Dominant Pitching Leads Bees Past Sacramento in 2-0 Win

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PCL Salt Lake Bees

Dominant Pitching Leads Bees Past Sacramento in 2-0 Win

July 9, 2025 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - The Salt Lake Bees earned their third shutout of the season on Tuesday night with all three coming against Sacramento as Carter Kieboom delivered the game's only RBI in a 2-0 victory over the River Cats.

Salt Lake Bees 2, Sacramento River Cats 0

WP: Sammy Peralta (2 - 0)

LP: Kai-Wei Teng (2 - 2)

SV: Victor González (1)

Game Summary

Tuesday's series opener began in a pitchers dual with 10 combined strikeouts through the first three innings and just one from the Bees lineup.

Salt Lake broke through in the fourth as Matthew Lugo led off the frame with his third triple of the year going to right center, setting up Carter Kieboom for the RBI single to follow, driving a 2-1 pitch up the middle to break the scoreless tie.

The River Cats put early pressure on Bees starter Sammy Peralta when Devin Mann led off the fifth with a double. But Peralta stranded Mann at second, striking out Wade Meckler before inducing consecutive flyouts to end the threat ending his day with three strikeouts in three scoreless innings after taking over Kenyon Yovan who kept the River Cats off the board in the second career Triple-A start.

Bees pitching continued to thrive as Jared Southard shut down the Sacramento offense, retiring the side in both the sixth and seventh innings including a nine pitch inning in the seventh.

The Bees finally added breathing room in the bottom half of the seventh as Yolmer Sánchez sparked the inning with a single and then stole second. Mitchell Daly followed with a shallow single to center, putting runners on the corners leading to a wild pitch from Sean Hjelle which allowed Sánchez to race home, making it 2-0.

Victor González took the mound in the eighth and worked around a tense jam. After a strikeout, Osleivis Basabe doubled and Grant McCray followed with a single to put runners at the corners. But González induced a huge inning-ending double play off the bat of Marco Luciano to keep the River Cats off the board.

In the ninth, Daniel Johnson opened the final frame with a double, but González again slammed the door. Gonzalez picked up a big strikeout to Drew Ellis, then got a groundout from Austin Barnes. Pinch-hitter Logan Porter walked, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate who would fly out to center to end the game in a 2-0 shutout victory for Salt Lake.

Game Notes

Salt Lake earned a 2-0 win over Sacramento on Tuesday night, marking just its second victory of the season when scoring two runs or fewer (2-33). The Bees improved to 34-53 overall and 10-9 against the River Cats in 2025.

The 2-0 win marked Salt Lake's third shutout of the season, surpassing last year's total of two. All three have come against Sacramento, marking the first time in franchise history the Bees have shut out the River Cats three times in a single season, and the first time shutting out any team three times since 2021, when they blanked Las Vegas three times.

Salt Lake has held Sacramento to one run or fewer in nine of their 19 meetings this season, something the Bees have done just twice against all other opponents coming against Round Rock and Albuquerque.

The Bees entered Tuesday winless in their previous six series openers with the last win coming on May 20 against Omaha. Salt Lake advances to 5-11 in series opening games with four of those victories coming at home.

Carter Kieboom picked up his third multi-hit performance in the last four games being the only Bee on the night to have two hits while being responsible for the games only run batted in. Kieboom tabbed his 22nd multi-hit game of the year coming in two behind the team leader in Chad Stevens.

Matthew Lugo continued his hot stretch extending his hitting streak with his third triple of the year moving his streak to 11 games while hitting safely in 18 of his last 19 games. During his hit streak that began on June 26, Lugo is batting .435/.458/.739 with the leagues second most hits in that span with 20, trailing behind Albuquerque's Zac Veen (23), while posting eight extra hits, 12 runs batted in and 10 runs scored.

Kenyon Yovan made just his second Triple-A start on the hill working two innings while picking up two punchouts in a walk-free outing. In his two starts, Yovan has posted a 4.50 ERA, going two innings each time totaling four strikeouts and allowing two runs to score.

Sammy Peralta earned the win with three innings of relief, marking his second victory in his last three outings. It was his first scoreless appearance since June 26 against Reno, and he's now recorded at least three strikeouts in back-to-back games.

Jared Southard continued to shove for Salt Lake with seventh scoreless appearance in games played for Salt Lake this season over 11.1 innings pitched. Over his last 20 games between Double-A Rocket City and Salt Lake, Southard has tallied a 0.32 ERA in 28.0 innings, collecting 27 strikeouts and only walk 10 during that stretch.

Victor Gonzalez finished things off for Salt Lake earning his first save of the season and first since August 25, 2024 with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Since returning from the injured list on July 3, Gonzalez has tossed three scoreless appearances as his two strikeouts on Tuesday were the most since April 27 against Oklahoma City.

Up Next

Salt Lake and Sacramento will face off for game two of the series on Wednesday night as Dakota Hudson (4-5, 7.28) will go for the Bees against Juan Mercedes (1-5, 9.64) with a 7:05 p.m. MST first pitch at The Ballpark at America First Square.

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