With rumors swirling that Cats phenom pitcher Dan Straily would be called up to the big club at any moment, Tyson Ross got the call to replace Straily in the starting lineup for Thursday’s tilt against the Memphis Redbirds. With nearly the same type of clutch hitting as the night before, Ross’s fine performance and solid relief from James Timmons, Pedro Figueroa and Rich Thompson out of the bullpen, the Sacramento River Cats beat the visiting Redbirds 4-3 in front of 8,762 faithful in another exciting contest at Raley Field. Even though it was the late clutch hitting of the Cats that helped pull out the victory, Cats manager Darren Bush couldn’t let the performance of his starter go unno

Graham Godfrey is killing it in Triple-A. If he keeps up the numbers like he has so far at this level, he’ll easily be a pitcher of the year candidate. Problem is, that's a minor league award and Godfrey is determined to get back to the A’s and stay there. On Thursday evening, Godfrey did his part to increase his chances of being recalled and in hilding down the Fresno Grizzlies offense by only allowing one earned run in eight strong innings of work. This time, the bullpen let him down, as the usually reliable Fautino De Los Santos gave up three hits – all singles in the bottom of the ninth – as the Grizz knocked off the Sacramento River Cats 2-1 at Raley Field in front of 9,431 fans.

With their division rivals in town and the possibility of seeing Manny Ramirez and Yoenis Cespedes, the series opener against the Fresno Grizzlies promised to be an exciting one. In front of a solid Tuesday crowd of 8,729, Ramirez didn’t play (finished 10-game rehab stint), but it didn’t matter as the River Cats beat the division-leading Triple-A team of the San Francisco Giants 4-2 on great pitching and a walk-off home run by Brandon Hicks. It was relatively quiet until the bottom of the second inning when Cats first baseman Chris Carter led off with a walk. After he stole second, Anthony Recker, who was optioned back to Sacramento yesterday, ripped a line shot into left field that plat

As the grass gets greener and the sun starts to shine more often, the question for some players in the Oakland A’s system is - which team will they be starting the season with, the Oakland A’s or their Triple-A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats? Some players, like Jemile Weeks, suited up in the maroon and grey of the Cats for most of last year until getting the call to don the Kelly green and gold of the Athletics late in the season. For Weeks, it’s a comfortable feeling knowing that a good portion of the River Cats players he spent most of the last couple of years with had a chance to make this year’s big club. “It’s great, I love it,” Weeks said. “These are guys I played with in th

The River Cats took their third consecutive win Wednesday afternoon after a 13-inning game against the Alberquerque Isotopes. The Cats won with a walk-off after catcher Anthony Recker hit a bases-loaded single allowing second baseman Andy LaRoche and left fielder Michael Taylor to advance and score two runs for a 4-3 lead. At the top of the 13th, however, a Sacramento victory was not certain after LaRoche – making his first minor league pitching appearance – allowed the Isotopes to score with a ground-rule double to left field, breaking the five-inning long tie 3-2. Though LaRoche finished as winning pitcher, seven of the 14 Cats pitchers left the bullpen to relieve and help earn a Cat’s

When you think about it, Graham Godfrey’s path was not on the fast track. In fact, for a guy that started the season with Double-A Midland, where he is today is a huge leap in the right direction. As Godfrey told me earlier this year, it was just one small mechanical thing he changed and voila, a steady, dominating pitcher was born. With Godfrey pitching nearly lights out, the Sacramento River Cats stayed on the winning side of things with a 7-3 victory over the Albuquerque Isotopes at Raley Field on Tuesday evening in front of 10,016 happy fans. The win gives him a league tying 12 and he’s only two away from tying the Sacramento franchise record of 14. What would that accomplishment

The Sacramento River Cats held their winning streak against the Reno Aces, killing with a final score of 10-1. With a turnout of 9,342 fans for the last of the five-game set, the I-80 rivals started off with an easy three-up, three-down and no on-bases for the first three innings. The first excitement of the night happened when River Cats left fielder Michael Taylor walked, making it the first on-base of the evening, but Aces turned around and scored the last out of the third inning by throwing Cats first baseman, Anthony Recker, out at first. The fourth inning was when things got intense. Aces right fielder Cole Gillespie made the first earned base, hitting the ball foul along the fir

