McDonald Shines as River Cats Take Down Express

The Sacramento River Cats defeated the Round Rock Express 3-1 in a dominant showing Tuesday night, led by a stellar performance from starting pitcher Trevor McDonald. McDonald earned the win, stifling the Express offense and scattering just four hits and one run over seven impressive innings. The right-hander struck out seven batters and walked three, keeping Round Rock off balance all night.

The River Cats wasted no time getting on the board. In the first inning, a pair of singles from Wade Meckler and Jesus Rodriguez set the stage. Meckler later scored on a Luis Matos groundout, and Marco Luciano’s double brought home Rodriguez, giving Sacramento an early 2-0 lead.

Former Express catcher Sam Huff extended the lead in the second inning, launching a solo home run to center field, pushing the score to 3-0. This proved to be more than enough for Sacramento’s pitching.

Round Rock’s only run came in the bottom of the third when a bases-loaded walk to Justin Foscue allowed Dustin Harris to score, cutting the deficit to 3-1. However, the Express bats went quiet after that, managing only one more hit for the rest of the game and failing to get a runner to third base.

Despite the loss, a few Express players had notable nights. Second baseman Cody Freeman continued his hot streak, going 2-for-4 for his fifth consecutive multi-hit game. Freeman, who has not struck out in his last 37 plate appearances, now leads the Pacific Coast League in batting average with a .332 mark.

Dustin Harris also extended his run-scoring streak to 11 consecutive games, reaching on a fielder’s choice in the third and scoring on the Foscue walk. He is just the third player in club history to achieve this feat.