Three Home Run Third Fuels Bees in 6-4 Win over River Cats

Sports stats

PCL Salt Lake Bees

Three Home Run Third Fuels Bees in 6-4 Win over River Cats

July 11, 2025 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


SOUTH JORDAN, UT - The Salt Lake Bees cashed in three homers in the third to fuel a 6-4 victory on Friday night over the Sacramento River Cats to take a 3-1 advantage in the series.

Salt Lake Bees 6, Sacramento River Cats 4

WP: Jack Dashwood (1 - 2)

LP: Carson Ragsdale (4 - 4)

SV: Victor González (2)

Game Summary

Neither side managed to score in the first two innings, with both teams leaving a runner stranded at third in the second. Chad Stevens gave the Bees a chance after legging out a double.

Sacramento was the one to strike first as Drew Ellis led off the third with his fourth homer of the year to the left field seats.

Salt Lake fired right back in the bottom half, launching three home runs to take a 4-1 lead. Alexander Ramirez sparked the inning with his first Triple-A hit on a single up the middle, followed by Niko Kavadas' team-leading 19th blast of the season. With two outs, the Bees kept the momentum going as Matthew Lugo and Chad Stevens went back-to-back to cap a four-run frame.

Salt Lake tacked on another in the fifth as Yolmer Sanchez doubled with one out before Chad Stevens notched his third hit of the night on an RBI single to make it 5-1.

The Bees added more insurance in the seventh when Alexander Ramirez led off with a single and came around to score on a Yolmer Sánchez RBI single, extending the lead to 6-1.

Sacramento responded in the eighth, tagging Kenyon Yovan for two runs on an RBI double by Osleivis Basabe and a run-scoring single from Thomas Gavello. The River Cats loaded the bases with two outs but couldn't capitalize further, as Tyler Fitzgerald lined out to end the inning.

Victor González entered the game in the ninth to close it and immediately gave up a solo home run to Grant McCray, trimming the Bees' lead to 6-4. An error and a walk brought the potential tying run to first, but a lineout to Yolmer Sánchez ended the game and sealed the win.

Game Notes

Salt Lake won its second straight 6-4 contest, marking the sixth game this season decided by two runs between the Bees and River Cats, with the series now even at 3-3 in those matchups.

With the win in Game four, the Bees improved to 36-54 on the season and 7-9 in the second-half standings, securing at least a series split with Sacramento by taking a 3-1 lead in the set.

Salt Lake erupted for three home runs in the third inning Friday night, marking the second time this season the Bees have gone deep three times in a single frame-the last also coming against Sacramento on June 22. It was the ninth game this year in which Salt Lake has hit three or more homers, with the team holding a 6-3 record in those contests.

Chad Stevens collected his second three-hit game of the season, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored, falling just a triple shy of the cycle. He launched his 15th home run of the year, ranking second on the Bees and matching his professional career high set in 2023.

Niko Kavadas launched his team-leading 19th home run of the season and went 1-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. Kavadas ripped his second home run of the series and second two-RBI game bringing his season total to 57 to lead Salt Lake. Kavadas drew his 60th walk of the season to come within two of his Triple-A career-high while ranking third in the league behind Alex Freeland of Oklahoma City (64) and Logan Davidson of Las Vegas (63).

Yolmer Sánchez went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, extending his hitting streak to three games and marking his sixth game with a hit in the last seven. It was his 21st multi-hit performance of the season, ranking third on the team behind Chad Stevens and Carter Kieboom. Sánchez also tied Stevens for the most two-hit games on the team with 20.

Matthew Lugo kept his hot streak going with his eighth home run of the year to extend his hitting streak to 14 games while scoring for the sixth consecutive contest which ties Luis Campusano of El Paso for the best active run scoring streak in the league. Since hitting streak began on June 26, Lugo is batting .414 with a 1.174 OPS and 24 hits tying the PCL lead with Zac Veen of Albuquerque for the most during that span.

Victor Mederos made his 12th start of the season and third against Sacramento after previously having a pair of quality starts against the River Cats. Mederos tossed four innings of one run ball where he allowed four hits and struck out two. His four innings of work was his fewest in a start since June 7 against Round Rock which marks his only two starts this year that went less than five innings.

Jared Southard made his eighth appearance out of the bullpen for the Bees and delivered his eighth scoreless outing. He struck out two in the seventh inning, marking his third straight appearance without allowing a hit. Southard has not surrendered a run in his last 15 outings between Rocket City and Salt Lake, a streak dating back to May 22, while allowing just six hits over that span.

Up Next

Salt Lake and Sacramento will square off for game five on Saturday as Country Weekend continues at the Ballpark at America First Square with a postgame fireworks show to follow with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. MST.

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from July 11, 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.

Other Recent Salt Lake Bees Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central