This was one to remember. On a beautiful afternoon at Raley Field on Saturday, one rare occurrence seemed to open the door for several more as the day went on and the Sacramento River Cats split a rare double header against their bitter rivals, the Reno Aces. The Aces won the first contest 3-2 and the Cats won the nightcap 5-4 in a game that had just about everything but the proverbial kitchen sink. How about both managers being ejected during the same at-bat, a foul ball that found it’s way into the press box, a guy being about a foot short of hitting for the cycle and a walk-off homer run all occurring during the crazy second game? We'll save that for later.  How about the first game

Even though half of the River Cats starting lineup began their season with Oakland, it was a former River Cat that helped make the difference in the game. Steve Tolleson and the other top three hitters in the batting order in the Tucson Padres lineup collected 12 of their 18 hits in a 12-7 win over the River Cats on Thursday evening at Raley Field. Tolleson’s not sure about the Padres plans for him. Whether he gets the call or not, he’s just happy to be playing everyday. “I don’t really know too much,” said the 27-year old from Spartanburg, South Carolina. “At the time of the trade, they were struggling up there as a team with their utility players, but I’m just here having a good time

Lenny DiNardo knows what it takes to be in the bigs again. He just has to try and adjust. You see, usually by 31 years of age, a pitcher will start losing something off his fastball and may even need to retool himself to stay in the game he loves so much. This is that precise moment in time DiNardo is in, and River Cats pitching coach Scott Emerson is helping him down that bumpy road. “He’s a different pitcher than he was 10 years ago,” Coach Emo said. “The velocity is a lot less, so he’s got to learn a different type of style. That style is throwing a bunch of strikes at the bottom of the zone and changing speeds.” On Thursday evening at Raley Field, DiNardo was not able to keep the ba

Scott Emerson has a philosophy. Let’s call it more of an idea what the Sacramento River Cats pitching coach is looking for out of his pitching staff. “You want your starter to go six or seven innings and then that cuts down on the usage of the bullpen,” said Emerson after the game. “As an organization, we do have a pitch count for guys to be able to pitch the next day, if they go over a certain number, we can’t use them the next day.” Considering that Cats starter Bobby Cramer had reached that pitch total well ahead of schedule, it was refreshing to see all three Sacramento relievers combine to hold the Salt Lake Bees to only two more hits in the game. That allowed their timely hitting a

Oakland A’s second baseman Adam Rosales was itching to get back on the field, so much so that he just arrived in town to begin his rehab stint with the River Cats and found himself in the starting lineup. After he collected a single, double and triple by the sixth inning, one had to wonder — after he got pulled in the eighth — if he was even a little upset at not getting a chance to go for the cycle in his first game since August. “No, it’s just fun to get out there and play,” said Rosales, who has been out for nine months rehabbing a broken bone in his ankle. “It’s fun to bump elbows with these guys and to enjoy playing at this level again.” He got a chance to do more than bump elbows,

Jemile a minute: Sacramento lead-off hitter continued his hot hitting in Sunday’s doubleheader, going 3-for-4 with a run scored in Game 1 and 1-for-3 with an RBI in Game 2. The second baseman has perhaps been the River Cats’ most consistent offensive force all season, hitting .333 in April (25-for-75) and May (28-for-84). Weeks is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak, during which he is 12-for-31 (.387) with seven runs and five RBIs. Weeks started the season by reaching base in 26 consecutive games. He has failed to reach base only twice in 37 games started this season. The 5-foot-9, 160-pounder is tied for the team lead with three triples, eight stolen bases and a .425 on-base per

