Dan Straily was sent down three days ago to make room for the long-awaited return of Brett Anderson. Straily did nothing wrong. In fact, he could be called back to the big club very soon. And after his strong start in Sacramento on Thursday, that call could be very soon indeed. Straily went five strong innings and helped the Sacramento River Cats win their fourth in a row by beating the Salt Lake Bees 6-3 at Raley Field on Thursday evening. “He threw the ball well,” said Cats manager Darren Bush. “He moved the ball around, changed speeds and was aggressive. He looked good!” The first couple of innings flew by for both teams. As for Straily, he even struck out the side in the second, d

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

To say the Oakland A’s have an eye for pitching talent and like to have lots of live arms is like telling a 35-year-old that Santa Claus doesn’t exist. Duh! Graham Godfrey is one of those live arms that for one reason or another hasn’t been able to find his mark when called up for duty. Godfrey thinks he may have found what ailed him over his last few starts, when his earned run average skyrocketed from 1.21 on June 15 to 3.29 prior to the game on Wednesday evening. “I’ve been battling an injury and you can kind of notice the dip in my numbers,” said Godfrey. “It was something I was trying to pitch through, but I just needed some time off. I was able to rehab it and get it strong again

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

The Sacramento River Cats were unable to continue their win streak as they fell to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox 5-3 on Monday night at Raley Field. The River Cats entered the game with a modest three-game winning streak but a late-inning rally fell short to give the River Cats the loss. River Cats starting pitcher Bruce Billings has been exceptional for much of the year, apart from his last two starts, which he lost. Although he struck out seven batters, he also gave up five earned runs on six hits in five innings of work for the River Cats. Billings started strong with a three-up-three-down first inning, but then the Sky Sox were able to get on the board in the second inning. Following

The Sacramento River Cats lost their third straight game as they fell to the Salt Lake Bees 10-3 on Thursday night at Raley Field. The Bees were able to attack River Cats starting pitcher Brad Peacock early, quieting the 6,428 fans in attendance. After getting the first batter of the game out, Peacock gave up a single and walked Bees left fielder Ryan Langerhans to put runners on first and second with just one out. Peacock was unable to get out of the situation, giving up another single that scored Kole Calhoun to put the Bees on the board first, for the second night in a row. River Cats Kila Ka’aihue, who usually plays first base but was playing left field for Thursday’s game, was test

The Sacramento River Cats struggled on Wednesday night as they dropped their second game in a row, falling to the Salt Lake Bees 7-2 at Raley Field. The River Cats began to struggle early in front of the 7,741 people in attendance, who accompanied a variety of canine fans brought to the park for Raley Field’s “Bark in the Ballpark” night. The promotion brought a wide variety of fans to the ballpark, from humans, to chihuahuas, to great big St. Bernards, one of which assisted in the throwing of the first pitch. Sacramento sent out right-handed pitcher Bruce Billings as the starting pitcher. Billings entered the game with a 2.86 earned run average, which was good for being second best in t

The Sacramento River Cats overcame adversity to defeat the Fresno Grizzlies 10-7 on Friday night at Raley Field. The 10,501 fans in attendance witnessed an offensive outburst that lasted nearly three hours and forty minutes. Fans were able to see a plethora of pitchers, with 11 pitchers seeing the mound throughout the game. Designated hitter Manny Ramirez was once again a last-minute scratch, being given the day off as a medical precaution for the tightness in his calf that kept him out of Thursday’s game as well. Adding to the adversity, starting pitcher Bruce Billings faced just two batters, giving up two singles before having to leave the game due to cramping in his left hamstring.

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

The Sacramento River Cats extended their winning streak to three with a 6-1 victory over the Colorado Springs Sky Sox at Raley Field Thursday night. Starting pitcher Bruce Billings gave the River Cats another solid outing to bring his record to 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA. He provided seven innings of work, giving up no runs on five hits and striking out six. Sacramento was able to pounce on Sky Sox starting pitcher Brandon Hynick early, giving Billings two-run support in the first inning. Outfielder Jermaine Mitchell started the inning with a triple to deep center field. Mitchell then scored on a double from Collin Cowgill to give the River Cats their first lead of the game. First baseman Chri

