Sacramento River Cats River Cats blow late lead to El Paso in 5-3 loss West Sacramento, CA - The Sacramento River Cats (40-57) took a 3-2 lead into the eighth inning against the El Paso Chihuahuas (49-49) but watched it slip away as El Paso scored three times to steal the game 5-3. Sacramento starter Chris Stratton put forth an excellent outing over his 6.2 frames tonight, allowing two runs on seven hits before giving way to the bullpen. The right-hander threw a career-high 111 pitches (74 strikes) tonight while striking out seven. He was in line for his fifth win of the season until the Chihuahuas' late comeback. River Cats relievers Kraig Sitton and Derek Law could not hold the Sacramento lead, allowing three runs in the eighth inning, three runs that ultimately decided the game. Third baseman Ali Castillo gave Sacramento the early 2-0 lead in the second inning, singling home Tim Federowicz and Ryan Lollis. Juniel Querecuto had the third and final RBI for the home side tonight while also extending his hitting streak to six games. With the loss tonight the River Cats split the four-game series with El Paso. The River Cats will hit the road to take on the Tacoma Rainiers for a four-game set. Right-hander Jose Flores (0-1, 3.94) will get the start for Sacramento and righty Chase De Jong (3-4, 5.96) will go for Tacoma. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. (PT) and the game can be heard live on the air on ESPN 1320 and online at rivercats.com. Postgame Notes Stratton: Chris Stratton threw first pitch strikes to 18 of the season-high 30 batters he faced over his last four starts, he's thrown 71% strikes (417 pitches, 294 strikes) has fanned 28 batters of his last 26 innings pitched. Castillo: Ali Castillo extended his hitting streak to five games tonight hitting.500 (8-for-16) over that span with four RBI and four runs scored he's hitting.500 against El Paso and seven of his 17 RBI this year have come against the Chihuahuas. Parker: Jarrett Parker also extended his hitting streak to five games in tonight's loss hitting.429 (9-for- 21) with three runs over that stretch he now has 14 walks in 20 games with Sacramento. Cats vs. Dogs: The River Cats still own the better record against the Chihuahuas, winning five of the eight games they've played so far this season Sacramento has outscored El Paso 43-39 but have been outhit 84-81. Richmond Flying Squirrels Deja Vu; Squirrels Lose Lead In Eighth Again Akron, OH - The Flying Squirrels (39-56) faltered again in the eighth inning on Thursday, dropping the series opener to Akron (47-47) by a final score of 4-3 at Canal Park. For the third consecutive night, Richmond squandered a one-run lead entering in the eighth inning. Starting pitcher Tyler Herb turned in a quality start for the Squirrels and Jerry Sands smashed his first home run of the season in the loss. Game two of the series at Canal Park will be on Friday at 7:05 p.m.

The Squirrels led 3-2 entering the eighth inning, but were unable to hang on. Reliever Carlos Alvarado yielded a one-out double to Mike Papi and then the go-ahead home run to Tyler Krieger to relinquish the lead. Alvarado (0-3) suffered the loss in two innings of relief. Due to consecutive doubleheaders, the RubberDucks were forced to call up lefty Tanner Tully from Single-A to make the spot start against Richmond on Thursday. Tully retired the side in the first inning on 12 pitches but was touched up for a run in the second. Brandon Bednar launched a triple into the right center field gap and Caleb Gindl knocked him home on a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 Richmond lead. Akron responded immediately to tie the game with a run in the bottom of the second. Yu Chang worked a walk and advanced to second base on a soft ground ball to second. Krieger then lined a single to left field, scoring Chang with the 'Ducks first run. Squirrels right-hander Tyler Herb managed to keep the game tied, despite a pair of errors early on. Herb escaped a pair of runners in scoring position in the third inning, however, the miscues forced his pitch count to 55 through three frames. Richmond rallied with five consecutive hits in the fifth to pull ahead, 3-1. With one out, Jerry Sands ripped a solo home run - his first since joining the Squirrels. Sands blast carried deep over the right field wall for a 2-1 advantage.bednar, Gindl and Dylan Davis all followed with singled before Daniel Carbonell added an RBI base hit to right field. Akron's lefty Tanner Tully slipped away from any more damage by inducing a ground ball double play to end the inning. The 'Ducks pulled back to within one in the fifth inning. Joe Sever made it a 3-2 contest by drilling a curve ball off the batters eye in center field. Sever took a pair of fastballs to start off the at bat before finally getting the off speed pitch he was looking for. Herb escaped another jam in the sixth inning, working around another error. With the bases loaded, Herb punched out Todd Hankins on his 101 pitch of the day. The righty lasted six innings and allowed two runs on four hits in a no-decision. Herb walked two and struck out four while pitching with at least one runner on base in each inning. Carlos Alvarado replaced Herb and tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh. Alvarado suffered the loss by allowing the two-run homer in the eighth. The Flying Squirrels continue a seven-game road trip on Friday in Akron, OH. Richmond RHP Sam Coonrod is scheduled to make the start against LHP Luis Lugo for Akron. San Jose Giants Giants Win 12-7 Slugfest Over Quakes SAN JOSE, CA - The San Jose Giants rallied from an early four-run deficit on Thursday night in a 12-7 series-opening victory over the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at Municipal Stadium. Bryan Reynolds delivered a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the sixth to give the Giants their first lead of the contest before Steven Duggar broke the game open with a grand slam an inning later. San Jose (42-55 overall, 12-15 second half) has won four out of their last five games overall.

