Jones plates 2, River Cats drop close Thursday night battle with Salt Lake 

Salt Lake City, Utah — A two-RBI day by designated hitter Taylor Jones was a highlight as the Sacramento River Cats (62-81) narrowly fell 6-5 at the Salt Lake Bees (69-76) on Thursday.

Sacramento roared out to a 3-0 lead in the second. Jones broke the scoreless tie with a double to score third baseman Ford Proctor, his first RBI since joining the River Cats from Houston on Sept. 16.

Catcher Patrick Mazeika and left fielder Steele Walker added RBI singles to round out the inning.

After Salt Lake scored two in the fourth, Walker made it 4-2 when he led the fifth off with a double before taking third and home on a wild pitch and throwing error.

Two home runs in the bottom of the fifth off righty Spencer Bivens (1-1) gave Salt Lake its first lead. First baseman Jake Gatewood lined a solo shot before a walk and a single set up a three-run homer by left fielder Dillon Thomas.

Jones got Sacramento back within one with his second RBI double of the night, this time plating right fielder Austin Dean.

A pair of former Twins were excellent for Sacramento. Right-hander Zack Littell opened the game with three strikeouts over 2.0 perfect innings. Righty Trevor Hildenberger added a perfect third inning.

Right-hander Wei-Chieh Huang (2-2, 4.31) will try to break the River Cats’ skid. He’ll take on righty Janson Junk (1-7, 4.52) at 5:35 p.m. (PT) on Friday. Listen to Johnny Doskow call the game online at rivercats.com or on the MiLB First Pitch app.

Additional Notes

• Lefty Ben Bowden, who threw 2.1 shutout innings in game one, struck out two with one walk allowed in 1.2 shutout innings on Thursday.
• Righty Luis Ortiz, who turned 27 on Thursday, struck out two and walked one in a shutout inning. He has a 0.00 ERA, 23 strikeouts, a 0.79 WHIP, and a .173 opposing batting average in his last 24.0 Triple-A innings.