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

After opening the 2012 season on the road eight days ago, the Sacramento River Cats finally played their home opener on Friday night. The crowd of 6,189 was treated to a classic pitcher’s duel while sitting through a brief rain shower in the early innings, but in the end they saw the River Cats fall to the visiting Reno Aces by a final score of 2-0. River Cats starting pitcher Brad Peacock allowed just one hit over six innings and it was the second inning which proved to be Peacock’s only blemish on the night. Following the walk of Aces shortstop Cody Ransom, a wild pitch by Peacock allowed Ransom to advance to second base and an attempted pickoff play at first base by River Cats catche

Before an announced sellout crowd of 14,014 — the first of this season — the River Cats came up short by a score of 4-2 in a Father’s Day matinee against the Fresno Grizzlies. Grizzlies starting pitcher Dan Runzler allowed two hits in four innings of work, but his four walks led to two runs for Sacramento. The Grizzlies used two relievers on the afternoon, with Josh Banks getting credit for the victory and Dan Otero collecting the save after the River Cats had the winning run at the plate in the ninth inning. Mark Ellis, who is on a rehab assignment for the Oakland Athletics, played in his second game and finished 0-3 with a walk. Ellis is scheduled to rejoin the A’s this week. Lenny D

For the first six innings of Tuesday night’s ballgame, the Sacramento River Cats managed just one hit. As it turned out, all they needed to get their offense going was to face a different pitcher. A crowd of nearly 10,600 watched as Las Vegas 51s starting pitcher Scott Richmond had a strong outing, striking out seven River Cats batters. His only blemish was a base hit by Travis Buck in the third inning. Hits were difficult to come by all night, and both teams left 10 runners on base. The River Cats did get on the scoreboard, but their four-game winning streak was halted by a 4-2 loss to the 51s in the second game of the four game series. River Cats starter Bobby Cramer did well in his f

           Let's try this again. Thursday evening I attended my second River Cats game as your intrepid sports reporter.  This time, instead of the press pass around my neck, I held a ticket in my hand.      The split between the press pass and me was amicable and mutual.  The morning following my first foray into sportswriting, I was asked, very cordially, to "please dress appropriately and professionally when covering any games at Raley Field,  i.e., no shorts, T-shirts or flip flops."   The outfit I wore into the press box Monday evening? You guessed it, shorts, a T-shirt, and flip flops.  The hat trick.  Oops.       In accordance with this request, I decided to wear pants, a col