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

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

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

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 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.

Residents can help United Way California Capital Region and its partner nonprofits score a home run in the annual campaign this year by attending United Way Night at the River Cats on Aug. 23 at Raley Field, 400 Ballpark Drive, West Sacramento. United Way expects 1,000 people for the event that will include a fair where residents can learn more about United Way’s 140 certified local nonprofit partners, a barbecue dinner, keynote speaker and the River Cats game. Tickets cost $30 for adults and $25 for children ages 10 and under. Residents can also sponsor one of United Way’s Fit Kids participants to attend the event for $30. To purchase tickets, visit http://www.yourlocalunitedway.org. Oth

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