Wild ending finishes Baby Cakes’ four-game sweep of Sacramento

METAIRIE – Scott Van Slyke’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning scored the game-winning run as the New Orleans Baby Cakes rallied to defeat the Sacramento River Cats, 9-8 on Tuesday afternoon.

The Baby Cakes allowed leads of 5-0 and 7-5 to slip away, falling behind 8-7 entering the bottom of the ninth before answering to complete the four-game sweep.

Van Slyke homered for the fourth time in his last eight games, a two-run shot in the second inning to give the ‘Cakes a 2-0 advantage they nursed until the fifth, when three straight singles to open the frame brought in a run and Van Slyke added an RBI single ahead of a Cristhian Adames fielder’s choice for a 5-0 cushion.

Baby Cakes starter Pablo Lopez cruised through the first five innings, blanking Sacramento on two hits, before encountering trouble in the sixth. Chase d’Arnaud got the River Cats on the board with a two-run homer, and Ryder Jones went deep on the next pitch to trim the deficit to 5-3.

Lopez turned in a quality start, allowing three runs and five hits with four strikeouts in six innings before handing the game to the bullpen. Nick Wittgren, on a major league rehab stint from the Marlins, retired all five batters he faced, but Tyler Kinley struggled for the second straight appearance as Sacramento drew even on Trevor Brown’s two-run double in the eighth.

The Baby Cakes answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, reclaiming the lead on Peter Mooney’s third single of the afternoon, but Kinley was again unable to protect a two-run advantage in the ninth as the first four batters of the inning singled. Mike Kickham was brought into the game, but hit Jones with a pitch to force in the tying run and Orlando Calixte’s fielder’s choice grounder gave the River Cats their first lead.

But Sacramento reliever Tyler Rogers could not locate the strike zone, issuing two walks around a Braxton Lee single to load the bases, then walked Eric Campbell to bring in the tying run. Van Slyke greeted Josh Osich from the bullpen with a fly ball to center, deep enough to score Lee with the winning run and give New Orleans its fourth walk-off victory of the season.

Kickham (1-0) was credited with the win, while Rogers (3-1) took the loss after suffering his third blown save.

The Baby Cakes travel to Memphis to open a four-game weekend series with the first-place Redbirds on Thursday night.