WEST SACRAMENTO -– Matt Cain and Jhoulys Chacin battled Friday night, engaging in a pitcher’s duel in front of a full house at Raley Field. With over 400 career major league starts between them, the two hurler’s kept things locked in a 1-1 tie until a Blake Lalli RBI-single in the seventh put the Aces up 2-1 for good.
Cain (0-2, 4.50) went 6.2 innings in his second River Cats start, throwing 89 pitches, 59 for strikes. He gave up 2 runs on 5 hits and no walks while striking out 6. It looked like the Aces were going to strike early, but Cain pitched around a first inning error by Hector Sanchez and stranded Reno’s Nick Buss at third base.