Bees Score 11 Unanswered in Home Opener Win over River Cats
PCL Salt Lake Bees

Bees Score 11 Unanswered in Home Opener Win over River Cats

Published on April 1, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - The Salt Lake Bees earned their fourth consecutive home opener victory Tuesday night, scoring 11 unanswered runs to secure a 13-5 win over the Sacramento River Cats and kick off year two at The Ballpark at America First Square.

Salt Lake Bees 13, Sacramento 5

WP: Samy Natera Jr. (1 - 0)

LP: Trent Harris (0 - 1)

Key Performers:

Jose Siri: 3-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB

Nelson Rada: 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI, R, BB, K

Christian Moore: 2-5, 2 R, RBI, BB

Matthew Lugo: 2-5, 2 RBI, 2 R

Samy Natera Jr.: W, 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 3 K

Game Summary

The Salt Lake Bees kicked off its second season at The Ballpark at America First Square on Tuesday night against the Sacramento River Cats where it was opposite getting on the scoreboard first with a run in the first and third innings first coming by Buddy Kennedy who drove in a run on a double to left center before Victor Bericoto followed with an RBI single to give the River Cats a 2-0 advantage.

The Bees went on to answer right back and tie at two apiece thanks to back-to-back home runs by Niko Kavadas and Jose Siri in the bottom of the fourth, both homers being their first of the year.

The River Cats regained control in the fifth, as four consecutive batters reached base to ignite the rally.. RBI singles from Grant McCray and Jake Holton, along with a sacrifice bunt by Nate Furman, pushed Sacramento back in front 5-2.

Salt Lake began to chip away starting with a one out double from Nelson Rada. Rada's double began a trip of scoring 11 unanswered for the Bees as Salt Lake scored four in the seventh and six in the eighth.

The Bees sent all nine batters to the plate in the seventh, scoring four runs, all with two outs. Trey Mancini sparked the rally with a clutch pinch-hit RBI single, and Denzer Guzman followed by giving Salt Lake its first lead of the night with a two-run homer to left. Siri capped the inning with his second RBI of the game, lining a single to center to score Matthew Lugo.

In the eighth inning, the floodgates opened as 12 Bees hitters came to the plate, resulting in six more runs for Salt Lake. Rada and Lugo each delivered RBI singles, while the team drew six walks in the inning, three of them with the bases loaded, extending the Bees lead to 13-5. The surge sealed a victory for Salt Lake in their home opener on Tuesday night taking game one of the series.

Game Notes

The Salt Lake Bees secured their first victory of the season while extending their streak to four consecutive home-opening wins. In the inaugural game at The Ballpark at America First Square, Salt Lake matched last year's home opener scoring output with a 13-10 win over the Reno Aces. Notably, the Bees entered the ninth inning with an identical 13-5 lead in both home openers.

The Salt Lake Bees batted through the order in both the seventh and eighth innings, sending 21 hitters to the plate, scoring 10 combined runs over the two innings while closing out the game with 11 unanswered. Every Salt Lake batter reached base, with four recording multi-hit games - the first time that's happened since September 17, 2025, at Las Vegas.

The Salt Lake offense struck out just two times on the night, something that happened only once last season (4/25 vs OKC).

José Siri led the way with a three-hit performance, reaching base in four of his five plate appearances. Siri launched his first home run of the season, drove in two runs, and scored twice. The outing marked his second multi-hit game through the first three contests of the season, while his three hits were his highest total at the Triple-A level since July 1, 2022.

After finishing with the second-most home runs in the Pacific Coast League last season (28), Niko Kavadas launched his first long ball of the 2026 campaign over the right-field wall in the bottom of the fourth inning. It marked the second consecutive home opener in which Kavadas has gone deep for the Salt Lake Bees. Through the first three games of the season, Kavadas has recorded a hit in each contest, leading the team with four RBIs while also scoring in back-to-back games.

Christian Moore, Nelson Rada and Matthew Lugo all finished the night with two hits while Lugo and Rada each having a pair of RBI with Moore scoring twice. Each of them earned their first multi-hit games of the season while Rada picked up his first double of the season.

Samy Natera Jr. earned his first Triple-A victory, tossing two scoreless innings out of the bullpen. He struck out three Sacramento River Cats hitters while allowing just one walk and no hits. His three strikeouts matched a Triple-A career high, a mark he previously reached twice last season (Sept. 7 vs. El Paso and Sept. 11 vs. Tacoma).

Up Next

The Salt Lake Bees will transform into the Utah Dirty Sodas on Wednesday night to debut the new alternate identity against the Sacramento River Cats in game two of the series with first pitch slated for 6:35 p.m.

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Pacific Coast League Stories from April 1, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central