Bees Bank Three Homers, Toussaint Tosses Quality Start in 6-1 Win Over River Cats

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PCL Salt Lake Bees

Bees Bank Three Homers, Toussaint Tosses Quality Start in 6-1 Win Over River Cats

May 18, 2025 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


SACRAMENTO, CALIF. - The Salt Lake Bees match their longest winning streak of the year by clinching at least a series split against the River Cats with a 6-1 win on Saturday night behind the third straight quality start from a Bees starting pitcher.

Salt Lake Bees 6, Sacramento River Cats 1

WP: Touki Toussaint (2 - 1)

LP: Juan Mercedes (1 - 1)

Game Summary

The Bees wasted no time getting on the board with leadoff man Scott Kingery crushing the fourth pitch of the at-bat from Juan Mercedes over the left field wall to give Salt Lake an immediate 1-0 lead.

Touki Toussaint was in command all evening, limiting Sacramento to one run over six strong innings. He worked out of a jam in the second and induced a huge double play off the bat of Jake Lamb to end the inning.

With two outs in the third, Carter Kieboom kept the inning alive with a double to left before Chad Stevens delivered the big blow-a two-run homer to left-center, doubling the Bees' lead to 3-0. That chased Mercedes, and Salt Lake had full control early.

In the seventh, Salt Lake loaded the bases following a single by Sánchez and walks from Kavadas and Kieboom. Stevens came through once again with an RBI single to left. Kavadas was thrown out at home on the play, but Sánchez crossed to make it 4-1.

The Bees put the game on ice in the ninth after Sánchez got things going with a single, Niko Kavadas launched a two-run homer to right field off Ryan Watson to put the game out of reach at 6-1.

The Bees bullpen - Andrew Vasquez, Luke Murphy, and Buck Farmer - combined for three perfect innings to close the door, allowing one hit and no walks across the final nine outs to take the upper hand in the series with a 6-1 win in game five on Saturday night.

Game Notes

Salt Lake secured at least a series split by winning its third straight game, holding Sacramento to two runs or fewer for the third consecutive contest. The Bees are now 7-0 this season when allowing no more than two runs.

Offensively, the Bees recorded their third three-homer game of the season-the first since April 12 vs. Reno-including their sixth first-inning home run of the year, courtesy of Scott Kingery. Kingery went 1-for-5 with his second homer of the season, his first since Opening Day (March 28 at El Paso). He's now hit safely in five of his last six games and has scored in back-to-back contests.

Chad Stevens tied his season high with three RBIs, delivering a two-run homer and an RBI single in the seventh. It was his second multi-hit game of the series and 11th of the season, ranking second on the team behind Carter Kieboom.

Niko Kavadas launched his second home run of the series and eighth of the year, the most on the team. He went 2-for-4 for his ninth multi-hit game and extended his on-base streak to 15 games-the fourth-longest active streak in the league.

Carter Kieboom collected his team-leading 13th multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with a run scored and the team's only double of the night. He's hit safely in nine of his last 10 games and has now scored in back-to-back outings. The double was his first since last Saturday against Sugar Land.

Yolmer Sánchez also went 2-for-4, scoring twice and reaching base three times. It marked his ninth multi-hit effort and sixth multi-run game of the season, bringing his run total to 23-second only to Kavadas on the team.

Salt Lake starting pitchers have now delivered three straight quality starts, combining for 20 innings pitched, 16 hits allowed, three earned runs, and 14 strikeouts during that span.

Touki Toussaint made his first start of the season and logged his first quality start since July 1, 2024 (with Charlotte). He tossed a season-high six innings, giving up one run on six hits and striking out three.

The bullpen shut Sacramento down over the final three innings. Andrew Vasquez earned his second hold in as many outings, while Luke Murphy and Buck Farmer each pitched hitless innings, facing the minimum three batters apiece to close out the win.

Up Next

The Salt Lake Bees look to claim a series victory on Sunday afternoon with Los Angeles Angels No. 2 prospect Caden Dana going for the Bees in the series finale at Sutter Health Park at 2:05 PM MST.

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from May 18, 2025


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