Cats Close Series with Dominant 7-1 Win Over Bees

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Another Carson Whisenhunt start, another Whisenhunt gem as the southpaw breezed through seven strong frames while Max Stassi provided a bang in his return from the injured list to power the Sacramento River Cats to a 7-1 win over the Salt Lake Bees.

After missing 19 games on the injured list, Stassi made his return to the lineup on Sunday and made an immediate impact with his first at-bat in the second inning. On the first pitch that he saw with a runner on, Stassi hammered his first homer of the season out to right field that also scored Jake Lamb for the early River Cats (21-24) advantage. Shortly after Osleivis Basabe ripped a double into right center, scoring Hunter Bishop who had walked following Stassi.

Two innings later and Sacramento doubled their lead thanks to another three runs in the fourth, the first of which scored on a wild pitch from Bees (18-26) starter Caden Dana (3-4). Stassi then drove home another run on a single into left field, and a Marco Luciano sacrifice fly was responsible for the final tally.

The game’s final run came in the home half of the fifth, all starting when Daniel Jonson deposited a knock into left center to start the frame. After working his way around to third, he scored on Stassi third and final hit of the contest when he pulled a ball through the left side. That gave Stassi four RBI in the contest, his second four-RBI game of the year after also driving in four on April 10 at Tacoma.

While it was great to see the offense clicking, it was hardly needed as Whisenhunt (4-3) cruised through his outing against the Bees. Though he did not strike out as many as the opener, he still finished with five punchouts and just one walk while allowing an unearned run over seven innings.

This was the fourth straight outing that Whisenhunt has gone seven full, making him the first River Cat to do so since Andrew Suárez did so from July 27 through Aug. 12, 2017. Whisenhunt has owned the Bees this season, as the southpaw is 3-0 and has not allowed a run against Salt Lake in 20.0 innings pitched.

Johnson extended his on-base safely streak to 11 games with his single in the fifth, though he is batting just .222 in that time. Stassi ended the day a perfect 3-for-3 with the four RBI, while Bishop ended his game 2-for-3 with a run scored and a double.

Thanks to this win the River Cats earned a series sweep against Salt Lake, and they will look to continue after today’s win when Sacramento begins a new series on the road with Oklahoma City at 5:05 p.m. (PT) on Tuesday.