Sacramento Strikes Again: ‘Cats Top Dogs 8-1

The El Paso Chihuahuas were a bit over-matched Friday against the Sacramento River Cats in the 8-1 loss. For the second day in a row, the Dogs were nearly shut out after giving away at-bats and weak starting pitching.

Sacramento batters just piled on the runs against Dogs’ starter Chris Huffman and never looked back. Huffman (6.71 ERA) eight hits, seven earned runs including a home run, and walked three hitters.

El Paso’s only run came against Sacramento’s starter Tyler Beede who threw a one-hitter into the 6th inning. Beede (5.60 ERA) walked infielders Diego Goris and Javy Guerra on consecutive at-bats in the 2nd inning, then catcher A.J. Kennedy hit a sacrifice fly to score Goris.

The game was eerily similar to Thursday’s 7-3 loss against Sacramento in which the Dogs were held to only one hit into the 9th inning. The Chihuahuas have been struggling to score runs since the San Diego Padres started promoting some of the more productive players.

In the last month, the Chihuahuas players who’ve left for San Diego include: Franmil Reyes (.346 BA in PCL), Travis Jankowski (.363 BA in PCL), and Raffy Lopez (.300 BA in PCL)

The winning pitcher was Beede (3-5). The losing pitcher was Huffman (2-4).

Box Score   |   Team Records: Sacramento (27-29), El Paso (27-29)

Sacramento 8 El Paso 1 – Friday

WP: Beede (3-5)  |  LP: Huffman (2-4)  |  S: None   |  Time: 2:59  |  Attn: 8,058

Next Game: Saturday, 7:05 pm at Southwest University Park. Sacramento RHP Taylor Hill (0-0, 0.00) vs. El Paso RHP Jesse Scholtens (0-3, 10.47). The game will air on 600 ESPN El Paso and www.epchihuahuas.com.

By Larry Monarrez – El Paso Herald-Post