Bees’ Offensive Masterclass Shines on Friday to Even Series

SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - Salt Lake’s bats hummed to open May, using 22 hits to pummel Sacramento 18-8 on Friday at The Ballpark at America First Square. Jose Siri’s four extra-base hits powered the Bees’ to a second straight win over Sacramento and evened the series at two games each going into the weekend.

Sacramento 8, Salt Lake 18

WP: Samy Natera Jr. (3-0)

LP: Seth Lonsway (0-1)

Key Performers

Jose Siri: 4-5, 2 R, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 6 RBI, HBP

Denzer Guzman: 4-5, 2 R, 2B, RBI, BB, K

Niko Kavadas: 3-3, 3 R, 2B, 3 RBI, 3 BB

Yolmer Sánchez: 2-5, R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, BB, 3 K

Game Summary

George Klassen worked around two walks in the first inning, keeping Sacramento in check. Salt Lake made an early statement, posting a crooked number in the bottom half. Donovan Walton, Chris Taylor and Jose Siri all collected an RBI in the opening frame, while a wild pitch brought home an additional run. When Klassen next touched the mound, his team held a 4-0 advantage.

The River Cats countered for a four-run frame of their own, using five consecutive singles to tie the game at four each. Salt Lake made it three straight half-innings with four runs scored, sending nine to the plate. Siri highlighted the scoring with his second RBI double of the night.

Sacramento scratched one across in the third, but a double play behind Klassen helped the right-hander get through three innings.

Four straight hits and seven total in the fourth brought home five more Bees runs, punctuated by back-to-back extra base knocks from Niko Kavadas and Siri. The latter delivered his third triple of the season and collected his fourth RBI of the night.

A three-run sixth via three straight singles helped the River Cats cut the deficit to 13-8. After a Niko Kavadas walk, Siri homered in the seventh to the left center alley to add his fifth and sixth RBI of the game. The fourth extra-base hit of the day left the outfielder a single shy of completing the cycle. Denzer Guzman picked up an RBI to make it a trio of runs in the frame, scoring Yolmer Sánchez. The shortstop insured all nine Bees in the starting lineup scored as well as each collecting a hit after the Venezuelan doubled.

With the Bees bullpen keeping Sacramento silent, Salt Lake added two more scores in the eighth. The first three reached on singles, bringing up Siri. In his last chance for the elusive cycle, the center fielder flew out to shallow right field, snuffing the opportunity for an even greater offensive performance. Sánchez doubled home two runs on the next pitch, running up the result to 18-8.

Jared Southard worked around two errors in the top of the ninth to record a scoreless performance and complete the Salt Lake rout. In doing so, the Bees also knotted the series at two wins each heading into the weekend.

Game Notes

• The Bees notched their second straight victory tonight and have now evened this week’s series at two games each. It also ties up the season series with Sacramento, as each squad has taken five of the first 10 matchups against each other, all in South Jordan.

• Salt Lake scored its most runs through four innings this season (13) and most since May 24, 2025 vs. Omaha (14). Friday was the first time since Aug. 7, 2025 that three different Bees have scored three times (Niko Kavadas, Denzer Guzman, Scott Kingery in 2025). The Bees also recorded their highest hit total through the first four innings of Friday’s game since May 23, 2016 vs. Memphis (17).

• The Bees tallied 22 hits tonight, the most in a single game since a 24-hit effort on June 19, 2018 at Colorado Springs, won 17-9 by Salt Lake. Salt Lake’s 18 runs were the most scored in a game since July 23, 2011 against Tacoma and the most against Sacramento since July 24, 2012. All nine Bees notched at least one hit and scored once in tonight’s contest. Eight of the nine had multi-hit ledgers and collected at least one RBI. Every hitter in the starting nine also reached safely at least twice in Friday’s contest. It is the second time Salt Lake has had all nine starters scored and notched hits in 2026, doing so on April 22 at Las Vegas in a 14-3 victory. Salt Lake brought eight or more hitters to the plate in four of the five innings they tallied crooked numbers (first, second, fourth and seventh innings).

