Game summary from the Sacramento River Cats website: Reddick Scores Twice; Cats Beat Bees, 7-2 WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Oakland A's outfielder Josh Reddick crossed the plate twice-giving him five runs in two games with Sacramento- and made a highlight-reel diving catch in the sixth to help the River Cats defeat the visiting Salt Lake Bees by a score of 7-2 on Wednesday afternoon at Raley Field. After Grant Green reached first on a throwing error to lead off the bottom of the first inning, Reddick grounded into a fielder's choice. With Shane Peterson at the dish, Reddick stole second base, then came around to score on a Michael Choice RBI-double. After a Michael Taylor walk, Daric Barto

Watching the Sacramento River Cats isn’t like going to a Giants or A’s game – and that’s a good thing. There’s nothing like the minor leagues, especially at the AAA level played by the hometown River Cats. Players in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) are as close to the Big Leagues and that big time money and fame as you can get. Fans in Sacramento waited more than 20 years for professional baseball to return before the Cats arrived in 2000, and were rewarded with being the top farm club for a franchise that’s a mere 100 miles away. That means you can watch a River Cats player at cozy Raley Field, then follow him to the highest level once he hits Oakland. Another local bonus is that Stockton

The Sacramento River Cats hosted local media at Raley Field on Monday prior to an exhibition game against the Stockton Ports. Coaching staff and players gave interviews during the team's batting and fielding practices. Recently appointed manager Steve Scarsone spoke about the challenges of coaching the MiLB team in the Oakland Atheltics organization. He said, "We've got some guys that are going to be trying some different positions, possibly, as the season goes on, depending on what the big club needs. We're going to have guys that are going to come down during the season and guys that are going to go up. Every day is going to have its own special challenges. That's how the game is." "We

Approximately 86.4 miles southwest of Dooley Field, in the Land Park area, lies the 2012 MLB World Series trophy, cherished and displayed at the home of the San Francisco Giants, AT&T Park. On Saturday, a smaller, but much more personal trophy was on display in Sacramento, as the members of the 1983 Sacramento Pacific Little League’s World Series team gathered in honor of the 30th anniversary of their championship season. Hundreds of wide-eyed young ballplayers helped to celebrate the team that brought national recognition to the Land Park Little League as the former teammates reunited at Dooley Field during Land Park Pacific Little League’s opening day. Though a generation removed from

The Sacramento River Cats hosted a pre-season party at Raley Field on Sunday afternoon. Hundreds of fans were lined up at the entrance prior to the noon opening. The party marked the opening of the ticket office for the 2013 season. Round Table pizza, hot dogs and other refreshments were handed out to those who were willing to stand in line. The nearly all-access afternoon allowed fans to check out the River Cats locker room, sit in the dugout, or explore the sections above and below the regular seating areas. Other activities included jump houses, photo booths and live music. Season-ticket seating was also available for sale. A small number of paper signs marking available seat

There is no shortage of Oakland Athletics fans in Sacamento, and they took over the local Twittersphere Monday night, erupting in joy after the A's clinched a playoff spot for the first time in six years by beating the first-place Texas Rangers 4-3. Here's a snapshot of some of the best reactions on Twitter:

The Master Written & Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson “The Master” is an extremely well made and well acted film that I have mixed feelings about. Joaquin Phoenix plays a young man who leaves the Navy after WWII with few clear prospects but a prodigious drinking problem – and not of the purely alcoholic kind, more of the torpedo fuel and chemical cocktail kind. After a few failed attempts at gainful employment, he finds himself in the company of an enigmatic man (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his band of disciples, who address him as Master. Both Phoenix and Hoffman are great in their respective roles, as is Amy Adams in the lesser (as measured by screentime only) of two performances this

