J.J. Furmaniak went 4-for-5 with his first homerun

by Josh Terrell
Rivercats.com Beat Writer

Tacoma, Wash.- With the help of a three-homerun sixth inning, the River Cats rallied from a six-run deficit on the road to stun the Tacoma Rainiers 9-8 Saturday night, their fifth-straight win. Sacramento overtook the Fresno Grizzlies for first place in the Pacific South, improving to 7-3 on the season.

The Cats took the second game of the four-game series while moving to 4-2 against Tacoma this season, 56-47 all-time. The Rainiers dropped to 3-7.

A notorious pitcher’s park, the Cheney Stadium crowd watched the River Cats stroke a season-high fifteen hits, including their first multi-homer game for a game-high-tying nine runs.

The Rainiers’ defensive woes continued in the first, when J.J. Furmaniak was caught stealing off first but took second on Tacoma shortstop Oswaldo Navarro’s throwing error. Following a single by Hiram Bocachica, Lou Merloni’s sacrifice to center field scored Furmaniak, as Bocachica took third on center fielder Adam Jones’s miscue into the dugout..

Tacoma starting pitcher Jim Parque then loosed a wild pitch that hit the top of the plate, scoring Bocachica to make it 2-0.

Sacramento starter Kevin Olsen couldn’t get out of the third inning, yielding two runs in the first and four in the third, giving up eleven hits and six earned runs while striking out two in 2 2/3 innings.

Sacramento led the Pacific Coast League with a 2.52 team-ERA coming into the game, but had allowed a season-high eight runs and thirteen hits by the fourth inning.

Down 8-2 in the sixth, Brian Stavisky ignited the comeback with a shot over the right field wall, his first homerun of the season. After falling behind 0-2, Jason Stokes drew a one-out walk, and Donnie Murphy followed with his first homerun to deep left-center to pull the Cats within three.

After lefty Brad Thomas relieved Parque, Furmaniak hit the second pitch he saw to straight-away left field for a solo homerun, his first that made it 8-6. With five on the season, the three Sacramento homeruns give the River Cats eight in their first ten games.

Jeremy Brown tied it up in the seventh, smashing a clutch ground-rule double over the left-center field wall to score Merloni and Bocachica. Murphy’s broken-bat RBI-single made it 9-8, the eventual game-winner.

Cat reliever David Shafer earned the win (1-0), working a perfect sixth and seventh inning, allowing no baserunners and striking out three as Sacramento took the lead. Santiago Casilla and Erasmo Ramirez combined on a scoreless eighth, and Sacramento closer Marcus McBeth held on in the ninth for his second save.

Furmaniak finished 4-four-5 with an RBI and two runs, leading-off three innings with a base hit. Murphy was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs, and Bocachica continued his hot-hitting, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

For the Rainiers , first baseman Bryan Lahair went 4-for-5 with a homerun, two runs and two RBI. Center fielder and Mariners top-prospect Adam Jones finished 2-for-5 with a run scored.

The River Cats look to clinch the series Sunday afternoon at Cheney Stadium, the game scheduled for 1:35 p.m.