2007 Sacramento River Cats (Triple-A)

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rivercats.com: Splash
Minor League Baseball: Clubs: Sacramento River Cats

PCL             W       L       GB
River Cats 	80 	60 	-
Sidewinders 	75 	63 	4.0
Grizzlies 	74 	66 	6.0
51s 	        64 	76 	16.0

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Here are some prospects to watch on the River Cats:

SP Jason Windsor
MR David Shafer
C Kurt Suzuki
1B Daric Barton
2B Kevin Melillo
SP Dan Meyer

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The standings have been added. The Cats have started out 8 - 4.

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Sacto is 14 - 8 thus far.

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The Cats are now 23 - 14

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Sacramento is still in 1st place up by 2 games.

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The River Cats are in 1st place by a game and a half.

Sweet Lou Merloni goes 5 - 5 in 15 - 13 win last night

Lou Merloni went 5-for-5 with three RBIs on Friday as the Sacramento River Cats outslugged the Tucson Sidewinders, 15-13, at Tucson Electric Park.

Merloni doubled twice, singled three times and walked to extend his modest hitting streak to five games. He also scored three times while raising his batting average 24 points to .261.

Neither team had problems at the plate in a game that featured 43 hits. Sacramento's Dee Brown was 4-for-6 with a homer and a double, while Daric Barton and Kurt Suzuki each had three hits. J.D. Closser and Nicholas Blasi slugged two-run homers as every batter hit safely for the River Cats (35-26).

Meyer is 2 - 0 in 8 starts this season at AAA with an ERA of 3.00, 39 innings pitched, 37 hits, 22 walks, 36 K's, and only 2 homers against him.

Barton has been playing 3B for some reason...I wonder if it's out necessity or if they are trying to teach him 3B. I don't think he's played 3B since high school. His average isn't that great (.255), but his OBP is nice (.370). His OPS is .772.

Melillo is doing nicely with a .283 average and an OPS of .862 (20 doubles, 4 triples, 7 homers in 244 ABs / OBP of .378). It looks like he'll be ready for when Ellis' contract is done...or before then.

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The Cats are still in 1st place despite many players getting called up to Oakland.

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Daric Barton's 24 game hitting streak ended last night in a 3 - 2 win.

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Shafer (obtained in a deal with the Reds) has been sent down to AA Midland.

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Sacramento is in 1st place by 5 games.

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Sacto will be playing the Salt Lake Bees in the playoffs starting next Saturday. Amazing considering how much the A's messed with their roster due to injuries.

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The River Cats have forced a game 5 tonight vs. Salt Lake. We lost the first two games by 1 run each (9 - 8 and 11 - 10). We won the last two games 7 - 4 each. The two teams split the season series 8 - 8. The home team has won each game so far and game 5 is a home game for the Cats.

Danny Putnam his a walk-off 3-run homer in the 10th inning last night to force game 5.

Pacific Coast League: News: Article

"I don't usually show much emotion, but I couldn't keep my hands from going up in the air," Putnam said after being mobbed by his teammates.

"This park hasn't been real friendly to me, so I was just hoping it went over [the center fielder's] head for a double. It carried pretty darn good."

The 24-year-old right fielder, who also connected for a two-run shot in the third, drilled a 3-1 fastball from reliever Greg Jones (0-1) off the batter's eye in dead center, sending 7,994 fans at Raley Field into a frenzy.

"The at-bat before, he struck me out on four pitches and overpowered me with a fastball," said Putnam. "I wanted to end it before, but it didn't work. I was trying to get a fastball over the plate and not try to do too much with it, just let it happen."

He homered earlier in the game also hit a homer in game 4. Nick Blasi homered twice in game 5 as well.

Left-hander Bobby Cramer will take the ball for Sacramento, while righty Nick Green goes for the Bees tonight in the final game of the series.

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And the River Cats complete the comeback! They won 4 - 2 today. Barton hit his 4th homer of the series. It was 3-run shot.

We now move on to face the Zephyrs for the PCL Championship. We play in New Orleans on Tuesday and Wednesday before coming home for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

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Sacramento completed the sweep yesterday winning game three 4 - 3. Congrats to the PCL Champs

Here's a link to the game summary:

Minor League Baseball: Scoreboard: Scoreboard