BNN WEEK IN RETROSPECT – PRAYERS WEEKLY
SACRAMENTO PRAYERS: APRIL 29 – MAY 5, 1990
By Chad G. Petey and C.O. Pilot – Baseball News Network (BNN) and Gemmy Nay, Sacramento Sports Chronicle
What a week to be a fan of the Sacramento Prayers! While the team continues to pummel the American League West — sitting pretty with a 24-8 record and a commanding 6-game lead — the real fireworks happened in the front office. General Manager Jimmy Aces didn't just stand pat; he opened the vault.
In a massive show of confidence, the Prayers secured the spine of their roster. The headline? Robby Larson and Luis Prieto aren't going anywhere. Larson inked a 5-year, $4.56M extension, a fair price for a man who just gave us 8.1 innings of gem-work against Boston. Meanwhile, our lockdown closer Prieto signed his own 5-year deal worth $3.15M. If you want to win championships, you keep the guys who start the fire and the guys who put it out.
With Edwin Musco hitting a blistering .458 over his last six games, this team feels less like a hot start and more like a permanent fixture at the top of the standings.
The Sacramento Prayers entered the final days of April with a 20–6 record and the look of a club that had already settled into its identity: deep, relentless, and capable of winning games in multiple shapes. What followed was a week that tested their stamina, their bullpen, and their ability to absorb the occasional misstep without losing their footing. They are still perched atop the West, still dictating the pace of the division, and still showing the kind of roster-wide resilience that separates good teams from those with October ambitions.
★ ★ ★
Sunday, April 29 — Demons 5, Prayers 4
A rare slip-up at home. Sacramento’s week began with a narrow loss that felt more like a missed opportunity than a setback. Edwin Musco authored one of his finest offensive performances of the season — a 3-for-4 afternoon with two doubles and two RBI — but the Prayers couldn’t quite match San Jose’s timely hitting.
Jordan Rubalcava wasn’t at his sharpest, though he battled through 6.2 innings and kept the game within reach. The decisive moment came in the seventh, when Pablo Bocanegra delivered a two-out RBI single to push the Demons ahead 5–4. Sacramento had baserunners in the eighth and ninth but couldn't find the magic in the final frames and cash them in.
It was a reminder that even elite teams occasionally lose the coin-flip games.
★ ★ ★
Monday, April 30 — Prayers 9, Abbots 8 (12 innings)
If Sunday was a missed chance, Monday was a reclamation. Sacramento played a messy, uneven, occasionally chaotic game — and still found a way to win.
The Prayers trailed 3–0, then 5–1, then 7–3, then 8–6. They tied it in the eighth, tied it again in the ninth, and finally walked it off in the twelfth on Larry Mansfield’s sharp single to left. Mansfield, who has quietly become one of the league’s most effective late-inning bench weapons, delivered his second walk-off hit in eight days.
Francisco Hernández homered in the twelfth to set the stage, and Edwin Musco reached base four times, continuing his torrid stretch. Chris Ryan earned the win after absorbing the Abbots’ final push in the top of the twelfth.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was emblematic of Sacramento’s defining trait: they simply do not go away.
★ ★ ★
Tuesday, May 1 — Abbots 4, Prayers 0
The bats went cold. Sacramento’s offense, so explosive the night before, evaporated against El Paso right-hander Alex Garcia. The Prayers managed just five singles and never mounted a sustained threat. Russ Gray pitched better than his line suggested — two of the runs against him came with two outs — but the lack of run support made the margin irrelevant.
It was only the second time all season Sacramento had been shut out. The club didn’t panic; they simply turned the page.
★ ★ ★
Wednesday, May 2 — Prayers 5, Abbots 4
The Prayers responded exactly as a first-place team should: with a composed, methodical win built on patience and execution.
Edwin Musco once again took center stage. The shortstop homered in the fourth, doubled home two more in the eighth, and reached base three times. His eighth-inning double — a laser into the left-center gap — flipped a 3–2 deficit into a 4–3 lead. Sacramento added an insurance run on Alex Velasquez’s double moments later.
Bernardo Andretti pitched into the eighth, Chris Ryan earned his second win of the week, and Luis Prieto collected save No. 11 despite surrendering a solo homer to Danny Hurt.
Musco’s performance pushed him into the league’s top tier of early-season MVP candidates.
★ ★ ★
Friday, May 4 — Prayers 2, Messiahs 1 (Walk-Off)
A classic pitcher's duel. After a well-earned off day, Sacramento returned home and immediately found itself in another tight, low-scoring contest. Jordan Rubalcava delivered seven innings of one-run ball, continuing his season-long dominance. Boston’s pitching matched him nearly pitch for pitch, and the game entered the ninth tied 1–1.