Duggar (1-for-4, HR, 4 RBI, SB) smacked the Giants' first grand slam of the season and has now driven home eight runs over the last two games. Aramis Garcia (2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI) also clubbed his teamleading 16th home run of the season in the victory while Jonah Arenado (3-for-5, 3B, 3 RBI), Jalen Miller (2-for-4, 3B, RBI), Heath Quinn (2-for-5, 2B) and Reynolds (2-for-5, 2 RBI) finished with multi-hit games. All nine San Jose starters had at least one hit. San Jose trailed early as the first six Quakes hitters of the game reached base safely against Matt Krook with Rancho Cucamonga scoring four times in the opening frame to take a 4-0 lead. San Jose though would begin their comeback in the bottom of the second. Quinn began the inning with a double off the fence in deep left center and immediately scored when the next batter, Arenado, laced a single into left. Then with two down, Miller hammered a triple into the right center field gap scoring Arenado all the way from first to trim the Quakes advantage to 4-2. Rancho Cucamonga got one run back in the third as Luke Raley led off with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Johan Mieses' one-out single. However, the Giants responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Howard led off by getting hit by a pitch before Garcia's potential inning-ending double play grounder was thrown away by third baseman Brandon Montgomery for an error. San Jose would take advantage of the miscue as with two outs, Arenado stepped to the plate and tripled into right field corner. The hit scored both runners to bring the Giants within 5-4. Rancho Cucamonga scored once in the top of the fifth to knock Krook out of the game and push their lead to 6-4. A one-out walk to Drew Jackson started the rally before a wild pitch advanced the runner to second. Jackson then stole third and scored on the same play when the ball skipped away from catcher Matt Winn for another wild pitch. David Owen relieved Krook with two outs in the inning and prevented further damage to keep the score at 6-4. The Giants then tied the game with a home run in the bottom of the fifth. Reynolds singled with one out before Garcia crushed the first pitch of his at-bat over the fence in deep left to make the score 6-6. The back-and-forth affair though saw the Quakes score once against Owen in the top of the sixth to reclaim the lead. Keibert Ruiz led off with a single before moving to second on Omar Estevez's groundout. Then with two outs, Victor Roache lined a single into left to plate Ruiz for a 7-6 Rancho Cucamonga advantage. San Jose, however, had an answer in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Miller singled before Duggar drew a walk. After Howard flied out, a passed ball advanced Miller, the potential tying run, to third. Moments later, Duggar, the possible go-ahead run, stole second. Reynolds then lined a single into left center field bringing home both Miller and Duggar giving the Giants their first lead of the night at 8-7. Owen returned to the mound in the top of the seventh and promptly hit Jackson with a pitch to put the tying run on base. Will LaMarche though entered from the bullpen and registered three consecutive strikeouts of Raley, DJ Peters and Mieses in dominant fashion to retire the side. San Jose then took control of the game with a four-run bottom of the seventh. Three singles from Quinn, Ronnie Jebavy and Winn loaded the bases with one out. Miller followed with a slow grounder to third that saw Montgomery throw home to force out Quinn for the second out of the inning. Duggar was up next and the Giants leadoff batter launched a 3-2 pitch from Quakes reliever Dean Kremer over the fence in deep right for a grand slam. The slam extended the San Jose lead to 12-7.

