Sacramento defeated Las Vegas (Athletics), 7-3

River Cats win Conference Championship Series, 3 games to 2.

ya boys are coming home to play some more baseball pic.twitter.com/J3ZD1W5mOO — Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) September 8, 2019

Some teams wait to pounce. That was not Sacramento on Sunday. The high noon (12:06 PM, technically) first pitch turned into a shootout in the streets of Las Vegas Summerlin, and the River Cats shot first. And second. And third. And Sacramento will move on to the Pacific Coast League Championship series.

We're talking about home runs here guys. Three of em. Up 4-0 on Vegas in game 5 — Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) September 8, 2019

Abiatal Avelino hit a leadoff home run, his second in third days, to put the River Cats up right away. After Mike Gerber struck out, Cristhian Adames singled, and the power started again. Joe McCarthy hit a 2-run home run, and Zach Houchins followed that with another home run, and the River Cats were up 4-0 before the Aviators even got a chance to bat. Las Vegas starter James Kaprielian was pulled after just 2/3 of an inning. The 2015 first round pick (of the Yankees) spent most of the year in High-A and Double-A, with a combined 3.18 ERA.

#SFGiants' Zach Houchins homers for the second game in a row, capping a big first inning, as @RiverCats advance to @TripleABaseball Championship Series for the first time since 2011.



https://t.co/TBE2wdjb0h pic.twitter.com/QGgCvrLBdE — Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) September 9, 2019

Caleb Baragar took the lead and held it with a stranglehold. Baragar, who also spent most of the season in High-A and Double-A to a 3.57 combined ERA, allowed just two hits and three walks and struck out a season-high-tying eight. Baragar’s only dark spot was a solo home run given up to lead off the bottom of the fifth, at which point Sacramento was leading 6-0.

The Cats had earned their two extra runs off of former MLB Cy Young candidate Matt Harvey, who the Aviators brought in in the fifth. Sacramento lead off against him with an Avelino walk, and a Adames triple to knock him in. Adames would then score on a wild pitch.

In the sixth, Peter Maris doubled and went to third on Levi Michael’s single. Maris would score on a wild pitch as well, giving Sacramento a 7-1 lead. The Aviators got two back as Tyler Cyr struggled, giving up a pair of doubles and a pair of walks while getting just one walk. That would be all the Aviators would get the rest of the way.

The win propels Sacramento to the PCL Championship, the team’s first Conference title since 2011, and aiming for their first League title since 2008. For the Giants, this will be the first time they’ve had a Triple-A affiliate competing for the League Title since 1997, with the Phoenix Firebirds. The last time they had a Triple-A team win a league championship was the Firebirds way back in 1977.

On the other side of the PCL, the Round Rock Express (of the Astros organization) defeated the Iowa Cubs (of the obvious organization) to win their Game 5, and they will take an Express flight into Sacramento. The PCL Championship Series will begin on Tuesday 9/10 in Sacramento, with Game 2 to follow on Wednesday. The series will have a travel day on Thursday, and will pick up on Friday the 13th in Round Rock, with the remaining potential games to occur in Texas over the weekend.

Fun Fact: The Astros took over the Fresno Grizzlies after the Giants switched affiliations to Sacramento after 2014. The Grizzlies earned one whole division title in their whole previous existence as a Giants affiliate. The first year the Astros were with the Grizzlies, the Astros took them to the PCL Championship and the Triple-A National Championship.

Volcanoes Nation salutes @RiverCats for punching their ticket to the Pacific Coast League Championship Series after topping Las Vegas today, 7-3. SacTown, the last remaining original PCL founding city takes on Round Rock: The winner plays the IL Champ for the AAA National title! — S-K Volcanoes ⚾ (@SKVolcanoes) September 8, 2019

Today’s Scheduled Starters

Sacramento: None!

There’s an off-day for Monday. The series will begin on Tuesday, starting at 6:35 pm PT. Starters have not yet been announced.

And not to look too far ahead, but over in the International League, the Durham Bulls (Rays) will face the Columbus Clippers (Indians) for the Governers Cup (the International League Championship), as the Bulls are going for a three-peat. The winner of the PCL and the IL will face each other for the Triple-A National Championship on September 17th, in Memphis.