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.

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 Sacramento River Cats sought revenge Thursday from the Fresno Grizzlies, who pummeled the Cats four games in a row a week ago, but fell short, losing 3-2. “They threw the ball well,” said Cats shortstop Eric Sogard. “The pitcher was hitting their spots well. They had a few errors, but we couldn’t really capitalize on them.” “We made a few ourselves, and they capitalized on them. So you know, it was a close game, a battle. They got this one,” Sogard said. With less than half the season remaining, the River Cats lead the Pacific Southern Division with 54 wins and 36 losses, while Fresno trails Sacramento by 15.5 games. The cool 73-degree weather Thursday night attracted a crowd of 10

Moscoso on the mound: River Cats pitcher Guillermo Moscoso returns to the mound for Sacramento tonight to face the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. In eight starts and 10 appearances with Oakland this season, Moscosco posted a record of 3-4 with an ERA of 2.16. With Sacramento, Moscoso is 3-2 with an ERA of 4.02. He has started against the Grizzlies just once before in his career (August 9, 2009), where he shut them down. The right-hander pitched 6.1 innings, and allowed just one earned run and struck out three. Double time: The River Cats won both games of a doubleheader against the division rival Las Vegas 51s on Saturday. The River Cats combined for 18 runs, while Las Ve

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

Despite a solid defensive effort and a strong start, the River Cats were defeated by the Reno Aces in the final third game of a four game series at Raley Field Monday night, with a final score of 9-2. The night was off to a good start for the River Cats, with short stop Eric Sogard scoring off a single from center fielder Matt Carson and bringing the score to 1-0 at the top of the second. But the Aces answered back quickly. Short stop Cody Ransom made it to second base off a fly ball to left fielder Adrian Cardena, and right fielder Cole Gillespie hit a single to send Ransom home, tying up the game in the second inning. The teams remained tied throughout the uneventful third inning, but

Continued from Parts 1 and 2. Click here to read Part 1 and here to read Part 2.   As one gets older, you start accepting that certain boxes on your personal “bucket list” will never be checked off. I’ve had to chance to meet several people that I either enjoyed their work or admired them from afar. From politicians to actors to athletes, all have been moments I’ve logged away in the memory bank. The day I interviewed Rickey Henderson is now on top of that list. In this final part of my three-part story with the great Rickey Henderson, he talks about playing the Big Apple and why, even though his critics said he was washed up, he delayed his retirement until he reached the ripe old a

The River Cats made the first and last run at Friday's game against the Fresno Grizzlies, giving them a close win (6-5) in the first game of the four-game homestand. The smell of hot dogs, beer and popcorn filled the air. What better way to spend a Friday night than in the summer sun cheering on your favorite baseball team? This was the first time the River Cats have hosted the Grizzlies this season at Raley Field, and 12,211 fans were present. Having recently lost 5-1 to the Grizzlies, made this win that much sweeter. The River Cats got the ball rolling with center fielder Jai Miller's home run, the first score of the game. However, in the fourth inning, the Grizzlies took the lead in

Continued from Part 1.  Click here to read. It's one thing to gaze from afar and laud your personal heroes from your seat in the stadium. But to get a chance to not only speak with but spend 45 minutes alone with the greatest base-stealer of all-time was one of the highlights of my writing career. The Oakland A's were my favorite baseball team when i was a kid. My first sports idol was Reggie Jackson. My second was Rickey Henderson. For part one of this story, click here. In this second segment of a three part story, Henderson talks about playing for the his hometown Oakland A's, the 1989 earthquake-interrupted World Series, his 1990 MVP season and playing with Mark McGwire and Jose Ca

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,

After a slow and grueling game, the Sacramento River Cats lost 4-3 in the first of the four-game home series against the Salt Lake City Bees. There were more balls than strikes and more outs than runs for the River Cats, who didn’t make it on the scoreboard until the bottom of the sixth inning. The game started off with a walk for the Bees, as River Cats starting pitcher Marti Yadel threw consecutive balls, surprising because usually he is successful on the mound with a 4.86 ERA. A bystander in the crowd shouted “There goes the perfect game.” The game was far from perfect. The loss for the River Cats, who had a first place standing in the league, watched their record drop to 19-11. The

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 played a memorable game Thursday night at Raley Field with two home runs and no runs from the New Orleans Zephyrs until the fifth inning. Despite losing the first game of the series against the Zephyrs on May 23, it was the third win for the River Cats this week. Michael Taylor (LF) scored his first home run of the season during the second inning and Josh Donaldson (C) hit one in the bottom of the seventh. With 6,111 people in attendance, the crowd had high energy and enthusiasm, with children yelling “Dinger! Dinger!” and KISS fans singing “I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night.” There were several mistakes made by the Zephyrs that kept the River Cats in the lead t

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

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

Since the River Cats pushed Josh Outman’s start back one more day, a spot came open for another player from Oakland’s outstanding minor league system to make an appearance before the 5,327 in attendance at Raley Field Tuesday evening. This time it was Graham Godfrey’s number that was called. Godfrey, a player whom Cats Manager Darren Bush has had the pleasure of managing at several of the A’s farm clubs, got the spot start. Even though Godfrey pitched well enough to win, he gave up three runs in the first inning that crippled the Cats’ chances of pulling off the win. In the end, the River Cats lost a tough one, 5-3 in the ninth inning to the Las Vegas 51s. For the third consecutive game