Bees Best Kitties in Series Finale, 6-3

SALT LAKE CITY – The Sacramento River Cats took a brief lead with a pair of runs in the top half of the second while looking for their second straight win, but a response from the Salt Lake Bees in the bottom of the frame resulted in a 6-3 Salt Lake victory in the series finale on Sunday.

In the second frame the Bees (16-22) opened the scoring, plating a pair with a run on a balk while Chad Wallach delivered an RBI single into center. It took until the fourth for the River Cats (22-17) to break through on the scoreboard, doing so behind an RBI single from Donovan Walton that scored Trenton Brooks, who originally reached with a knock of his own.

Neither team had much going until the seventh when Sacramento briefly jumped back in front. Walton reached with one out thanks to his second single of the afternoon, and he easily scored from first on the first three-bagger of the season from newcomer Brett Auerbach. Shortly after Auerbach crossed the plate as well, as he didn’t wait long before fellow newcomer Turner Hill lined a ball into the right-center gap for a 3-2 lead.

The lead was short-lived as a single and pair of walks loaded the bases before they were all cleared with one swing of the lumber from Elliot Soto. On the first pitch of the at-bat, he was able to make solid enough contact on a ball that barely cleared the wall in left field for a grand slam. It is the third allowed by the River Cats this season, and they are just under halfway to the seven they allowed in the 2023 campaign.

No other runs were scored in the contest despite Sacramento’s best efforts, putting runners on in each of the eighth and ninth before leaving them stranded. Charged with the loss was Kai-Wei Teng (0-2), as he allowed the grand slam in 2.0 innings of work with two walks and two strikeouts.

That spoiled the outing for Spencer Howard, who had allowed only two runs on five hits in 5.0 innings. Howard had the strikeout stuff working, punching out nine hitters which is one shy of the River Cats’ game high of 10 that was accomplished by Carson Whisenhunt on May 4 against Tacoma.

At the dish, both Walton and Auerbach had a pair of hits, with each responsible for an RBI. Meanwhile, four other River Cats tallied a knock including Turner Hill finishing 1-for-4 with an RBI while Trenton Brooks was 1-for-3 with a run scored.

The River Cats will now return to Sacramento and prepare for a six-game series at Sutter Health Park, with game one on Tuesday afternoon at 12:05 p.m.