Third baseman Josh Donaldson led the River Cats to a 7-1 victory against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox at Raley Field Tuesday night. Donaldson finished the game 3-4 and a walk, including a two-run double that gave the Cats the lead in the fifth inning. Donaldson finished the game with three runs batted in. Sacramento starting pitcher Graham Godfrey had another solid outing as he pitched six innings and struck out five batters while giving up six hits and one unearned run. Colorado’s only run came in the second inning when shortstop Brendan Harris reached base on an error by River Cats shortstop Adam Rosales. Harris then reached third on a hit-and-run play with right fielder Hernan Iribar

The Sacramento River Cats pounced all over the Tucson Padres to win 11-3 at Raley Field Sunday afternoon. The win earns the River Cats a split of the series, as they won the first and final games and the Padres won the two in between. It didn’t take long for the River Cats bats to come alive, quickly scoring two runs off of Padres starting pitcher Mark Pope. But the Cats weren’t done there. Sacramento was able to tally on another five runs in the second inning to bring the lead to 7-0. The five-run frame featured a three-run home run from catcher Josh Donaldson with two outs. It was Donaldson’s second home run of the season. Starting pitcher Brad Peacock was able to keep the Padres off

The Sacramento River Cats' offense struggled on Friday night as the River Cats fell to the Tucson Padres 5-1 at Raley Field. The River Cats' only offense came in the first inning with the first River Cat that stepped up to the plate. Leadoff batter Jermaine Mitchell, took a 0-1 pitch and launched it over the right field wall for his first homerun of the season, and 50th of his career. This brought the score to a 1-1 tie as Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal had hit a home run of his own with two out in the top of the first. River Cats pitcher Travis Banwart gave up another run in the third inning when Padres third baseman Everth Cabrera stole third base with two outs and was brought home by

The Sacramento River Cats (10-3) were able to extend their winning streak to four as they defeated the Tacoma Rainiers (4-8) 5-1 at Raley Field Tuesday night. Right fielder Michael Taylor continued his strong start to the season, recording two doubles and a walk on four at-bats. Taylor entered the game batting .413 with one home run and 11 runs batted in. Taylor's .413 batting average heading into Tuesday night's game was ranked seventh in the Pacific Coast League. “I feel good at the plate,” he said. “I feel comfortable with everything I’ve worked on in the offseason coming into this season, and I’ve stuck to that plan and process, and right now things are going well. I’m swinging the b

In the first two series of the year the Sacramento River Cats won both of them by winning three of the four games played in each. In the third series of the year, it was a close one, but the Cats beat the Reno Aces 2-1 in a classic pitchers’ duel on Monday night at Raley Field. The Aces were the first to scratch a run onto the huge Raley Field scoreboard when Ryan Wheeler ripped a 3-0 pitch from Cats starter Jarrod Parker that went screaming over the right field fence on a rope for a solo home run. Parker was solid though three innings of work. One-third of the way through the game, he had four strikeouts, three hits and a walk. In the bottom half of the third, Cats left fielder Grant G

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 fell to the Omaha Storm Chasers 11-6 Friday night at Raley Field, completing Omaha’s sweep for the Pacific Coast League Championship and ending the River Cats season. It in Omaha’s first PCL Championship in franchise history. After dropping the first two games in Omaha, the River Cats hoped to overcome the deficit just as they did against the Reno Aces in the Pacific Conference Championship Series. The River Cats sent out right-hander Travis Banwart to the mound. Last series, against the Reno Aces, Banwart also pitched in an elimination game and pitched 6.0 innings pitched, two earned runs on five hits with three strike outs and one walk. Banwart looked to be c

The Sacramento River Cats again avoided elimination from the postseason as they defeated the Reno Aces 8-2 at Raley Field on Saturday night. The River Cats were able to bring the series to 2-2 and force a game 5 after falling behind in the series 0-2 to the Aces earlier in the week. “After dropping two games in Reno, we are just fortunate enough to have put ourselves in a situation to play tomorrow,” said River Cats second baseman Wes Timmons. “There’s no pressure now, in reality, the pressure is on them now. Nobody wants to go up 2-0 and then lose.” The River Cats quickly pounced on Reno’s starting pitcher Gaby Hernandez. Starting center fielder Jermaine Mitchell hit a lead-off triple