The Sacramento River Cats suffered a loss Monday night at Raley Field to the New Orleans Zephyrs in a game where the action started at the top of the second inning and was done by the bottom of the third. Game night started off on a sweet note with Elaina Sogard, 10, singing the national anthem in front of the stadium crowd of just over 5,000 including her cousin, River Cats shortstop Eric Sogard. Once the teams took the field, however, it was one sour note after another. Zephyrs were up first and, although newly-signed free agent pitcher Lenny DiNardo was having a rough start, the River Cats held their own and sent the Zephyrs back to the dugout with a single hit and no score. Jemile

The Sacramento River Cats (28-16) defeated Oklahoma City (20-23) 11-2 on Sunday afternoon at Raley Field to earn a series split after dropping the first two games to the RedHawks. After RedHawks starting LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith (2-3, 5.23) issued consecutive walks to Jemile Weeks and Aaron Sogard in the bottom of the first, the River Cats offense set the tone when Michael Taylor tied the game at 1-1 with an RBI single to center field that scored Weeks. After advancing to third base on Taylor’s single, Aaron Sogard scored on the next at bat when Josh Donaldson hit a sacrifice ground-out to put Sacramento up 2-1. Rowland-Smith then walked DH Anthony Recker and Taylor swiped his third steal o

The Sacramento Rivercats (27-16) defeated the Oklahoma City RedHawks (19-23) 3-2 on Saturday night at Raley Field in what was the longest game in team history. Rivercats shortstop Eric Sogard ended the 5-hour, 4-minute bout in the wee morning hours of his 25th birthday with an RBI single in the bottom of the 16th inning. The game lasted just one minute longer than what is now Sacramento’s second longest game. The 16 inning contest also tied the team’s record for the most innings played in a single game. In the bottom of the second, Sacramento catcher Anthony Recker hit a towering solo home run that bounced off the club house wall in left field to notch the only run the Rivercats would sc

Wes Timmons just wants to play ball. That is, with God’s blessing, of course. Timmons had a conversation with his wife before Sunday’s Mother’s Day contest at Raley Field and thinks he may have figured it out. After Saturday night’s game Timmons felt horrible. He told his wife Jennifer that he feels like he hasn’t been in the batter’s box for a year rather than the three weeks it’s been. She then told him what he already knew. “You need to check yourself and get back in the word and trust in God,” said Jennifer. So, after his pre-game one-on-one with the man upstairs, a rejuvenated Timmons promptly hit the field and went 3-4 with an RBI, helping the Sacramento River Cats beat the hot-hi

This time around, a slightly re-tooled Graham Godfrey was ready. Ready to show that the changes he made in the offseason were paying off. Ready to pop the glove with the hard stuff. And after striking out the side in the first inning, he knew that he couldn’t let this great start go to waste. “It sets the tone for the rest of the game,” said Godfrey. “I think the guys playing behind me picked up on that and they feed off that. It’s a good way to start things off.” On a sunny and warm Thursday evening at Raley Field, the sombreros were out and the margaritas were flowing as the fans in attendance this Cinco de Mayo witnessed a great pitching performance as the Cats cruised to a 7-1 vict

With the River Cats’ (16-11) good times seemingly rolling along — winners of six of their last seven — a midday contest against the stumbling Salt Lake Bees — losers of the first two games of this match-up — should have been just what the doctor ordered. Unfortunately for the Cats, the house call wasn’t made and no medicine could have helped them, as Sacramento was their own worst enemy by making four errors en route to an 8-1 loss to the Bees on Wednesday afternoon at Raley Field. After a quick 1-2-3 first inning by both teams, the Bees headed to the plate in the second and struck first. With two outs, left fielder Chris Pettit reached first on an error by Cat right fielder Adam Heethe

Considering that the Sacramento River Cats have been on a roll lately – winners of eight of their last ten - you would hope that, along with all the kids finding prizes in the plastic eggs that were scattered across the grass in the Kinder BBQ area, the Cats would find a way to scatter enough hits to keep the good times rolling along. The visiting Tucson Padres cut the good times short by providing solid starting pitching and timely hitting to best Sacramento 7-5 on Easter Sunday, despite comeback attempts in each of the final four innings by the River Cats. A weakness of the Cats early this season has been allowing the opposing team to put up multiple runs in the opening frame. Falling