LaMarche (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO) worked around a two-out single to throw a scoreless top of the eighth before Heath Slatton (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) struck out a pair in the ninth to seal the victory. Owen (3-0) was credited with the win for the Giants after pitching 1 1/3 innings of relief with one run and two hits allowed. Owen struck out one. Kremer (1-4) suffered the loss after yielding all six runs over the sixth and seventh innings. Notes * San Jose's 12 runs scored matched their home season-high (12-4 win vs. Stockton on June 26). * Duggar's grand slam was the first by a Giants player since Ronnie Jebavy on May 31, 2016 (vs. Lancaster). * San Jose out-hit Rancho Cucamonga 15-10. * The Giants were 5-for-11 (.455 AVG) with runners in scoring position. * Garcia has hit eight home runs over his last 19 games. His 16 homers this season rank third in the California League. He's also second in the league with 61 RBI's. * San Jose has overcome deficits of four runs and three runs twice in each of their last three victories. * Howard (1-for-4) extended his hitting streak to eight games with a first-inning single. * Krook was charged with six runs (five earned) on six hits over 4 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out three. * The Giants improved to 5-10 against the Quakes this season. * Thursday was the opener of a seven-game homestand. On Deck The Giants and Quakes continue their four-game series on Friday evening with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 7:00 PM. Jake McCasland (4-9, 5.18 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Rancho Cucamonga is expected to counter with Andrew Thurman (0-0, 0.00 ERA). Augusta Green Jackets Shorebirds Use Rain Delay to Their Advantage The Delmarva Shorebirds scored four runs in the seventh inning which turned out to be the difference in the game as they defeated the GreenJackets 7-3 at Lake Olmstead Stadium Thursday night. The game was tied at one going into the seventh with D.J. Myers on in relief of GreenJackets starter Melvin Adon who went six innings and allowed one run off five hits and struck out three. Milton Ramos led off the inning with a single. He advanced to second on a passed ball and to third on a single by Tanner Kirk. Stuart Levy singled home Ramos to give the Shorebird the 2-1 lead. Cole Billingsly then attempted a sacrifice bunt but reached first on a throwing error by GreenJackets third baseman Michael Bernal. Allowing Kirk to score and make it 3-1. Jake Ring singled home Levy and Preston Palmeiro grounded into a double play to score Billingsly making it 5-1. With one out in the bottom of the eight, the GreenJackets started a mini rally when Kelvin Beltre singled and Skyler Ewing hit a double to advance him to third. Beltre came in to score on a passed ball and Ewing scored on a single by Jacob Heyward to cut the lead to 5-3. The rally ended when Sandro Fabian popped out and Heyward was doubled off first. The Shorebirds added insurance in the ninth when Preston Palmeiro hit a two run double to make it 7-3.

