Baseball Game Preview: Sacramento Dragons vs. River City Raiders

For the second straight game, Sacramento will face off against River City. The Dragons will be playing in front of their home fans against the Raiders at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Sacramento has now lost nine straight, leaving the team hunting for their first win since March 11.

Tuesday just wasn't the day for Sacramento's offense. They lost 19-0 to River City on Tuesday. Having soared to a lofty 12 runs in the game before, the Dragons' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.

For River City's part, Nick Rodriguez was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out eight over five innings pitched. Rodriguez also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because River City is undefeated when he allows at most one earned run, but 7-8 otherwise. Rodriguez was also big at the plate, scoring three runs while going 1-for-3. Those three runs gave him a new career-high.

In other batting news, Noah Carrington was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing three bases while going 2-for-2. Those three runs gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Tanner Mayberry, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs and one triple.

River City was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .424. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.

The victory made it two in a row for River City and bumps their season record up to 12-8. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.5 runs over those games. As for Sacramento, their loss dropped their record down to 7-13-1.

The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Thursday as neither team is afraid to steal. Sacramento has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like River City struggles in that department as they've been averaging 2.6 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.