It was “Star Wars” Night at Raley Field on Saturday, but the Force was not with Sacramento starting pitcher Travis Banwart and the rest of the River Cats.

Round Rock played the role of Darth Vader for Cats fans as the Express defeated Sacramento, 6-3.

Battered for 11 hits and five runs through his 5 2/3-inning stint, Banwart fell to 6-9 on the season. But even with the loss, the River Cats remained in first place in the Pacific Coast League’s South Division at 70-51. Round Rock improved to 71-50.

After taking an early 1-0 lead, the Cats allowed the Express to score all the runs they needed in a four-run fourth inning. Another tally in the sixth — on a solo homer by Brad Nelson — and an unearned run in the ninth inning made it 6-2 Round Rock.

Nelson added a double and had three RBIs in a strong performance for the Express.

Sacramento, which had added a run in the seventh inning when Jai Miller went deep for the 28th time this season, got its final tally in the bottom of the ninth when Adrian Cardenas walked with the bases loaded.

Kevin Kouzmanoff had three hits to lead the River Cats — two of them doubles — while Josh Donaldson, Anthony Recker and Cardenas added two hits apiece.

Round Rock will look to hand the Cats their eighth straight loss — and third of the series — on Sunday. The contest gets under way at Raley Field at 1:05 p.m.

Comments

comments