The GreenJackets took the early lead in the second when Skyler Ewing walked and came in to score on a double by Jose Vizcaino making it 1-0 GreenJackets. The Shorebirds tied it at one in the sixth when Ring hit a solo home run. The GreenJackets will be back in action Friday night for the final game of the three-game series with the Shorebirds. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm with the gates opening at 6:00pm. It is Ladies Night presented by The Walking Company, Tin Lizzy's Cantina, Brooks Haven Floral and Flowers LLC, Palm Beach Tan, Pure Barre Augusta, The Swank Company, Barefoot Wine and Refreshers, and Oliviana Ristorante. The first 1,000 fans into the stadium will receive a free Cooler Bag presented by EDTS. Kids 12 and under will be able to run the bases after the game. Caleb Baragar (2-7, 5.07) will start on the mound for the GreenJackets against Matthias Dietz (2-7, 4.72) for the Shorebirds. All GreenJackets Ticket Plans (including Full, Half, and Weekend and the all-new 6-Game Flex Plans) and individual tickets are on sale now for the 2017 season. To guarantee your seats to the most popular games, order your 2017 Ticket Packages today by reaching out to the GreenJackets Front Office at (706) 922-WINS (9467). The New Ballpark at Riverside Village is underway and deposits are now being accepted for Full Season Seats for the 2018 season. To learn more visit www.greenjackets2018.com and place your deposit to today. Leaving the Lake, Ruling the River. Salem-Keizer Volcanoes Volcanoes bats stymied by Canadians pitching 8-3 KEIZER, Ore. - The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes dug themselves into too deep of a hole to dig themselves out of against the Vancouver Canadians, as the squad took the "L" by the score of 8-3 on July 20 at Volcanoes Stadium. With no score through the first three innings, both pitching staffs appeared to be locked in early on, although Salem-Keizer starting pitcher Julio Benitez was walking on a fine line. The Volcanoes could only muster a single base knock through those innings, while Benitez worked himself into and out of a pair of jams to keep the Canadians off of the scoreboard. In top of the first inning, after catcher Dylan Manwaring picked off Canadian shortstop Kevin Vicuna at first base, Benitez offered up a free pass to the proceeding batter and surrendered a single to the hitter thereafter to set up runners on first and second with two outs. However, Benitez induced a fly out to center field to quash the threat. Benitez found himself in more two-out trouble in the top of the third inning. After retiring the first two batters, the righty relinquished a single and walked the next two batters to load the bases. Benitez, who had four total walks allowed on the season entering the contest, had already walked three through three innings of work. But the wild bronco buckled down once again and eluded potential damage with a fly out to left field.

It was the following top half when the Vancouver finally broke through against Benitez. With one out recorded, Canadian third baseman Bryan Lizardo mashed a triple in the right center gap. Benitez inched further to wiggling out of another jam when he forced left fielder Brandon Polizzi to line out softly to second base. Benitez quickly pitched ahead of the next batter in Matt Morgan 0-2. However, the Canadian catcher worked his way back into the count, and on a 2-2 pitch Morgan roped a double that scored Lizardo and handed the Canadians a 1-0 advantage. Salem-Keizer had an opportunity to either knot the score or take the lead in the bottom of the first with runners on first and second and two outs, but designated hitter Gustavo Cabrera was gunned down trying to steal third base and Vancouver walked away unblemished. The Canadians extended their lead to 2-0 in the top of the sixth thanks to a missed catch by Volcano first baseman Robinson Medrano on a pick off attempt that allowed the runner to score all the way from first base. The dam finally burst in the top half of the seventh frame when Vancouver plated three runs, two of which coming from a passed ball and a throwing error by Volcano third baseman A.J. Ramirez, respectively, giving the Canadians a 5-0 lead. Meanwhile, it was clear sailing for the Vancouver pitching staff. Up until the bottom of the ninth, Canadian pitchers tossed up goose egg after goose egg while whiffing nine batsmen in the process. Amidst the dominant performance by their staff, the Canadians' offense kept on chugging along. Catcher Matt Morgan pounced on Volcano relief pitcher Tyler Schimpf's first offering in the top of the eighth and pulverized the pitch over the right field fence for a lead-off solo home run. First baseman Klay Clemens drove in another run later in the inning to augment the lead to 7-0. The Canadians did not let up in the top of the ninth when they scored another run off of a ground ball out via shortstop Kevin Vicuna to bring the already overwhelming lead to 8-0. The Vancouver pitching staff voyage eventually came across choppy waters in the bottom of the ninth when Salem-Keizer rallied for three runs with two outs in the inning. Nonetheless, Canadian relief man Bobby Eveld navigated the ship to its destination by generating a pop out to first base off of the bat of Manwaring to secure the 8-3 victory. Zach Logue (1-0) earned his first win with the Canadians in relief after pitching three shutout innings with four strikeouts and just one walk and one hit. Justin Dillon picked up his first hold when he relieved Logue and threw two shutout innings with three strikeouts and a walk and a hit apiece. Benitez (0-2) was charged with loss after hurling 4.1 innings of one-run ball. The righty allowed nine total base runners and walked three while only struck out one batter. The Volcanoes will continue their four-game series against the Canadians today at Volcanoes Stadium. Canadian starting pitcher Juan Nunez (2-2, 3.95 ERA) will match up against Volcano starting pitcher Alejandro De La Rosa (1-2, 6.00 ERA). First pitch is at 6:35 p.m.