Friday, September 7th: Bees Swatted out of Playoffs while River Cats Drop Game 3 Despite Taylor’s 2 HRs

 

A’s Farmhand Of The Day

Sacramento River Cats outfielder Michael Taylor (3 for 4 / 2 Home Runs / 2 RBIs / 3 Runs)

 

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE (TRIPLE-A)

PCL Playoffs Round 1 – Game #3

Sacramento River Cats  7

Reno Aces                      11

(LP – Rich Thompson)

 

Farmhand Of The Game:

Outfielder Michael Taylor

(3 for 4 / 2 Home Runs / 2 RBIs / 3 Runs)

 

 

Worth Noting: Sacramento lost Game #3 of their best-of-five playoff series in a heartbreaker on Friday night. The River Cats grabbed the lead in the 2nd inning, lost the lead in the 4th, tied the game in the top of the 6th, fell behind again in the bottom of the 6th, tied the game again in the top of the 8th, and finally lost the lead for good in the bottom of the 8th. Starter Travis Banwart was pressed into service when scheduled starter Dan Straily was recalled by the A’s to fill injured starter Brandon McCarthy’s spot in the big league rotation. Unfortunately, Banwart had a tough time of it, allowing 6 runs on 7 hits in 3 1/3 innings of work. Outfielder Jermaine Mitchell homered in the top of the 3rd inning to put Sacramento up 2-0. By the time the 4th inning was through though, the River Cats were down 6-2. But thanks to back-to-back home runs from designated hitter Kila Ka’aihue and Michael Taylor and a triple from first baseman Daric Barton and an RBI single from catcher Jason Jaramillo, the Cats came back to tie the game in the top of the 6th. Right-hander James Simmons then surrendered a run in the bottom of the 6th to hand the lead back to Reno. Michael Taylor then hit his 2nd home run of the game in the top of the 8th to tie the game again. Right-hander Rich Thompson came on for the River Cats in the bottom of the 8th and, after getting 2 outs, then gave up 4 runs to Reno to secure their victory in Game #3. The River Cats now need to win the final two games in Reno on Saturday and Sunday to win the series.

 

MIDWEST LEAGUE (CLASS-A)

Midwest League Playoffs Round 1 – Game #3

Burlington Bees                0

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers  3

(LP – Drew Granier)

 

Farmhand Of The Game:

Pitcher Drew Granier

(6 IP / 2 ER / 6 K)

 

 

Worth Noting: The Bees’ bats didn’t put up much of a fight in dropping the final game of their first-round best-of-three Midwest League playoff series on Friday night. Burlington managed just 4 hits on the night and failed to score for the second time in the 3-game series. Starter Drew Granier made a noble effort, allowing just 2 earned runs on back-to-back solo shots in the 4th inning, and 1 unearned run after a 2-out error by shortstop Addison Russell allowed another run to score in the 5th. In 6 innings of work, Granier allowed just 3 hits, 1 walk and struck out 6 in his final appearance of the season.

 

Saturday’s Game:

Sacramento @ Reno – 7:05pm PT (PCL Playoffs Round 1 – Game #4)

 

 

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