• Highlight: Nate Freiman hit a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning to lead the River Cats to a 6-5 walk-off victory over the Albuquerque Isotopes on Thursday night at Raley Field.
• Power surge: Entering Thursday’s games, Freiman led the River Cats in home runs (seven), RBIs (44), total bases (88), extra-base hits (22) and multi-RBI games (13), and was tied for most multi-hit games (16). His 44 RBIs were second in the Pacific Coast League.
• Out of position: Catcher Stephen Vogt, who broke into the minor leagues in 2007 as an outfielder, started in left field for the first time with the River Cats.
• Minor bias: Shane Peterson’s diving catch in center field Wednesday night earned the No. 2-rated highlight on ESPN’s SportsCenter that night. Colorado Rockies third baseman Charlie Culbertson, who made a diving catch in foul territory, grabbed the No. 1 spot. Peterson’s was better.
• Next on SportsCenter: River Cats third baseman Alden Carrithers did his best to one-up his teammate Thursday when he reached well into the home dugout, snagged a popup off the bat of Miguel Rojas, fell over the railing and landed face-first on the dugout floor. A top-10 catch, no doubt about it.
• Today: River Cats RHP Josh Lindblom (2-3, 6.19 ERA) vs. Albuquerque RHP Sam Demel (0-1, 6.35), 7:05 p.m., Raley Field.
– Mark McDermott, Special to The Bee
River Cats 6, Isotopes 5
| Albuquerque | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg |
| W.Ibarra dh | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .216 |
| M.Rojas ss | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .281 |
| Pederson cf | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .337 |
| C.Robinson 1b | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .290 |
| Liddi 3b | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .238 |
| Baxter rf | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .261 |
| Hazelbaker lf | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .400 |
| Erickson c | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .227 |
| Triunfel 2b | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .203 |
| Totals | 42 | 5 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 9 | .274 |
| RIVER CATS | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg |
| Carrithers 3b | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .317 |
| Parrino ss | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .286 |
| Vogt lf | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .354 |
| Freiman dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .254 |
| Peterson cf | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .301 |
| M.Taylor rf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .253 |
| Barton 1b | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .270 |
| Jos.Martinez 2b | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .280 |
| Ortiz c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .242 |
| Totals | 42 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 10 | .277 |
| Albuquerque | 011 | 002 | 100 | 00 | — | 5 | 13 | 2 |
| RIVER CATS | 200 | 011 | 001 | 01 | — | 6 | 11 | 0 |
E–Triunfel 2 (4). LOB–Albuquerque 7; RIVER CATS 11. 2B–Liddi (3); Baxter (6); Hazelbaker (1); Vogt (6); Barton 2 (4). HR–M.Rojas (2) off Smyth; Parrino (2) off Lee. RBIs–Baxter (9), Pederson (33), Hazelbaker (1), Erickson (9), M.Rojas (8); Vogt (16), Peterson (24), Parrino (21), Carrithers (30), Freiman 2 (46). SB–M.Rojas (6) 2B; Hazelbaker (1) 2B; Carrithers (10) 2B; M.Taylor (7) 2B. CS–W.Ibarra (1) 2B. SF–Freiman 2. RISP–Albuquerque 3-for-12; RIVER CATS 3-for-13. Runners left in scoring position–Erickson; Liddi; M.Rojas; Triunfel; Barton; M.Taylor; Carrithers; Parrino; Peterson; Ortiz. GIDP–Triunfel, M.Rojas. DP–RIVER CATS 2.
| Albuquerque | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| Lee | 52/3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4.73 |
| Hynes | 11/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4.44 |
| P.Baez H,1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
| J.Dominguez | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5.65 |
| Y.Garcia L,3-1 | 12/3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2.13 |
| RIVER CATS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| Straily | 52/3 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4.01 |
| Smyth | 2/3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.97 |
| Urlaub | 12/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4.05 |
| Jo.Flores | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 |
| Scribner W,2-1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5.03 |
Inherited runners-scored–Hynes 2-1, Smyth 1-0. T–3:50. A–6,711.
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