Meckler Triples Spark 11-7 Cats Victory Against Bees

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Coming up big for the Sacramento River Cats in their series opener against the Salt Lake Bees on Tuesday evening was Wade Meckler, as his pair of triples and three Major League rehab assignments helped Sacramento end the night victorious with an 11-7 final.

On a night that saw two rehab assignments in the starting lineup for the River Cats (17-23/61-54), starting pitcher Tristan Beck and leadoff hitter Thairo Estrada, it was Meckler who opened the game’s scoring with his first three-bagger in the second inning. With the bases loaded, Meckler’s low-sinking liner got past a dive from Bryce Teodosio in center field and watched the bases clear while Meckler turned on the jets for third.

Both teams supplied a run in the third, the Bees (22-18/54-60) first on a Jason Martin single that was aided by an error earlier in the frame, while Sacramento used consecutive singles from Trenton Brooks and David Villar to setup an RBI chance for Blake Sabol.

Salt Lake cut into the lead yet again in the fourth, plating two on the first Bees homer from Niko Kavadas as he belted a 1-2 pitch over the wall in left field. Before Sacramento could answer, Salt Lake struck again in the fifth, this time pushing across only one run on a sacrifice fly from Jordyn Adams.

That’s when the River Cats turned in their biggest frame of the evening, one that contained the second bases-clearing triple of the night from Meckler. Following a wild pitch and hit batsman that saw a pair of runs score, Meckler came up clutch with two outs when he turned an offering down the right-field line that once more brought all three runners home.

Not only did that made Meckler the first River Cat this season with a pair of doubles in the same game, he is just the seventh to do so since 2005. The last River Cat to have a pair of three-baggers in a single contest was Abiatal Avelino during Sacramento’s 10-7 win on May 21, 2019 over Salt Lake.

Additionally, it marked the sixth RBI of the night for Meckler. Of the seven who have hit two triples in a game, Meckler is the only one to record more than three RBI. Even more, the six RBI in a game are the most by a River Cat since David Villar did so in a pair of games during his 2022 PCL MVP campaign, first on May 11 before accomplishing the feat just over a month later on June 22.

Though the Bees tried to start a comeback with a trio of runs in the seventh thanks to a two-run blast from Keston Hiura and a Charles Leblanc RBI single, Sacramento shut it down with two final runs in the home half of the eighth when Trenton Brooks doubled a run home and Grant McCray followed up with an RBI single to score Brooks.

Beck was sharp in his second rehab appearance, tossing 3.0 innings while allowing only an unearned run on three hits with three strikeouts. Following Beck was Tyler Matzek, who made his first rehab outing and yielded two runs (one earned) on one hit (a homer) while working the fourth.

Taking credit for the win was Spencer Howard (2-2), his second of the year, though he was also credited with a blown save. Even still, Howard surrendered only one run on two hits with three strikeouts in 2.0 innings. On for a seven-out save was Tyler Myrick, who converted his fifth of the season by facing the minimum seven hitters and punching out three.

At the dish it was Meckler leading the way, who closed his night 3-for-5 with his other accomplishments. He has now hit in 10 consecutive games, making him the sixth River Cat this season with a 10-game or longer hitting streak. Also picking up multiple knocks was Brooks, who was 2-for-5 while scoring twice with a double and RBI.

Game two of this series will take place on Wednesday, with first pitch at Sutter Health Park tossed at 6:45 p.m.