PCL Sacramento River Cats

River Cats Fall to Bees

Published on July 5, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Sacramento River Cats News Release


WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Three runs in the first inning had seemed to set the Sacramento River Cats on the path to victory, but pitching from the Salt Lake Bees stiffened up and faced the minimum batters from the second through the ninth which allowed them to come back and take game two of the series by a 5-3 final on Thursday.

Similar to the series opener the River Cats (38-44) scored right away in the first frame, dropping a three-spot in their first at-bats. Two errors by the Bees (41-41) aided the Sacramento rally, with the first following an Isan Diaz single that allowed David Villar to reach base while putting both in scoring position.

Picking up where he left off last night, Joey Bart drove them both in with a deep double that crashed off the wall in center field, which also extended his active hitting streak to a season-high eight games. Two batters later, Jakson Reetz pulled a ball on the ground between first and second, which Jared Walsh booted for the second miscue of the frame while Bart scored on the play.

Taking the mound for the River Cats was Miguel Yajure (0-1), who started out hot by allowing just a single two-out knock in the second, retiring each of the first five hitters he faced which included three straight strikeouts just prior to the Jared Oliva single.

Fortunes started to change in the third, as the Bees scored their first run of the contest when a one-out walk to Brett Phillips was followed by Phillips stealing second base and then scoring on a single to center by Trey Cabbage.

Just an inning later the Salt Lake bats truly started to wake up, stringing together four hits that resulted in a trio of runs to take the lead 5-4. All four hits came consecutively with one out, the first two singles that preceded RBI knocks by Jack Lopez (double) and Zach Humphreys (single). Eventually the final run crossed on a sacrifice fly from Phillips.

Though they found success in the first, the River Cats suddenly were unable to break through against Salt Lake starter Chase Silseth. Starting in the second inning, Silseth faced just the minimum number of hitters (18) until his exit in the seventh. The only base runner that reached during that time was Heliot Ramos when he singled in the fourth, but he was erased when he was caught trying to steal second.

Salt Lake added one final insurance tally during the home half of the seventh, doing so on a sacrifice fly from Livan Soto that scored Trey Cabbage who had singled to start the frame to bring the game to 5-3.

Upon Silseth's exit following the seventh, Kolton Ingram took the baton and continued the Bees pitching dominance as he, too, faced the minimum number of hitters in the eighth and ninth. Included in that performance was Ingram striking out the side swinging in the ninth, logging four total punchouts in a six-out save, his first of the season. His effort helped the Bees finish the contest by retiring 16 consecutive River Cats' hitters.

Taking credit for the victory after an impressive performance was Silseth, who was charged with just a single earned run (three total) in his seven innings to go with eight strikeouts. Yajure was charged with the loss, allowing four earned runs on six hits in four innings despite striking out seven.

After Reetz was picked off to end the first and Ramos was caught stealing in the fourth, the River Cats did not leave a single base runner stranded on the basepaths. It was the first time they have done that since June 9, 2006 when Sacramento was no-hit in seven innings during the second half of a twin bill against the Portland Beavers, 5-0.

Bart did extend his hitting streak to eight games by finishing 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI on his double, and he has now gone 12-for-32 (.375) with seven runs scored, two doubles, three homers and 13 RBI in that span. In addition to Ramos' single, Diaz collected the other hit while finishing 1-for-4 with a run scored.

Both teams will try to take an edge in the series when they line up for game three of the series on Thursday, with first pitch scheduled for 5:35 p.m.

Check out the Sacramento River Cats Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 5, 2023


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