Long strikes out 3, River Cats’ late comeback falls short

West Sacramento, Calif. — The Sacramento River Cats (21-23) had their late comeback bid fall short as they fell 5-1 to the first place Salt Lake Bees (24-20) on Wednesday.

After being shut out for the first eight innings of the game, the River Cats put the pressure on the Bees, eventually bringing the tying run to the plate for catcher Ricardo Genovés. Despite the hard contact, Genovés was unable to keep the line moving as his grounder was right at Salt Lake shortstop Jack Mayfield for the final out.

Salt Lake lefty Jake Kalish (5-1) stifled the Sacramento offense for 6.0 shutout innings, allowing just two singles and zero walks while striking out seven.

Sacramento right-hander Raynel Espinal (3-1) received his first loss of the season, surrendering four runs (three via a home run) on seven hits and three walks while striking out four in 5.0 innings.

Salt Lake catcher Matt Thaiss gave the Bees an early 3-0 lead in the first inning when he launched a towering 460-foot home run onto the right field berm with an exceptional 109.1 exit velocity.

Sacramento left fielder Austin Dean won an intense 12-pitch battle against Kalish with a two-out fourth inning single.

In the ninth, first baseman Jason Vosler and righty Gerardo Reyes engaged in a 15-pitch marathon, which ended in a walk and set up Dean for a two-out double, which had a 108.3 exit velocity.

Right-hander Tristan Beck (0-2, 9.68) will try to build off his excellent last start, taking on righty Cesar Valdez (4-1, 3.03) at 6:45 p.m. (PT) on Thursday. Listen to Johnny Doskow call the game online at rivercats.com or on the MiLB First Pitch app.

Additional Notes

• Fair Oaks, California native Sammy Long struck out three in 1.2 innings of relief for the River Cats, with lefty Joey Marciano finishing off the seventh for Long with a punch out.
• Sacramento righty Norwith Gudiño made his season-debut on Wednesday, striking out one while allowing one run on one hit and two walks in 2.0 innings.