River Cats squeak by the Chasers

Cody Clark was 2-for-3 with an RBI
(File photo: Lee Warren)

Graham Godfrey and the Sacramento River Cats shut down the Omaha Storm Chasers 2-1 Friday night, in front of a nearly-full house of 8,871 fans at Werner Park. The River Cats have claimed two of the first three games of the four-game series, with all three games decided by a single run.

Thanks to strong performances by winning pitcher Graham Godfrey (11-2) and Omaha’s Mike Montgomery (4-7), the difference in the ballgame turned out to be a pair of ground balls down the first base line, one by each team.

In the top of the second, Adrian Cardenas turned on a pitch from Montgomery and snuck it past a diving Clint Robinson for a double, scoring Michael Taylor with the game’s first run. Later, with the River Cats up 2-1 in the seventh, Omaha’s Jarrod Dyson came to the plate with runners on first and second and hit a similar ground ball toward the line that looked to be enough for the game-tying hit. But 6-foot-4 first baseman Chris Carter smothered it with a sprawling dive and was able to flip to pitcher Vinnie Chulk for the out, squashing the rally.

Godfrey held the Chasers off-balance for 6.1 innings, giving way to Chulk in the seventh with two men aboard. Cody Clark greeted Chulk with an RBI single to left before the righthander recovered to retire Dyson and David Lough to end the inning.

Montgomery kept the Chasers in the game despite not having his best stuff, allowing two runs on nine hits over seven innings of work, walking two while striking out six. The 22-year-old lefthander allowed a home run to Sacramento leftfielder Brandon Allen in the fifth, pushing the River Cats’ lead to 2-0 at the time.

Sacramento (70-44) and Omaha (62-51) will reunite Saturday night for the final game of the four-game series, with a special Faith & Family Night start time of 6:35 p.m. Veteran righthander Jeff Suppan (10-5, 2.64) will go up against lefthander Josh Outman (7-1, 3.21), followed by a fireworks show and a Christian music concert by 33Miles. Gates will open at 5:15 p.m.

With 8,871 fans in attendance Friday night, Omaha ran its all-time attendance to 12,008,650 fans since the franchise’s inception in 1969. The 12 millionth fan, Steve – holding a young child in his arms – received a prize pack that included season ticket club seats for 2012, a personalized No. 12 jersey, 12 autographed baseballs, on-field recognition and a ceremonial first pitch prior to the game.