Cats Bats Break Loose in 13-6 Victory over Salt Lake
PCL Salt Lake Bees

Cats Bats Break Loose in 13-6 Victory over Salt Lake

Published on July 10, 2025 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - The Salt Lake Bees dropped Wednesday's game 13-6 behind an offensive outburst from Sacramento who tallied 13 runs on 19 hits as the Bees picked up a home run from Tucker Flint and Niko Kavadas.

Sacramento River Cats 13, Salt Lake Bees 5

WP: Juan Mercedes (2 - 5)

LP: Dakota Hudson (4 - 6)

Game Summary

The River Cats wasted no time striking in the top of the first, pushing across four runs on five hits while sending eight batters to the plate. Wade Meckler and Tyler Fitzgerald led off with back-to-back singles, setting up Daniel Johnson for a two-run double into the right-center gap. After a Basabe lineout, Hunter Bishop tripled to bring home Johnson, and Logan Porter followed with an RBI single to cap a four-run opening frame.

Salt Lake responded in the lower half after a quick two outs as Matthew Lugo continued his hot stretch by sparking the offense with a triple to left-center. Chad Stevens followed with an RBI single to put the Bees on the board, and Tucker Flint launched a two-run homer, his 11th of the season, to right-center to pull Salt Lake within one.

The River Cats broke it open in the third by putting three more runs up on the board. After a leadoff single from Grant McCray, Salt Lake briefly caught a break with a double play ball. But Osleivis Basabe doubled with two outs, and Bishop tripled again to bring him in. On the very next pitch, Logan Porter crushed a two-run homer to make it 7-3.

Sacramento tacked on another run in the fourth when McCray tripled in Fitzgerald, then extended the lead to 9-3 in the fifth on a solo homer from Basabe.

The Bees scratched two runs back in the bottom of the fifth. Mitchell Daly reached on a wild-pitch strikeout, and Niko Kavadas followed with a two-run homer to right for his team-leading 18th of the year, making it 9-5.

Sacramento erupted again in the sixth, marking its third inning with three or more runs, as a leadoff walk set up Grant McCray's inside-the-park home run before back-to-back doubles by Osleivis Basabe and Hunter Bishop stretched the lead to 12-5.

Daniel Johnson added the finishing touch in the eighth with a solo homer down the right-field line for his second extra-base hit of the night pushing the lead to 13-6 as Salt Lake's last seven of eight were retired to end the night.

Game Notes

Salt Lake dropped game two of the series, evening things up with Sacramento as the River Cats piled on 13 runs on 19 hits, sending the Bees to 34-54 on the season.

The 13 runs allowed marked the 24th time this year Salt Lake has given up double-digit runs, the most in the league ahead of Reno's 16. Sacramento also recorded three triples, tying the most the Bees have allowed in a single game since April 25 against Oklahoma City.

It was the third time this season Salt Lake surrendered both double-digit runs and hits to the River Cats, as the 19 hits for Sacramento marked the fifth time the Bees have allowed 19 or more in a game, the most such games since 2021.

Matthew Lugo went 1-for-4 with a triple for the second straight game, extending his hit streak to 12 games--currently the fifth-longest active streak in the PCL. He's now recorded an extra-base hit and scored a run in four consecutive games. Since the streak began on June 26, Lugo is slashing .420/.442/.740 with 21 hits--second-most in all of Triple-A over that span--along with 12 RBIs and 11 runs scored.

Niko Kavadas went 1-for-5 with his team-leading 18th home run of the season, coming just one shy of matching his Triple-A career high set last year. His 18 homers rank fifth in the PCL, trailing league leader Ryan Ward of Oklahoma City by five. Kavadas also recorded his team-best 15th multi-RBI game, bringing his season total to a club-leading 54 RBIs.

Tucker Flint joined Kavadas with a two-run homer of his own, launching his 11th of the season, all off right-handed pitching. It was Flint's first home run of July after hitting six in May and four in June.

Chad Stevens returned to the Salt Lake lineup after a week with the Angels, where he made his MLB debut on July 3. He picked up right where he left off, delivering a first-inning RBI single to extend his team-leading hit total to 82. The run batted in was his 44th of the season, second-most on the team behind Kavadas.

Mitchell Daly continued his steady return, hitting safely for the fourth straight game to match his season-best streak set in April against Oklahoma City. He went 1-for-3 with two runs scored, marking just his second multi-run game of the year.

Dakota Hudson made his 14th start of the year and fourth straight of at least five innings while suffering the loss on the mound moving to 4-6 on the season. Hudson tied his professional career-high of 13 hits allowed, last coming on June 15 in Las Vegas of this year. Hudson allowed nine or more runs for the third time this season previously in 11 run outings by Las Vegas and Tacoma.

Up Next

Salt Lake and Sacramento will face off in an even series on Thursday night for game three as Brett Kerry (2-5, 10.17) and Mason Black (1-5, 4.75) matchup on the mound with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. MST at The Ballpark at America First Square.

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 10, 2025


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