In their last game in Fresno, the River Cats were unable to gain any momentum and lost 6-3 Sunday night at Chukchansi Park.
"It wasn't lack of focus, it was just one of those days," said second baseman Brooks Conrad, who committed two of the team's three errors of the night. "It was just a frustrating night and we have to get back to the basics."
After a scoreless first, errors by Conrad and Jeff Baisley resulted in an early 2-0 Fresno lead to end the second inning.
Conrad made his second error of the game in the third inning to load the bases for the Grizzlies. However, Sacramento managed to get out of the inning still only down by two.
"We just didn't have it tonight, but you have to tip your hat to Fresno," said Conrad. "We just have to take this game and learn from it."
The River Cats got on the board for the first time in the fourth inning when Danny Putnam grounded into a forceout that scored Wes Bankston and brought the score to 2-1.
Starting pitcher Chris Gissell, who pitched 4 1/3 innings and gave up six hits and three runs, surrendered a double to Brian Horwitz to score Brett Harper and give the Grizzlies a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning.
A two-run homer by Aaron Cunningham in the sixth tied the game at 3-3 for the River Cats, but reliever David Shafer gave up a solo shot to Harper to put Fresno back up by one in the seventh.
Jay Marshall, who replaced Shafer in the seventh, allowed a double in the eighth that scored Fresno's Ben Copeland and Travis Denker, extending the Grizzlies' lead to 6-3.
"I thought our pitching staff pitched better than the score showed," said Sacramento manager Todd Steverson. "We just had some defensive miscues tonight."
The River Cats only have eight games left in the regular season, and the next four will be at Tacoma before the team returns back to Sacramento for their last homestand of the year against Fresno.
"Making the playoffs doesn't mean we've won the championship," said Steverson. "We just need to prepare for the next step, which is finishing the regular season on a strong note."