• Salt Lake doubled six times tonight, with two from Jose Siri and Yolmer Sánchez, one from Denzer Guzman and one from Niko Kavadas. It is a new season-high, and is the most by the Bees in a game since August 3, 2025 at Oklahoma City when they also managed six two-base hits. There were eight total extra-base knocks by Salt Lake tonight (six doubles, one triple, one home run). It is the first game by the Bees with eight or more extra-base hits and at least six of those being doubles, since May 9, 2024, also against Sacramento at home.

• Donovan Walton holds an active three-game hit streak and has at least one RBI in two of his last three games. By virtue of scoring in the first inning, the Texan has scratched a run in four consecutive games, all against Sacramento.

• Denzer Guzman has hits in 15 of his last 17 games and notched a multi-hit effort. Guzman matched his Triple-A career-high hit total with four knocks on the night last doing so August 7, 2025. Guzman is the youngest Bee, (22 years and 83 days) to have multiple four-hit games in his career.

• Niko Kavadas singled in the first, reaching base safely in 21 of the 22 games he has played in this season. Kavadas finished the night going 3-for-3 with runs scored, three RBI, a double and three walks. His three hits and three runs notched a season-high while his three RBI and three walks matched a season-best, last knocking in three runs on Mar. 28 in Las Vegas while walking three times on April 10 at Reno and April 14 vs Sugar Land. In his last 10 games, Kavadas is batting .419 with nine RBI, eight runs scored, six doubles and 10 walks along with a 1.281 OPS. Kavadas is the first Bee and the 13th player since 2005 in Triple-A to have three hits, three RBI, three runs scored and three walks while being the 33rd Minor Leaguer to have the line in that timeframe.

• Jose Siri finished the night 4-for-5 with a home run, two doubles, a triple, six RBI and two runs scored. Siri is the first Bees player since Maicer Izturis to have two doubles and a triple in the first four innings of a game, happening June 3, 2006. Siri also became just the third Bees player in franchise history to have a home run, triple and two doubles joining Monte Harrison (2022) and Kaleb Cowart (2017). Siri’s six RBI made him the seventh player in the PCL to post that many runs batted in this season while being the first Bee to do so since Tucker Flint on June 26, 2025. Siri has 12 total extra-base hits in 2026, currently tied for 10th best in the PCL.

• Doubling twice tonight was Yolmer Sánchez. The Venezuelan collected his first multi-two bagger game as a Salt Lake bee, notching both in his final two at-bats. It marks the first occurrence of a two or more double ledger since September 14, 2024 at Worcester (Boston Red Sox) as a member of the Triple-A Syracuse Mets. It was his third multi-hit effort of the season, and second in his last four games. Sánchez has reached safely in nine straight games, the longest active streak by a Salt Lake hitter.

• Nick Madrigal walked, singled and scored in the first two innings tonight. He extended his on-base streak to five games, in which he has walked four times, collected three RBI, and scored twice.

• Trey Mancini scored three times in his two-hit performance. It is his second game in 2026 with three runs joining his outing on April 5 vs. Sacramento. Mancini secured his fourth multi-hit ledger of the season and first since April 8 at Reno. The designated hitter holds an active three-game hit streak and consecutive games with an RBI.

• Jared Southard tossed the final 1.1 innings tonight, holding Sacramento scoreless and struck out one in his outing. Since the start of the previous homestand (Apr. 14 vs. Sugar Land), the Texas Longhorn has five shutout performances and holds an ERA of 2.61 in 10.1 innings pitched.

• Kaleb Ort collected two strikeouts across his 1.2 innings tonight. He has a 2.2 IP scoreless streak across his last two appearances.

• Samy Natera Jr., picked up his third win of the season with two scoreless innings of work. First in relief tonight, the lefty punched out three and retired six of the eight total batters he faced. Two of the three wins this season by Natera have come at home against Sacramento (Mar. 31, Home Opener). Only Natera’s 2025 season with Double-A Rocket City saw more victories in a season, as he went 4-1 with the Trash Pandas.

• Yolmer Sanchez notched his first game of the year with two doubles, his first as a Bee and first time since September 14, 2024 with Syracuse. Sanchez has hit safely in six of his last seven games, batting .286 with a .976 OPS in that span.

Up Next

The six-game set continues on Saturday with Gold Medal Night, celebrating Utah’s Olympic spirit and local Olympians. First pitch between the Bees and River Cats is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. MDT from South Jordan, Utah.