The Sacramento River Cats lost their first game of the post-season against the Reno Aces, 3-1. The best-of-five series opened at Raley Field on Wednesday evening. The River Cats launched an early threat by loading the bases in the first inning with two outs. Reno's right-hander, Trevor Bauer, was able to strike out Sacramento's Shane Peterson to end the inning. Reno posted two runs on the scoreboard in the third inning. Wladimir Sutil reached first base on a fielding error by third baseman Grant Green. Sutil sprinted around to third base on A. J. Pollock's line drive and slid hard into Green, breaking up the play to stay safely on the bag. Sutil advanced to home on Tyler Kuhn's double. P

The final Saturday night game of the 2012 regular season drew a sold-out crowd of more than 14,000 fans to Raley Field to watch the Sacramento River Cats in game four of a five-game series with the Salt Lake Bees. After winning the first two games of the series the River Cats dropped their second straight game to the Bees on Saturday by a final score of 4-3. The score was quickly 1-0 in favor of Sacramento when Collin Cowgill, who reached base on an error, was driven home on a single to center field by Kila Ka’aihue in the bottom half of the first inning. However, Sacramento’s lead would not last long. With two outs in the top of the second inning Hank Conger hit the first of three Sal

Rivercats pitcher Bruce Billings took the hill for his 24th start, hoping for his 8th win of the season. He was cheered on by 13,870 fans enjoying the annual Raley Field Fiesta.  But two fateful swings from a dynamic duo of Salt Lake Bees led him to his 6th loss instead. Leftfielder Ryan Langerhans and designated hitter Cory Aldridge hit back-to-back homers in the top of the 2nd inning to give Salt Lake a lead they would never give up. Besides Langerhans’ and Aldridge’s homers, shortstop Andrew Romine added to the Salt Lake fireworks with an RBI triple in the 1st. Third baseman Luis Jimeniz followed immediately afterwards by driving in the 2nd Bees’ run with a single. Trailing by 4-0, t

The Sacramento River Cats shut out the Las Vegas 51s on Monday night at Raley Field, defeating them 2-0. The victory gives Sacramento a 4.5 game lead over Vegas in the Pacific South Division. Sacramento scored its first run in the fourth inning when Brandon Hicks raced home on a wild pitch. Sacramento's second run came in the eighth inning when Jermaine Mitchell scored on a Grant Green single to center field. Sacramento replacement pitcher Jim Miller took the mound at the top of the ninth inning and closed out the Las Vegas visitors in order. Las Vegas stays in Sacramento for one more game on Tuesday evening. (Click on the photos above to see a larger version.) Additional game photos

The Sacramento River Cats came up short on Saturday night as they lost their second game in a row, falling to the Las Vegas 51s 10-4 at Raley Field. River Cats fans showed up heavily for “Star Wars Night,” with fans dressing up as various Star Wars characters. 14,818 fans showed up in total, making it the third most-attended River Cats game in franchise history. The loss is Sacramento’s fourth in their last five contests. Las Vegas got to River Cats starting pitcher Bruce Billings early, racking up six of their 10 runs during Billings’ 4.0 innings of work. Billings finished the night with four innings pitched, allowing six earned runs on seven hits and two walks, while striking out two.

The Sacramento River Cats’ six-game winning streak came to an end Monday night as they fell to the Nashville Sounds 5-3 at Raley Field. Sacramento looked to be on their way to another win when they scored the first two runs of the game in the bottom of the second inning. With runners on second and third base and two outs, left fielder Shane Peterson hit one up the middle to give the Cats an early 2-0 lead. The lead wouldn’t hold up as the Sounds were able to get to River Cats starting pitcher Graham Godfrey in the fourth inning. The Sounds were able to put up two runs in the fourth to tie the game at 2-2. Sacramento was opportunistic in the sixth inning, capitalizing on a couple of walk

