Sacramento spent six innings chasing a deficit and one inning wiping it away. By the time Bo Davidson crossed the plate in the eighth, the River Cats had finally pulled even and Sutter Health Park had a game again.
Ryan Walker could not keep it that way.
Gavin Conticello dropped a two-out liner inside the right-field line in the ninth, sending Tommy Troy and Santiago Espinal home with the decisive runs in the River Cats’ 6-4 loss to the Reno Aces on Friday night. Davidson dug the ball out of the corner and Sacramento completed the relay to throw out Conticello at third, but both runs had already crossed.
The hit spoiled a comeback that had gathered speed quickly in the eighth. Aeverson Arteaga opened the inning by driving a ball off the wall in right-center. The carom carried far enough from center fielder Trent Youngblood for Arteaga to race into third with a triple, and Darren Baker’s sacrifice fly brought him home.
Davidson and Parks Harber followed with singles. Will Brennan then lifted a two-strike flare into left, where Kristian Robinson tried to play it on a hop and missed. Davidson, who had held near third while reading the play, came home with the tying run as the ball skipped away.
It was Reno’s third error of the night. Sacramento committed none and outhit the Aces 10-8, but the River Cats never took a lead.
Walker had retired all four hitters he faced after entering with two outs in the seventh. In the ninth, he got Anderdson Rojas on a sharp liner before Troy singled through the right side. Adrian Del Castillo’s groundout moved Troy to second, and Walker walked Espinal before Conticello delivered.
Conticello was the one Reno hitter Sacramento never solved. He reached in all five plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with three walks, a double and two RBIs. Walker took the loss after allowing two earned runs in 2 1/3 innings.
Even after Conticello restored Reno’s two-run advantage, Sacramento made one last push. Pinch hitter Diego Velasquez and Thomas Gavello opened the bottom of the ninth with singles, and Arteaga’s sacrifice bunt moved them to second and third.
Gerardo Carrillo struck out Baker and intentionally walked Davidson, loading the bases for Harber. Carrillo finished the game with a swinging strikeout, leaving the tying run at second and the winning run at first.
The River Cats had been climbing out of trouble since Reno’s first pass through the middle innings. After Sam Hentges opened with a perfect inning and two strikeouts, Darien Smith allowed a run in the second and four earned runs across three innings.
Troy began Reno’s three-run third by sending a towering drive beyond the 403-foot marker in straightaway center. Del Castillo followed immediately with another home run, this one crushed beyond the River Cats’ bullpen in right and into the trees. Conticello later walked, advanced to third on Demetrio Crisantes’ double and scored on Aramis Garcia’s fielder’s choice, pushing the lead to 4-0.
Sacramento answered with two unearned runs in the bottom half. Gavello reached second on Troy’s throwing error, then scored when Baker’s grounder back to Jose Cabrera produced another throwing error. Davidson followed with a drive into left-center that nearly became an out before Youngblood collided with Robinson and the ball came loose on the warning track. Baker scored on the double.
That was all Sacramento managed against Cabrera, who struck out seven, walked none and allowed no earned runs over six innings. Davidson supplied three of the River Cats’ hits, finishing 3-for-4 with a double and a walk.
Logan Martin kept the deficit manageable with 2 2/3 scoreless innings despite four walks, giving Sacramento time to mount its eighth-inning rally.
The River Cats used it. They just could not hold the tie—or finish the comeback when the bases filled one final time.