Fleet Makes Debut As River Cats' Pitching Staff Dominates

The River Cats moved to 2-0 on the road with a 5-1 victory over the Salt Lake Bees on Saturday night. Austin Fleet was perfect and combined with three relief pitchers to hold the Bees to just one run on four hits. The offense came from a pair of two-run home runs by Jarrett Parker and John Bowker as well as an RBI single by Ehire Adrianza.

Making his 2015 debut, Austin Fleet dazzled during his short start which was limited by an early season pitch count. He did not allow a baserunner in his four innings of work, striking out three before reaching 65 pitches and being relieved by right-hander Brett Bochy. Fleet induced seven groundball outs and kept the Salt Lake hitters off-balance with excellent command of the strike zone. In 2014, Fleet split time between Richmond and Fresno, compiling a 12-3 record with a 3.14 ERA. He finished the year in Triple-A Fresno making seven starts and struggling with consistency. Tonight he pitched beautifully in his first start with the River Cats, and set the tone early for a fantastic team pitching performance.

Salt Lake starter Zach Stewart matched Feet early, getting through five innings unscathed, allowing four hits and walking three. The River Cats got on the board in the 6th inning, however, when Adam Duvall extended his hitting-streak to eight games with a double down the left-field line. Right-fielder Jarrett Parker immediately followed with his team-leading fourth home run of the season, sending a fastball from RHP Zach Stewart over the left field wall to give the River Cats a 2-0 lead.

That was the score until the 9th inning when Ronny Cedeno led off with a line drive single to right and moved to second on a passed ball by Bees catcher Carlos Perez. First basemen John Bowker then stepped up and pulled an off-speed pitch high onto the grass berm in right field for his first home run of the season. The River Cats pushed across another run with back-to-back hits by Darren Ford and Ehire Adrianza, giving them a 5-0 lead.

The bullpen was again a big story for the River Cats. Brett Bochy and Steven Okert continued Fleet's early work, baffling the Bees hitters over 3.2 innings allowing just one hit. Michael Broadway came on in the 8th to relieve Okert and was not quite as sharp as he has been thus far in 2015. Broadway gave up a number of hard-hit balls and the Bees strung a few hits together in the 9th, putting them on the board and breaking up the shutout. After allowing the first run, Broadway struck out the next batter to end the game, giving the River Cats the 5-1 victory and a chance to go for the series win tomorrow afternoon.

Each of the River Cats hitters reached base at least once, consistently putting runners on base before breaking through in the 6th. Adrianza, Parker, Bowker, and Ford paced the River Cats offense, each collecting two hits. Adrianza and Parker also each stole their first bases of the season, while Ford stole his second and third. The River Cats pitching staff lowered their now league-leading ERA to 2.64. Bochy earned the win and moved to 2-0 while Broadway picked up his first save of the year. The loss goes to Zach Stewart.

These two teams face off again tomorrow afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 12:05 p.m. PT. It will be right-hander Robert Coello for the River Cats (1-0, 1.50 ERA) against the Bees' right-hander Drew Rucinski, who was recently sent down from the Angels and will be making his Triple-A debut.