The following interview was initiated in conjunction with Allison Joy’s “What’s With That” column on Sacramento Press. It was prompted by the abrupt closing of the comment thread associated with “The Dark Knight Rises” on RottenTomatoes.com, the internet aggregator of movie reviews, following negative remarks and threats directed towards reviewers who gave the film its first negative ratings. Brief excerpts from the interview appeared in Allison’s column and the full exchange is reproduced here. The RottenTomatoes.com events preceded the shootings in Aurora, Colorado but the interview was conducted after that tragedy. Allison: What I want to focus on is cult followings of films, why a cer

Sacramento River Cats starting pitcher Daniel Straily continued his dominant year against the Pacific Coast League as he led the River Cats to a 6-0 victory against the Tucson Padres at Raley Field on Monday afternoon. Straily struck out another nine batters in six innings of work, giving him 171 strikeouts on the season. He allowed no runs on just three hits in his six innings of work en route to earning his fourth win for the River Cats. Unlike the Padres, Sacramento’s offense was able to figure out Tucson’s starting pitcher, Will Scott, early in the game. Jermaine Mitchell scored the first two runs of the game with a two RBI single in the second inning. Scott lasted just four innings

On a 98-degree Saturday night the Sacramento River Cats were looking to bounce back from Friday’s shutout by the Tucson Padres. The River Cats managed to get back on the scoreboard, but they were doubled up by the Padres in an 8-4 loss to drop the second game of the series at Raley Field. Saturday night was also Swing for the Cure night with River Cat players, coaches, and yes, even Stomper, wearing special jerseys that were sold through a silent auction held on the concourse during the game. Auction proceeds supported breast cancer awareness and research. The opening bid for each jersey was $60 and before the game’s first pitch, bids were already as high as $200. It was smooth sailing f

The Tucson Padres began their only visit to Raley Field on Friday night before a crowd of 9,220. The series opener was not a good one for the Sacramento River Cats. Starting pitcher Brad Peacock was perfect through the first four innings but a leadoff home run by Matt Clark to start the fifth inning was the beginning of bad things for the River Cats. The Padres would add five more runs over the course of the game to beat Sacramento 6-0 in the River Cats' 100th game of the season.  The River Cats managed just three hits on the night while the Padres received the home run by Clark in the fifth inning and a tape measure home run by Jedd Gyorko in the sixth. Gyorko’s shot to left field lande

Friday the 13th brought with it a temperature drop of 22 degrees from the first pitch of Thursday’s Sacramento River Cats game. The change made Friday’s game feel like it was in the middle of April rather than the middle of July as the Cats continued their series against the visiting Las Vegas 51s. Despite a brilliant pitching performance by Dan Straily, the lone hit he allowed was a costly home run in the fifth inning by the 51s Eric Thames. The River Cats never got their offense going and were shut out 1-0 before an announced crowd of 8,362. Straily was dominant over seven innings as he struck out 13 Las Vegas batters and walked just two. However, the River Cats were unable to provide

Welcome to another edition of the our a daily blog,  a rundown of items that we're working on, found interesting, or otherwise thought you might want to know about today. As is always the case here at Sac Press, suggestions are welcome. WHAT WE’RE READING FIELD OF DREAMS: With all the talk this week about the potential of building a Major League Baseball stadium at the railyards, a look at another example bears mentioning. According to The Atlantic Cities, the city of Buffalo, N.Y., banked on building an MLB stadium without a team, hoping that an MLB franchise would see the appeal of a new stadium and pull up stakes for a move to Buffalo. That, however, never materialized, and while the

Mayor Kevin Johnson and Think Big Sacramento want to explore bringing a Major League Baseball team to Sacramento along with a Major League Baseball stadium in the downtown railyards – and the future of the River Cats may hang in the balance. The plan is the next phase for Think Big Sacramento’s efforts to come up with a new future for the downtown railyards after plans for a new arena were scuttled in May, Johnson said. “There’s no harm in exploring all of our options,” Johnson told media at a press conference Monday. If the idea is viable, Johnson said, the city would most likely court the Oakland A’s for a move to Sacramento – but, if they move in, MLB rules require the River Cats to