2005 Sacramento River Cats (AAA)

[Providence A's]

The regular season is over with our 1st playoff game the 7th @ Tacoma.

[Providence A's]

PCL Playoff Preview

Sacramento River Cats vs. Tacoma Rainiers
REGULAR SEASON SERIES

Sacramento and Tacoma split series, 8-8. Trying to find any advantage here may be a waste of time. Tacoma won three of four from Sacramento to end the season, but the Rainiers were playing for a playoff spot and the River Cats were just making sure to be ready for the playoffs. Two of the series were split, with Sacramento winning three of four in a late-April series.

HEAD-TO-HEAD STATS

Sacramento
Shawn Garrett enjoyed hitting against Tacoma to the tune of a .390 average. Mike Rouse led the club with 11 RBIs in 13 games. The River Cats hit .263 over the 16 games against the Rainiers. ... Sacramento had a 3.87 team ERA in the season series. Seth Etherton had a 1.93 ERA over two starTs, though he lost both decisions. Mike Saipe had a 2.61 ERA in three apperances, striking out 11 in in 10 1/3 IP.

Tacoma
The Rainiers hit .268 against the River Cats, topped by Ramon Santiago's .349. Shin-Soo Choo hit .273 and Ryan Christianson hit .321 in six games. Abraham Nunez led the club with eight RBIs. ... Tacoma finished with a 4.04 ERA in the 15 games. Veteran Andrew Lorraine, now pitching out of the 'pen, made four appearances and posted a 1.88 ERA. Bobby Livingston, the Game 2 starter, won his lone start, tossing seven quality innings and striking out 14.

PROBABLE PITCHERS

Game 1: Sacramento at Tacoma
Adam Johnson (1-0, 6.23 ERA) vs. Damian Moss (9-7, 3.73 ERA)

Johnson, the one-time No. 1 pick by the Twins (second overall) in 2000, recently joined the River Cats after pitching for the Puebla Parrots in the Mexican League earlier this season. His lone win came in his last start against Fresno, when he went seven innings and allowed three runs on 10 hits. Moss, the former Braves prospect, finished with a flourish, going 3-0 with a 2.18 ERA in six August starts.

Game 2: Sacramento at Tacoma
Ryan Glynn (3-1, 2.78 ERA) vs. Bobby Livingston (6-2, 4.70 ERA)

Glynn began the year with Syracuse in the Blue Jays' system, came to Sacramento, and got called up to Oakland (0-4, 6.88 ERA) before coming back to the River Cats in late July. In his last start, he blanked the Rainiers over five innings. Livingston got bumped from San Antonio to Tacoma in mid-July. He dominated Sacramento in his final regular season start, striking out 14 and giving up just one run in seven innings.

AT THE PLATE

Sacramento
Jack Cust, OF: Cust was at it again, striking out 153 times, walking 115 times and homering 19 times to lead the River Cats. He carries a hot stick into the playoffs, hitting .302 in August and walking more (27) than he's struck out (24).
Brant Colamarino, 1B: The first baseman has some serious pop, hitting 11 homers in 74 games since joining Sacramento midseason. On the year, the seventh-rounder from the famed 2002 draft has hit 21 homers, driving in 92 runs and hit a combined .276.
Shawn Garrett, OF: Garrett has played all over the outfield and even some at first base and has hit all over the lineup, finishing with a .295 average 17 homers and driving in a team-best 82 runs.

Tacoma
Shin-Soo Choo, OF: The Futures Game star hit .282 (.383 OBP) on the year with 11 homers and 19 steals, tops on the team.
Abraham Nunez, OF: Nunez led the Raniers in homers with 17 and RBIs with 86 while swiping 12 bases and hitting .274.
T.J. Bohn, OF: Since joining the Rainiers from San Antonio a few weeks ago, Bohn has hit .321 in 22 games with four stolen bases, providing a nice boost from the bottom of the lineup.

HISTORY LESSONS

Sacramento rejoined the PCL in 2000 and became the first team since 1997 to win back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004. No team has three-peated since the Albuquerque Dukes won three straight from 1980-1982. The River Cats have won five straight Pacific South Division crowns. ... The Sacramento Solons won PCL championships in 1938 and 1939. ... Tacoma has been a part of the PCL continuously since 1960, the past 11 as a Mariners' affiliate. The Rainiers last won a title when it shared the title in 2001 with New Orleans after beating Sacramento in the division playoffs. The club -- then the Tacoma Tigers -- did the same thing in 1978, sharing the championship with Albuquerque. Other titles came in 1961 and 1969, though they lost in the championship in 1971 and 1981.

SERIES COULD TURN ON...

Andre Ethier. In two teams so evenly matched -- not only did they split the season series, they finished with identical 80-64 records, it could be the contribution of just one player that could turn the tide one way or the other. Enter Ethier, the Double-A Texas League Player of the Year. After a tremendous season in Midland, Ethier got called up to Sacramento to help the club in their quest to three-peat. He got four Triple-A games under his belt, all against Tacoma. At least he'll be comfortable in their ballpark. How he adjusts (he went 4-for-15), especially with Matt Watson now up with Oakland, could tip the scales in Sacramento's favor.

PREDICTION

It could seriously come down to home-road splits. Talk about friendly confines...The Rainiers have a 48-24 in their park, 32-40 on the road. Having the first two games in Tacoma could be huge, giving the Rainiers a good shot of heading to Sacramento up 2-0, lessening the pressure of trying to win on the road. That's exactly what happens, with the Rainiers finishing off the River Cats' three-peat dreams. Rainiers in four.

It's going to be hard to three-peat as a few players were called up and there have been a few injuries.

[Providence A's]

Playoff Schedule:
Pacific Conference Championship Series
Gm. 1 Sept. 7 at Tacoma
Gm. 2 Sept. 8 at Tacoma
Gm. 3 Sept. 9 at Sacramento
Gm. 4 Sept. 10 at Sacramento*
Gm. 5 Sept. 11 at Sacramento*

Best of 5. * if necessary.

[Providence A's]

We won game 1 and lead the series 1 - 0.

[Porter]

We just cant get away from the A's teams this season. I think this will be a good long series though.

[Providence A's]

We won again last night and now lead 2 - 0 and go for the sweep tonight

[Porter]

The shuffling of players have finally caught up to Tacoma, i think they can win one tonite.

[Providence A's]

We've shuffled and lots of injuries to our pitchers. The guy that start and won game 1 pitched 1 game for the Rivercats before that...he was in the Mexican League all year...

[Porter]

Livingston was called up due to a bunch of injuries and promotions too. Livingston did have a dominant start before last night, Striking out 14 batters, the most since that overrated Ryan Anderson.

[Providence A's]

Tacoma won last night. Sacramento leads 2 - 1 now.

[Porter]

1 down 2 to go. Hopefully Tacoma can get the job done in Sacramento. odd as that sounds.

[Providence A's]

odd? No, just not likely

It's 2 - 2 in the bottom of the 2nd in game 4.

[Porter]

Tacoma wins 5-4 in 10 innings

W- Furto
L- Mabeus

HR- Wiki Gonzalez (1), Bocachica (1)

Series tied 2-2

Game 5, Today at 1:35 PM PST

[Providence A's]

I listened to the game on the radio...1:35? During the game they said 6 PM.

[Porter]

Sacrmento lost 3 straight at HOME

Rainers win 5-2, and the Series 3-2