Koss Doubles Twice but Kitties Slowed by Bees, 5-1

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento River Cats faced an early 2-0 hold after the first inning in game four of their series against the Salt Lake Bees, but despite scoring once in the fifth, Sacramento could not overcome Salt Lake’s 5-1 victory on Friday night.

Before the River Cats (18-25/62-56) could take their first turns at the dish, they found themselves trailing by a pair of runs thanks to a Eric Wagaman two-run blast in the top of the first. For Wagaman, it was his first Triple-A home run, crushing a 0-1 pitch out to left field.

Two innings later and the Bees (24-19/56-61) continued to add on with a tally in the away half of the third, as Jake Marisnick doubled to open the inning and later scored with one out courtesy of a Charles Leblanc single into left. Insurance tallies continued to come through in the fourth, as Salt Lake once more pushed across a pair of runs when Elliot Soto singled and Zach Humphreys doubled, both with two outs in the frame.

Sacramento finally struck back in the fifth, as Blake Sabol drew a walk and later scored from first when Christian Koss laced his first double of the evening into left-center field. However, despite another two-bagger from Koss in the eighth and a pair of runners aboard in the ninth, that was close as the River Cats could come.

Taking the loss for Sacramento was starter Kai-Wei Teng (1-5), who surrendered five runs for a second straight start, this time on seven hits over 5.0 innings. Despite the five runs, it was the first time that Teng had pitched 5.0 innings he also did so on June 5 against Albuquerque.

Pitching buckled down following Teng’s exit, as four River Cats relievers combined to not allow a hit while striking out four over the final four frames. Included in that was a scoreless inning from left-hander Tyler Matzek on his rehab assignment, while Camilo Doval followed suit in the seventh, each striking out a batter while facing the minimum.

At the dish, Koss recorded half of Sacramento’s four hits, both of which were doubles for his first two-double game of the season with the River Cats. Earning the other two hits were David Villar, who singled in the ninth, and Will Wilson, who had the first Sacramento hit in the bottom of the third.

This series is now locked at two games apiece, and both teams will look to take an advantage in the set when they line up for game five of this series at 6:37 p.m. (PT) on Saturday.