Cats lose another pitcher's duel, fall to Tacoma 1-0 on solo home run

2012-04-21T02:23:34Z

Coming into Thursday night’s contest at Raley Field, the Sacramento River Cats were on a roll. As winners of four of their last five, the team’s confidence was riding high, especially considering the pitching staff had only given up seven runs in the last five games.

All that changed with the Tacoma Rainiers in town. They brought their ace, Anthony Vasquez, who had a streak of nine consecutive quality starts on the line dating back to last July, pitched a gem and kept Sacramento’s bats confused by changing speeds often. The pitching performance allowed the Rainiers to win the game 1-0 on a beautiful 79 degree evening in front of 4,304 fans.

For the River Cats, the action got started in the bottom of the first.

With two outs and a man on first, a horrible call was made when Michael Taylor drilled a sinking line drive into right field. The ball clearly hit the grass before right fielder Chih-Hsien Chiang scooped it up, but the right field umpire called it a catch.

That’s all it took for Cats manager Darren Bush to come sprinting out of the dugout and racing straight up to the umpire to complain. It appeared that, not only everyone in the press box knew it was a clean hit, but so did almost every player in the field. Bush couldn’t get umpire Stu Scheurwater to change his mind, and the inning ended.

The third inning brought a little excitement for both teams. The first batter up for Tacoma was Guillermo Quiroz, who belted a shot over the left field wall for a monster solo shot.

In the bottom half of the frame, the Cats had two outs and one on when Colin Cowgill, who just joined the team after being sent down by the A’s, sent a ball screaming toward deep left field. Scott Savastano had to leap at the base of the wall and made a great catch, snatching the ball just as it was clearing the fence.

Cowgill seemed to be the only River Cat that could halfway figure out Rainiers starter Vasquez.

“I played against him last year,” he said. “He’s got a .90 (ERA) for a reason. He’s got a good fastball that tails away, good change-ups, cutters and works both sides of the plate. I was just fortunate enough to get the barrel on a few. I wish I would have done a little more damage with them.”

After three complete innings, the Rainiers led 1-0.

It was quite the pitcher’s duel through six innings. Tacoma’s starter Anthony Vasquez was solid as he only gave up four hits, gave up no walks and struck out three.

For Cats starter Fabio Castro, the pitching line was very similar. He had also given up four hits but had seven strikeouts. The big difference being the solo homer he gave up in the third.

Finally in the eighth, the Cats started a rally of their own. Brandon Hicks walked with one out, and a batter later, Cowgill, who had hit the ball hard in all three of his previous at-bats, smashed a liner down the third baseline that bounced off the glove of Vinnie Catricala and rolled down the line. It went far enough for Hicks to get to third and Cowgill to second.

Cue the Rainiers reliever. Out with starter Vasquez and in came Oliver Perez. With a 1-2 count on him, Brandon Moss, who scored the winning run two days ago, struck out looking to end the inning.

In the ninth, Derek Norris managed to squeeze out a walk, but that was all the Cats could muster. Adam Rosales struck out for the final out of the game.

Castro had a great performance. Castro’s final line was six innings pitched, four hits, one earned run, three walks and seven strikeouts.

Bush was very pleased with the outing.

“He threw the ball well and moved it around,” he said. “One mistake. He fell behind in the count, and the guy hit a home run. Solo home runs usually don’t hurt you. Tonight it hurt us. He threw the ball outstanding. Bullpen did a great job. The defense played well, but we just couldn’t get the hits.”

Bush was not surprised at the outing that Vasquez had for Tacoma.

“He changes speeds well,” he said. “He moves the ball around in the zone. He gets guys off balance and stays off their barrel. He does a good job of it.”

How did Bush think Cowgill did in his first start with the team?

“Just like I remember him,” he said.

Cowgill, like every new player that comes into the clubhouse at Raley Field, was welcomed with open arms.

“It’s a great feel,” Cowgill said. “Great teammates, great coaching staff,all the way around. It’s just a great clubhouse. There’s a positive attitude. This team is going to do damage in the future.”

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RON NABITY PHOTOGRAPHY

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Cats lose another pitcher's duel, fall to Tacoma 1-0 on solo home run