Late Tallies Help Kitties Walk Off Bees, 4-3

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A pair of late tallies sealed a win on Wednesday for the Sacramento River Cats, scoring once in each the eighth and ninth innings to earn a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Salt Lake Bees in game two of their series.

Two home runs in the first seemed to put the Bees (22-19/54-61) on the fast track to victory, both of which came in back-to-back fashion. Striking first was Keston Hiura, hammering a full count offering over the wall in right field that also scored Charles Leblanc, who had walked with one out. Following in the next at-bat was Niko Kavadas, hammering a 2-2 pitch out to left field. For both, it was their second homers in as many games.

However, Salt Lake struggled to get much offense going from that point forward, totaling one hit in the second and none from the third through the eighth. They finally added one last knock in the ninth, a one-out single from Jack Lopez that was eventually left stranded.

Meanwhile, it seemed to be the opposite for the River Cats (18-23/62-54), who had loaded the bases in the first with a Thairo Estrada single and pair of walks, but all were left stranded. However, they got the offense working in the fourth, starting with the eighth homer of the year from Hunter Bishop as he led off the frame with a solo shot out to right center. Blake Sabol followed with a triple that was aided by a missed dive in left field, ultimately scoring on an Estrada single to the left side.

Sacramento threatened in the fifth by putting a pair on, but a flyout ended the inning without damage. Still trailing by one heading into the final third, the River Cats found a way to find some comeback magic. Yet again Sacramento put runners on with a single and a walk, and after both advanced on a groundout, a wild pitch forced home the game’s final run.

That led to an exciting ninth frame where the River Cats sent the crowd home happy, with both Bishop and Sabol drawing a free pass just in front of a Jakson Reetz single into right center, pushing the score to its final of 4-3.

For Sacramento this was their fifth walk-off win of the season, their first since Donovan Walton gave the River Cats a 5-4 win over Reno on July 30. Additionally, it helped the River Cats move to 13-15 in one-run games.

Mason Black earned the start but not the win, tossing 4.0 innings and allowing three runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts. It was the work of the bullpen that made the win possible, as every River Cat reliever on Wednesday night tossed a scoreless outing which included Ethan Small making a rehab appearance and striking out the side, while Kolton Ingram (1-0) picked up his first win of the year by working the final 2.0 innings with one hit allowed.

At the dish it was Estrada leading the way, posting a trio of knocks in his second rehab assignment with an Rbi. Following was the trio of Wade Meckler, Sabol and Reetz, all of which had two hits with Meckler pushing his hitting streak to 11 straight games.

Winners of two in a row, Sacramento will look to make it a streak in game three when the two teams take the field for first pitch at 6:45 p.m. (PT).