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

Hosting their second sell-out crowd of the season, the Sacramento Rivercats celebrated the 4th of July a day early.  Raley Field was a-buzz with excitement as American Flags were given to the earliest fans to arrive, and activities thoughout the game carried on the patriotic theme. The Rivercats were playing the last game of their current homestand, carrying a 3-2 record in five games with the Salt Lake City Bees and the Colorado Sky Sox.  15,212 fans packed the stadium hoping their Rivercats would provide some on-field fireworks.  Unfortunately, the Sky Sox, AAA team for the Chicago White Sox, scattered 7 hits and added timely hitting to defuse Sacramento. Brad Peacock entered the game

Jermaine Mitchell came within a home run of hitting for the cycle Friday night as the Sacramento River Cats snapped a brief two-game losing streak with a 7-4 win over the Tacoma Rainiers. Sacramento’s left fielder wasted no time getting the offense going as he led off the home half of the first inning with his first triple of the season. The shot to the gap in right-center field rolled all the way to the wall, allowing Mitchell to fly around the bases. He would score the game’s first run on a ground ball out by designated hitter Michael Taylor. Collin Cowgill, who was optioned to Sacramento by the Oakland A’s on Wednesday, batted second and drew a walk which would become the River Cats’

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 Oakland Athletics came to town to beat their Triple-A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats, 9-0 in a rain-shortened exhibition game on Saturday evening. More than 10,000 fans braved Raley Field for the much anticipated return of major league baseball to Sacramento – the first time in five years. The first six innings were perfect for A’s starting pitcher Tommy Milone, who retired each of the 18 batters he faced, including six strikeouts. Jarrod Parker took the mound for the River Cats, allowing nine runs on five hits. In each of the first three innings, Parker saw seven A’s come to the plate. He walked the bases full in the first inning, and a base-clearing double by right fielder Jo

On a night that had the Sacramento River Cats thinking about grounding up Round Rock Express pitcher Mark Hamburger, the first time starter was serving up filet mignon as he blanked Sacramento in his four innings of work to help the Express beat the Cats 7-3 at Raley Field on Friday evening. For the home team, Josh Outman started to slip a little in the second when the hitters for Round Rock started taking him up the middle with several solid hits. After Val Majewski and Joey Butler had back-to-back singles, Matt Kata hit into what looked like a tailor-made double play. Cats second baseman Andy LaRoche’s throw was offline and pulled Brandon Allen off the bag. With two men on, one of the

Following Saturday’s double-header, the Sacramento River Cats and Reno Aces spent another long day at Raley Field. Sunday’s contest took 11 innings before the River Cats recorded their second straight walk-off victory of the weekend by a final score of 11-10. At least one run was scored in each of the first eight innings before both teams went quietly in the ninth and tenth innings, leading to the eleventh inning and another dramatic finish for the River Cats. After Chris Carter led off the bottom of the 11th with a base hit, Josh Donaldson was hit by a pitch from Reno’s Esmerling Vasquez who was promptly ejected by home plate umpire Stephen Barga. Aces manager Brett Butler came onto the

The Sacramento River Cats bested the Reno Aces 4-2 Friday night, taking the first game of a five-games series between the divison leaders. The final game of the series is Monday night. Visit the River Cats website to purchase tickets. Here are some photos from the game:

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

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

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

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

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,

If you follow the River Cats even the slightest bit, you know that they’re known for putting up runs on the board in bunches, especially in their wins. The final game in the season-opening series with the Tacoma Rainiers was no different. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Sacramento, Cat right fielder Jai (pronounced Jay) Miller found his groove. Even though Miller is in Triple A working on fixing the holes in his swing, a lot is expected of the big man - known for either ripping the cover off of the ball and sending it screaming over the wall for all to cheer, or tying himself in knots trying. Miller’s strong arms and powerful swing helped him go 2-for-3 with two walks and five RBI inc

              Red Sox/Yankees.                            Giants/Dodgers.               Cardinals/Cubs.               River Cats/Grizzlies?                 Is it crazy to compare the Highway 99 Showdown, taking place this week at Raley field, to the fiercest rivalries in professional baseball?  Maybe, but all the pieces are in place for the Fresno/Sacramento rivalry to become the AAA equivalent of these major league grudge matches.               In addition to being natural geographic rivals vying for Central Valley bragging rights, the two teams are division rivals who entered last night just a game apart in the standings, fighting for a single playoff berth.               And to t

The Sacramento River Cats defeated the Fresno Grizzlies 4-3 in the 11th inning Friday night, putting them 5 games behind first-place Fresno in the Pacific Coast League South Division.  The River Cats  play Fresno again Saturday night, leaving eight games before the All-Star game. Following are some photos from Friday night. River Cats mascot Dinger poses for pictures with young fans before the game in front of Raley Field.   Pitcher John Halama (#48) about to release.   Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson (center) dispenses wisdom to outfielder Corey Wimberly (right).   A Grizzlies player (left) leading off first base waits for a hit from his teammate before taking off.   Raley F

 June 21. The first day of summer.   I, and 7,000 of my closest friends, rang in the turning of the season on a glorious evening at Raley Field, where the River Cats completed an impressive 7-1 homestand by shutting out the Salt Lake City Bees 4-0.   On a picture-perfect night for baseball, the home team bounced back from the previous day's defeat behind eight innings of shutout ball from starter Kyle Middleton. The right-hander had six strikeouts and lowered his E.R.A to 2.69, tops among River Cats starters.   A major factor in the River Cats' recent resurgence has been their vastly improved play defensively. Although individual fielding stats are not readily available for River Cat

 I love baseball.  I love watching it, playing it, listening to it on the radio – whatever.  So when the Sacramento Press editors asked me if I wanted to cover any games, I jumped at the chance.   All right, maybe they didn't so much ask me as I harassed them until they gave in. They finally tired of the flow of sad, slightly creepy voicemail messages I'd been leaving on their machines:   "Hi, it's Lindol. I just wanted you to know that I'm free for every River Cats home game, and if you want, I could, maybe, I don't know, go and write about it?"   “Hey, Lindol again. I just wanted to say that I had a really nice time at the Kings game, and I really like baseball, and if you wanted I