After 20 runs, 33 hits and five home runs, it was a slight bobble on a slow roller to second base in the 12th inning that allowed Sacramento to finally beat the Sky Sox.

With the infield drawn in, Eric Young Jr. couldn’t get a clean handle on Cliff Pennington’s bouncer. Young recovered in time to record the out at first, but Chris Denorfia crossed the plate with the final tally in the River Cats’ 11-10 victory on Saturday night.

The game, which started with a 61-minute delay and featured nine pitchers throwing a combined 365 pitches, was pretty much a worse-case scenario on the eve of a doubleheader.

It looked like the Sky Sox were going to make it worth the while for the hundreds of fans – on a night when attendance started at 3,835 – who stuck out the full 3 hours, 47 minutes after the first pitch.

Trailing 9-4 in the eighth, the Sky Sox mounted their comeback against one of the hardest throwers in the minor leagues, Sacramento’s Henry Rodriguez. Sky Sox hitters turned Rodriguez’s 97 mph fastballs into three hits and two walks as the 22-year-old prospect was charged with all five runs in the rally.

Though they didn’t match Friday’s 19-run output, the Sky Sox continued to pound Sacramento pitching. Dan Ortmeier hit his fourth home run in the second inning and Matt Miller launched a three-run shot in the fourth. The home runs were two of the team’s 15 hits, including six that went for extra bases.

In 100 games the Sky Sox have eclipsed the 10-hit mark 53 times.

But as good as the Sky Sox offense was Tommy Everidge was a notch better.

The meaty first baseman went 4-for-6 with a pair of homers and three RBIs and now has nine home runs in just 41 Triple-A games.

Everidge helped the River Cats build their initial lead and then put them ahead with a solo shot in the 11th, but the Sky Sox kept clawing back.

Ortmeier – who matched Everidge’s four hits – singled in the tying run in the Sky Sox’s half of the 11th before the River Cats mounted the decisive rally off Matt Wilhite (0-3).

MAJOR LEAGUE MOMENT

Sacramento center fielder Chris Denorfia temporarily saved the day for the River Cats with a run-preventing diving catch in the 11th. The run, the Sky Sox’s 10th, eventually came around anyway.

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