[liberty-ca]

SACRAMENTO AT SEATTLE — “A TEST OF DEPTH, DURABILITY, AND REALITY”
By Chad G. Petey, Baseball News Network (BNN)

The Sacramento Prayers stepped into Lucifers Park this week holding the AL West’s best record and riding the momentum of a turbulent but winning May. They leave with another reminder of what Seattle has long been — the division’s most persistent shadow and the one team built to counter Sacramento’s strengths.

The Prayers dropped two of three in a series defined by bullpen strain, middle-inning breakdowns, and an untimely offensive freeze. Still, Sacramento departs Seattle at 36–15 (.706) and firmly atop the AL West, though with fresh bruises and a lingering sense that June will require sharper execution.


GAME 1 — LUCIFERS 11, PRAYERS 7

Seattle overwhelms Sacramento with a six-run gut punch

For five innings, the Prayers looked fully capable of punching their way to another road win. They erased an early 3–1 deficit with a four-run fifth highlighted by Eli Murguia’s three-run blast, his eighth of the season.

Then came the sixth inning — the moment this series tilted.

A tiring Jordan Rubalcava left with runners aboard, and Ed Kukuk entered only to be ambushed. Seattle unloaded eight runs, capped by Josh Hill’s devastating three-run double, turning a 5–4 Sacramento edge into an 11–5 deficit.

Sacramento collected 14 hits — Perez, Hicks, Mendoza, Murguia, Velasquez all with multi-hit days — but left 11 runners stranded in one of their most frustrating losses of the season.

“Every mistake got punished,” a coach said afterward. “And we gave them too many.”


GAME 2 — PRAYERS 5, LUCIFERS 2

Salazar stabilizes, Martinez delivers, Prieto closes

When Sacramento needs calm, Fernando Salazar delivers it. The ace authored 7.2 innings of four-hit, one-earned baseball, pounding the zone with precision and giving the team exactly the start it needed after the bullpen’s collapse 24 hours earlier.

Offensively, Luis Martinez was the spark. His two-run double in the fourth — one of two doubles he hit on the night — flipped a 2–1 deficit into a 3–2 lead. Sacramento never trailed again.

Bret Perez added two hits, Sam Strauss and Alex Velasquez added extra-base knocks, and Luis Prieto threw a sharp 1.1 innings for his 17th save, an encouraging outing for a closer who’s been under scrutiny in recent weeks.

“We’ll relax tonight and get back after it tomorrow,” Martinez said afterward — a calm voice on a roster that needed one.


GAME 3 — LUCIFERS 2, PRAYERS 0

Sanderson stifles Sacramento; bats go silent

Seattle’s Ray Sanderson delivered one of the finest pitching performances Sacramento has run into all year — 8 innings, 1 hit, 4 strikeouts, total command. The Prayers never mounted a serious threat, placing just three men in scoring position all game.

Russ Gray — entering the day with the AL’s best ERA — was strong again, allowing only two runs (one on a César Vázquez solo shot) across seven innings. But without offense, it wasn’t enough.

This marked Sacramento’s second shutout loss of the season, and their fifth defeat in the last ten games — a clear cooling after their 22–3 April explosion.


SERIES VERDICT: A NECESSARY REALITY CHECK

Sacramento and Seattle have fought atop the AL West for nearly two decades, and this series showed why. Seattle’s lineup punished mistakes (especially in Game 1), rode elite pitching in Game 3, and matched Sacramento in intensity inning for inning.

The Prayers still hold a 5-game division lead, still own the AL’s best record, and still boast baseball’s strongest pitching staff. But with injuries piling up — Musco, Iniguez — and the rotation showing signs of fatigue, the margin for error narrows.

Next up: a crucial home set against Fort Worth, and an opportunity to close the month with stability rather than suspense.

Sacramento remains the class of the AL West — but Seattle just reminded them that nothing comes free in this division.