This one's going the distance.

After falling behind the Reno Aces 2-0 in their first-round Pacific Coast League playoff series, the River Cats emphatically forced a decisive fifth game with an 8-2 win at Raley Field on Saturday night.

Game 5 will be played at Raley Field at 1:05 p.m. today. Omaha will meet the winner in the PCL Championship Series.

This series has been billed as an "Interstate 80 Showdown" because of the approximately 130 miles separating the team's stadiums. Over the last two nights, though, it has seemed the River Cats put a good deal more distance than that between them and their performance in Reno.

For one thing, they have pitched better, allowing just four runs in two home games.

Carlos Hernandez, a different pitcher at Raley Field all season, held Reno scoreless through five innings Saturday, while Sacramento built a 6-0 lead.

Entering the game, Hernandez's 3.10 ERA in eight starts at home was nearly four runs better than his mark on the road. Before Andy Tracy singled in two runs against him in the sixth, ending his night, Hernandez had gone 20 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run at home.

He appeared to change speeds effectively, striking out four batters, three of them looking. And he got some help in the field.

Adrian Cardenas and Josh Donaldson made sparkling defensive plays behind him to rob Reno of hits. Donaldson also went down on a knee to spear Lucas May's sharp one-hopper with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth after Justin Souza had relieved Hernandez.

It came on the 13th pitch of a battle of an at-bat in which May represented the tying run. Souza won, but only after May hit two bullets foul to left field, one of which had home-run distance.

Perhaps sensing early they would need to keep the game close, the Aces brought their infield in with one out in the second, already down 2-0 and with River Cats on second and third.

They backed up after Jermaine Mitchell struck out, but Wes Timmons drove the runs in anyway, lining a single into right-center field. Timmons also hit a two-run homer in the sixth.

Chris Carter and Joel Galarraga had RBI singles for Sacramento, and Donaldson drove in two runs with a two-out triple in the fourth that nicked the glove of Cole Gillespie near the right-field fence.

Reno starter Gaby Hernandez took the loss, allowing six runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Before Saturday's game, the River Cats deleted right fielder Jai Miller and catcher Landon Powell from the roster. Powell was recalled to Oakland; Miller's destination had not been announced.

They also activated second baseman Andy LaRoche from the disabled list and called up Adam Heether from Double-A Midland.

Miller was an All-PCL selection this year, hitting 32 home runs during the regular season. He struggled in the first three games of this series, striking out six times in 12 at-bats.

"(Miller has) played great baseball all year long, so that's tough to replace," manager Darren Bush said before the game. "But the guys that are here just need to play their game and hope their game's good enough, don't try to do anymore than that."

It was good enough to force this series to the limit. The River Cats are 1-4 all-time in fifth games of playoff series, with their lone win coming in 2007.

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