Bees Snap Losing Streak Behind Kavadas' Blast and Dominant Pitching

Sports stats



PCL Salt Lake Bees

Bees Snap Losing Streak Behind Kavadas' Blast and Dominant Pitching

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


SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - The Salt Lake Bees snapped an eight-game losing streak Wednesday night, defeating the Sacramento River Cats 6-1 thanks to strong pitching and a powerful three-run homer from Niko Kavadas.

Salt Lake Bees 6, Sacramento River Cats 1

WP: Touki Toussaint (3 - 2)

LP: Trevor McDonald (5 - 4)

Game Summary

After a quiet first inning with just one hit, Sacramento opened the scoring in the second as back-to-back two-strike singles set up Drew Cavanaugh, who brought in the game's first run on a fielder's choice.

Salt Lake responded in the third, breaking open the game for its first lead of the series. Consecutive walks set the stage for Niko Kavadas, who delivered a two-out, three-run homer over the centerfield wall to put the Bees ahead 3-1.

Sammy Peralta settled in after allowing that lone run in the second, facing the minimum over his final two innings in a walk-free outing for Salt Lake.

The Bees kept the momentum going in the fourth with back-to-back extra-base hits. Sebastián Rivero sparked the rally with his first triple of the year, followed by Tucker Flint's RBI double. Flint then scored on a wild pitch by Trevor McDonald, pushing Salt Lake's lead to 5-1.

Salt Lake's pitching staff held strong as Touki Toussaint took over in the fifth, retiring the side in order in three of his four innings while allowing just one hit and striking out five.

The Bees added insurance in the seventh on a one-out RBI single by Matthew Lugo, extending the lead to 6-1. José Fermín finished out the game by striking out the side in the ninth, snapping Salt Lake's eight-game losing streak and evening the series with the win on Wednesday night.

Game Notes

Salt Lake snapped its eight-game losing streak with a 6-1 win on Tuesday night, holding Sacramento to just one run on four hits--the fewest runs allowed by the Bees since June 6 against Round Rock and the fewest hits surrendered since May 8 versus Sugar Land.

The one run allowed marked the seventh time this season Salt Lake has held an opponent to a single run, improving to 7-0 in those games. The Bees are now 14-1 on the year when allowing three runs or fewer.

Salt Lake's pitching staff combined for 13 strikeouts--their highest total in a game since April 27, when they recorded a season-best 16 against Oklahoma City.

Sammy Peralta delivered a season-high four innings, striking out a Triple-A career-best five batters in a walk-free outing. He retired the final seven hitters he faced, including back-to-back innings facing the minimum. It marked the fewest runs he's allowed in an outing of four or more innings since July 15, 2023, with Charlotte.

Touki Toussaint followed with four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and matching Peralta with five strikeouts. Wednesday marked the fifth time this season Toussaint has recorded five strikeouts, and just the third time he's done so out of the bullpen.

José Fermín capped off the bullpen's first shutout since June 7 against Round Rock with a scoreless ninth, allowing one baserunner while striking out the side in just his third Triple-A appearance.

Niko Kavadas delivered the big blow with his 11th home run of the season, second on the team behind Chad Stevens (12). He recorded his second straight multi-RBI game, bringing his team-leading total to 42 RBI. Kavadas has hit safely in six of his last seven games and reached base in 38 of his last 41. He also drew multiple walks for the seventh time this season, raising his walk total to 46--third-most in the PCL.

Chad Stevens went 2-for-4, recording his second consecutive multi-hit game and bringing him to 6-for-9 (.667) through the first two games of the series. It marked his team-leading 22nd multi-hit game of the season and raised his batting average to .323, the second-highest in the Pacific Coast League.

Sebastián Rivero went 1-for-4 with a triple and run scored, hitting safely in 29 of 33 games this season. His triple was his first since June 18, 2023--exactly two years earlier when he played for Charlotte--and marked the third triple of his Triple-A career.

Tucker Flint went 1-for-4 with an RBI double--his eighth of the year and first since May 30 against Tacoma. It marked the eighth time this season he recorded an extra-base hit, a run scored, and an RBI all in the same game.

Matthew Lugo continued his hot streak, hitting safely for the fourth time in five games with a 1-for-4 performance and driving in the Bees' final run of the night. Lugo's RBI was his first with Salt Lake since May 6 against Sugar Land.

Up Next

Salt Lake will look to take the upper hand in the series on Thursday night as the Salt Lake Bees celebrate Occidentals Night as we honor the legacy of Utah's Black baseball pioneers and their contributions to the game. South paw Jake Eder takes the mound for the Bees with a 7:05 first pitch at the Ballpark at America First Square.

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from June 18, 2025


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