Kitties Stymied by Bees on Friday

SALT LAKE CITY – The Sacramento River Cats could not find much room to operate on Friday, as both the offense and pitching struggled leading to an 8-1 loss at the hands of the Salt Lake Bees in game four of their series.

Thairo Estrada provided most of the offense for the River Cats (28-33/72-64), posting three of the team’s five hits as well as drove in the only run when he crushed his second homer of the season in the third inning. Though the two-out blast was followed by a David Villar reaching on a fielding error, the offense could muster no more.

Sacramento had its chances in the game, but including logging multiple hits in the fifth, they left seven runners stranded and were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

Meanwhile, the Bees (32-29/64-71) started the scoring right away in the first, plating two with one scoring on a wild pitch following a triple by Kyren Paris, while a Willie Calhoun walk turned into a run on a Eric Wagaman double.

Calhoun was responsible for each of the next two runs, launching a pair of solo home runs that came in the fifth and seventh innings. The second started a three-run frame, with Jordyn Adams driving in two on his blast to center field that also scored Wagaman.

They closed with two runs in the eighth, both of which crossed the dish on a two-out, two-RBI single from Paris.

Charged with the loss for Sacramento was starter Carson Seymour (6-10), who allowed three runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings with three strikeouts to two walks.

Game five of this series gets underway on Saturday, with the River Cats looking to halt their three-game skid when first pitch is tossed at 5:35 p.m. (PT).