Large Lead Slips but Sacramento Holds for 12-10 Decision

SALT LAKE CITY – When it seemed as if the Sacramento River Cats had hit easy street, they had to stay focused down the stretch as the Salt Lake Bees put together a 10-run comeback attempt that fell just short, letting Sacramento escape with a 12-10 victory in their series opener on Tuesday.

Wade Meckler began the ballgame with a triple for the River Cats (34-36), scoring two batters later on a sacrifice fly from Grant McCray. However, it was the third when Sacramento busted things open by scoring seven runs on six hits, three of which were homers.

Meckler once more set the table, this time with a single and then scored quickly on a Luis Matos double. Those two hits preceded the first homer of the frame, one that came from the bat of top prospect Bryce Eldridge as he hammered the first pitch he saw over the wall in right field for a two-run dinger. Before the crowd could settle, Marco Luciano lifted off for the team-leading 12th time this season, marking the second time this year Sacramento has hit back-to-back homers.

Later in the frame Drew Cavanaugh joined the party, hitting his first Triple-A homer on the first pitch of his at-bat for a two-run dinger. This was Cavanaugh’s 22nd total Triple-A contest, and marked the second time this season that Sacramento has hit three homers in an innings (also on May 31 during the seventh inning of an 8-1 win over El Paso).

McCray chipped in his ninth blast of the year during the fourth inning, going yard on a 2-1 offering and taking it over the wall in right center. Sacramento’s final runs were a trio of tallies in the sixth inning, one of which came from an RBI single from Eldridge while Brett Wisely added a two-RBI knock.

However, the lead nearly slipped as the Bees (26-43) reeled off 10 straight runs in the last half of the contest, dropping four runs in the sixth before adding three each in the seventh and eighth innings. Among the highlights were a three-run blast by former San Francisco Giant J.D. Davis in the seventh, while Niko Kavadas tallied a two-RBI double with two outs in the eighth.

On to close the door for the River Cats was Ryan Watson (S, 2), picking up his second save by working a clean ninth with two strikeouts. That saved the victory for River Cats starter Carson Whisenhunt (7-4), who was brilliant for most of his outing against the Bees.

The southpaw entered the game without having allowed an earned run on the season to Salt Lake, and while that streak stretched to 25.1 innings, he was tagged for four runs before leaving in the sixth inning. While he did not get a quality start, he still claimed his seventh victory of the season after allowing nine hits and striking out seven.

Eight different River Cats tallied hits, eight of which were multi-hit efforts. McCray was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and three RBI in addition to a double, while Luciano was 2-for-5 with a pair of extra-base hits and an RBI. Also driving in three was Eldridge who was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Wade Meckler was 2-for-6 with two runs scored and a triple.

Sacramento strikes first in the series, and they will look to maintain their advantage when the two teams link up again at 6:05 p.m. (PT) on Wednesday.