Pat O'Sullivan was 2-for-4 with three runs batted in as the Cats defeated Lincoln 8-3 on Thursday night at LaGrave Field.
With the win, the Cats took 2-of-3 in the series from the Saltdogs and improve their record to 25-7.
The Cats jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning en route to the win. Brian Fryer led off the inning with a walk before Cameron Blair doubled to right, scoring Fryer for a 1-0 Cats lead. One out later, John Allen walked, and Michael Bell brought home blair with an RBI single. The next batter, O'Sullivan smacked a two-run double to left field, giving the Cats a 4-0 advantage.
Fort Worth added a run in the fourth inning on a Blair sacrifice fly for a 5-0 lead. Lincoln scored its first run in the fifth as Josh Burrus led off the inning with a double and then scored on a Steve Alexander RBI single.
The Cats scored twice in the fifth as O'Sullivan collected his third RBI of the night with a run-scoring single. O'Sullivan would later score in the inning on a balk for a 7-1 lead.
Ryan Patterson belted his fifth home run of the season and his second in as many nights in the sixth inning to make it 8-1. Lincoln would score twice in the ninth inning against Cats' closer Dustin Cameron, the first two runs scored against Cameron in 17 appearances this year.
Dan Grybash (5-1) became the first five-game winner in the league this year as he allowed a run on eight hits with five strikeouts in six innings of work. Jim Paduch (2-3) suffered his second loss against the Cats this year as he gave up seven runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings.
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The Cats head to El Paso for a three-game series with the Diablos. Joel Kirsten takes the hill for the opener on Friday night at 8:05 p.m. CDT.
