento. After getting the first two batters out, Cabrera struck out Las Vegas catcher Ryan Budde for the save and the River Cats’ 4-3 victory.

Mitchell’s double in the second inning extended his hitting streak to 17 games.

The River Cats play one more home game on Thursday night at 7:05 against Las Vegas before closing out the regular season on the road at Colorado Springs for a three-game series. The River Cats will then open up their postseason run on Sept. 7 against the Reno Aces in the Pacific Conference Series.

Photos by Ron Nabity