Pence homers, Panik hitless in rehab assignment game

Share

The Sacramento River Cats (47-57) took a star-studded lineup on the road to Reno, and the big names came through in front of a largely pro-Giants crowd,

Hunter Pence lead a trio of San Francisco Giants’ players on rehab assignment, and helped spark the offense to a 12-4 victory over the Reno Aces (56-47).

The Aces got on the board first in this one, taking advantage of a throwing error by Kelby Tomlinson to go up 1-0. However, they would push across just two runs off Sacramento southpaw Adalberto Mejia. The newest starter gave up those runs on five hits while walking three and striking out seven in his five innings of work. He threw 85 pitches (58 for strikes) before turning the reins over to the bullpen, which allowed two more runs in their four innings.

With Mejia holding things down defensively, Sacramento surged through the next few innings, stringing together key hits to take the lead. Ehire Adrianza got things started for the ‘Cats and put Sacramento on the board with a two-out RBI single in the top of the third. The forth frame was highlighted by a booming two-run home run by Hunter Pence which drove in fellow Giant Joe Panik to put the River Cats up 3-1.

The big league bats sparked the lineup top-to-bottom, culminating in a huge six-run seventh inning. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Travis Ishikawa picked up a sacrifice fly. Tomlinson followed with a two-RBI single, then Gorkys Hernandez, hitting in the eight spot tonight, hit his third triple on the year. Chris Denorfia finished off the big inning with a line drive single to push the Sacramento lead to 11-3.

River Cats Tomlinson and Hernandez led the offense from the bottom of the order. Tomlinson went 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBI. He is now hitting .288 since being optioned to the club on July 11. Hernandez followed closely, finishing 3-for-4 with a run, two RBI, and an intentional walk. As a whole, the team collected 15 hits on the night, finishing 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position. In comparison, they held down the Aces to nine hits and just 1-for-10 in those situations.

In rehab news, Adrianza has continued hitting with the ‘Cats, safely reaching base now in each of his three rehab games. He went 2-for-6 tonight with an RBI. Returning to the lineup tonight was Panik, who went 0-for-3 (two groundouts and reached on an error) with a run.

San Francisco Giants

Find the latest San Francisco Giants news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.

How Melvin, Giants plan to fill DH hole with in-house options

Could fully healthy Lee hit in the heart of Giants' lineup?

The hottest hitter though was Pence, with his unmistakably unique swing, who finished 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI. All three are projected to need at least a few more games as they get closer to rejoining the San Francisco lineup.

Sacramento River Cats media services

Contact Us