Alcántara homers for 2nd straight day as River Cats drop 5th in a row

Bees 10, River Cats 7

Sacramento infielder Arismendy Alcantara fields a ground ball on June 20 vs Salt Lake. (Ralph Thompson Photo)

By Maverick Pallack

July 10, 2021

Salt Lake City, Utah — The Sacramento River Cats (23-32) once again surrendered double-digit runs, falling to the Salt Lake Bees (28-27) on a 105-degree Friday night at Smith’s Ballpark. Despite the defeat, the River Cats’ offense remained excellent. They’re averaging 8.4 runs and have scored first in every contest

Salt Lake City, Utah — The Sacramento River Cats (23-32) once again surrendered double-digit runs, falling to the Salt Lake Bees (28-27) on a 105-degree Friday night at Smith’s Ballpark.

Despite the defeat, the River Cats’ offense remained excellent. They’re averaging 8.4 runs and have scored first in every contest over the five-game skid. The pitching staff, however, has struggled. Sacramento pitchers have surrendered 53 runs and 15 home runs, with seven coming in the last two games against Salt Lake.

Sacramento right-hander Matt Frisbee (1-4) served up a season-high four home runs in 4.0 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits.

River Cats first baseman Jason Krizan kicked off the scoring with a solo home run in the first inning. Following three solo home runs by the Bees, left fielder Arismendy Alcántara tied things back up in the third with a mammoth two-run home run off the right field scoreboard.

Krizan, right fielder Joe McCarthy, Alcántara, and third baseman Mitchell Tolman, Sacramento’s 3-6 hitters, combined to go 8-for-17 with a walk, five runs, and five RBIs.

The River Cats’ sixth run was possibly the oddest run any team has/will score this season. After shortstop Mauricio Dubón walked and got to second on a single, he advanced two bases on back-to-back balks by Salt Lake reliever Felix Peña.

Right-hander Gerson Garabito (0-2, 3.63) looks to play stopper with a win over left-hander Dillon Peters (1-2, 4.84) at 5:35 p.m. (PT) on Saturday. Listen to all of the action live online at rivercats.com, and on the *MiLB First Pitch app. *

Additional Notes

Friday’s home run was Alcántara’s 10th of the season, which ties him with McCarthy for the team lead even though he’s played just 28 games.
The five-game skid is the River Cats’ second this season, doing so June 11-17. They previously lost five straight in 2019 from Aug. 24-Aug.28 before winning four of their last five to close out the regular season, and eventually taking the Triple-A National Championship.
After a rough June in which his ERA flew from 4.15 to 7.40, right-hander Tyler Cyr has settled into July, with his shutout inning on Friday bringing his modest monthly total to 3.1 hitless innings.