Gil Cruz, who had been searching for a signature moment all season, finally found one. With runners on the corners and one out, he lined a clean single into right-center to win the game. The dugout poured onto the field, and Cruz — usually stoic — allowed himself a rare grin.
It was Sacramento’s third walk-off victory in six days.
★ ★ ★
Saturday, May 5 — Prayers 8, Messiahs 3
The week closed with one of Sacramento’s most complete performances of the season.
Robby Larson, fresh off signing a five-year extension, looked every bit the ace and rewarded the front office’s faith with 8.1 steady innings. He scattered six hits, struck out five, and allowed only one damaging swing — a solo homer by C. Lang in the eighth.
“Robby’s got a slow heartbeat,” Aces said.
“He doesn’t panic or rush. That’s what you want when the lineup starts turning over.”
The offense, meanwhile, was balanced and opportunistic and backed Larsson up with an 11-hit parade. Bret Perez reached base three times. Eli Murguia doubled and drove in a run. Alex Velasquez homered. And Edwin Musco continued his blistering pace with a double, a triple, and another RBI.
By the time Gil Caliari recorded the final out, Sacramento had secured its 24th win — and its seventh in the last ten games.
★ ★ ★
WEEK IN REVIEW- Record: 4–2 (Overall: 24–8)
- Run Differential This Week: 28–25
- Walk-Off Wins: 2
- Batter of the Week: SS Edwin Musco Musco hit .458 with two homers, three doubles, and eight RBI across the six-game stretch. He now leads the club in average, homers, RBI, OPS, and WAR.
- Pitcher of the Week: Jordan Rubalcava One start, seven innings, one run, five strikeouts. His ERA sits at 1.51 — second-best in the American League.
★ ★ ★
INJURY REPORT
Fernando Salazar (RHP) — stress reaction in elbow; remains on the injured list, eligible to return later this summer.
★ ★ ★
CONTRACTS & TRANSACTIONS- Luis Prieto — signed to a five-year, $3.15M extension
- Robby Larson — signed to a five-year, $4.56M extension
- Hector Iniguez — signed to a five-year, $1.76M extension
Additional one-year and minor-league extensions finalized during the week.
★ ★ ★
AROUND THE LEAGUE
The Prayers aren't the only ones making noise. In the AL East, Columbus is holding a slim lead over the Washington Devils, while the Boston Messiahs are hovering just above .500 after their rough trip to Sacramento.
Over in the National League, the Charlotte Monks (.588) and the Detroit Preachers (.576) are locked in a dogfight for the East. Meanwhile, out West, the Los Angeles Saints are the class of the circuit, though the Long Beach Diablos are breathing down their necks, just half a game back.
Prayers rank among league leaders in ERA, run differential, and bullpen WHIP.
★ ★ ★
THE PRAYER BOX (FAN MAIL)
"Gemmy, with all these contract extensions, are we going to have any money left to buy a hot dog at the stadium next year? $4.5 million for Larson seems like a lot of franks!"
— Hungry in Highland Park
Gemmy: Look, Hungry, if Larson keeps pitching 8 innings of 3-run ball, I’ll personally buy you a dog! In all seriousness, the market is shifting. Locking in a workhorse like Larson now prevents us from getting outbid in free agency later. It’s a win for the fans, even if the concessions get a little pricier.
"Is Edwin Musco human? I saw him hit a triple and a double in the same game. I'm starting to think he's a robot designed in a lab."
— SacTownSkeptic
Gemmy: If he is a robot, I hope nobody checks his batteries until October. Musco is seeing the ball like it’s a beachball right now. His slugging percentage is up to
.636. That's not just "hot," that's "call the fire department" territory.
★ ★ ★
GEMMY’S TAKE
There’s a temptation to hunt for a defining moment every week — a walk-off, a brawl, a 14-run inning. This wasn’t that kind of week.
Instead, Sacramento showed something rarer: repetition. Same approach, different game shapes. Blowouts, grinders, early leads, late leads — it didn’t matter. The Prayers looked prepared for all of it. And that Larson extension? That wasn’t a reward for one afternoon. It was a bet on this exact kind of steadiness.
You don’t win titles in April or May. But you do build habits. Sacramento’s habits look expensive — and worth every dollar.
★ ★ ★
LOOKING AHEAD
The Prayers enter the second week of May with a four-game lead over San Jose and a schedule that includes:
- vs Boston (series finale)
- at Fort Worth (3 games)
- at Tucson (3 games)
The rotation is aligned, the bullpen is rested, and the lineup is producing up and down the order. Sacramento has the look of a club that understands the value of every game in a long season — and plays like it.