Before an announced sellout crowd of 14,014 — the first of this season — the River Cats came up short by a score of 4-2 in a Father’s Day matinee against the Fresno Grizzlies. Grizzlies starting pitcher Dan Runzler allowed two hits in four innings of work, but his four walks led to two runs for Sacramento. The Grizzlies used two relievers on the afternoon, with Josh Banks getting credit for the victory and Dan Otero collecting the save after the River Cats had the winning run at the plate in the ninth inning. Mark Ellis, who is on a rehab assignment for the Oakland Athletics, played in his second game and finished 0-3 with a walk. Ellis is scheduled to rejoin the A’s this week. Lenny D

The Sacramento River Cats improved to 18-11 with their 6-2 victory over the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (13-16) on Friday night. The Cats remain in first place in the PCL South Division with a four-game lead. Visit the River Cats' official site for the full recap. Your red-hot River Cats take on the Sky Sox again Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. for the second of the four-game series.

No discussion on alternative rock circa 2000 would be complete without mention of Papa Roach and their radio-ready hit single “Last Resort,” especially if you were in high school or college during that time. The Vacaville band (also known for singles “Scars,” “Forever” and “Lifeline”) broke out of Sacramento and went on to sell more than 10 million albums worldwide. They return this weekend for a two-night stand at the recently opened venue Ace of Spades, touring behind their seventh album, "Time for Annihilation." More alternative rock than nu-metal now, the band can probably still be counted on to deliver a high-energy rock show filled with heavy guitars, sharp hooks and “guy liner.”

For the first six innings of Tuesday night’s ballgame, the Sacramento River Cats managed just one hit. As it turned out, all they needed to get their offense going was to face a different pitcher. A crowd of nearly 10,600 watched as Las Vegas 51s starting pitcher Scott Richmond had a strong outing, striking out seven River Cats batters. His only blemish was a base hit by Travis Buck in the third inning. Hits were difficult to come by all night, and both teams left 10 runners on base. The River Cats did get on the scoreboard, but their four-game winning streak was halted by a 4-2 loss to the 51s in the second game of the four game series. River Cats starter Bobby Cramer did well in his f

The Sacramento River Cats began their final four-game set in June the same way they opened the month – by hosting the Tacoma Rainiers. In the earlier series, the River Cats dropped three of the four games, but they have bounced back to record 13 wins and 11 losses entering Saturday night. River Cats starting pitcher Kyle Middleton entered the game having thrown 18 scoreless innings, and he extended that streak to 21 innings before surrendering a Rainiers home run in the fourth inning Saturday. Middleton completed six innings before the bullpen took over to finish the game and get Middleton his fifth win against five losses for the season. In the second inning, the River Cats took an ear