WEST SACRAMENTO, CA. - The Force was quite strong with Sacramento on Saturday night, as a seven-run third inning paced them to a 9-2 Star Wars Night win over the Salt Lake Bees. Two sacrifice flies were all that the visiting black and gold could muster as they were handed their second straight series defeat.
Sacramento 9, Salt Lake 2
WP: Joe Whitman (3-2)
LP: Alek Manoah (1-5)
Key Performers
Jeimer Candelario: 2-4, 2B, K
Kyren Paris: 1-2, RBI, BB, K, SAC FLY
Christian Moore: 1-4, R, 3B
Game Summary
Sacramento posted Saturday’s first two runs, as part of three straight hits to open the bottom of the first inning. Meanwhile, Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson held the Bees out of the run and hit columns to start his outing, tossing 2.2 innings of no-hit baseball.
The hosts ballooned the contest to 9-0, scoring seven times in the third inning. Sacramento sent 12 batters to the plate in the big frame, using four hits, five walks, six stolen bases and a sacrifice fly to do their damage. The River Cats totaled eight swipes tonight, the most a Salt Lake team has ever allowed in a single contest in franchise history.
Salt Lake got on the board in the fourth thanks to a sacrifice fly from Yolmer Sánchez to make it 9-1. Two innings later, a sacrifice fly from Kyren Paris moved the score to 9-2.
A trio of Bees relievers - Shaun Anderson, Justin Dunn, and Sammy Peralta - kept the Sacramento bats quiet over the final four innings. However, a pair of River Cats - Reiver Sanmartin and Juan Sanchez - virtually did the same, with the latter securing the Saturday night victory for the home squad. The loss also handed the Bees their second straight series defeat ahead of the finale prior to the All-Star Break.
Game Notes
- Salt Lake was held under four runs for the third time in the series bringing the club to 4-17 when scoring three runs or less. They were outhit by Sacramento for the third time this week, moving to 10-41 and 3-22 on the road when being outhit by the opponent. Salt Lake has not won a game this season when scoring exactly two runs (0-4); two of those losses have come against Sacramento (April 28 at home and tonight).
- Salt Lake was hitless with runners in scoring position for the second time in the series, going 0-for-6 on Saturday night. This week the Bees have gone 9-for-39 (.231) with runners in scoring position, posting the second lowest average in the league with only Albuquerque trailing with a RISP average of .147.
- The Bees dropped only their second road game of the season when committing zero errors (now 9-2). On the year, Salt Lake is 24-9 when posting a zero in the error column.
- Kyren Paris walked in his first at-bat of the night, extending his on-base streak to seven games. A sixth-inning sacrifice fly made it five straight games that Paris has driven in a run, holding 11 total RBI in that span. Paris singled in the eighth to push his hit streak to six games.
- After eight consecutive series splits between the two clubs, a series win has been secured after Sacramento earned its fourth win of the series. It is the first series loss for Salt Lake against Sacramento since the River Cats took two of three to open the 2024 season, March 30-31. The series defeat for Salt Lake marks the first road series loss since May 5-9 in a shortened series at Oklahoma City where the Comets took three of five games. The Bees are now 4-5-7 in series play this season and 1-3-3 on the road.
- With two outs in the third, Arol Vera tallied Salt Lake’s first hit of the night. His single marked the fourth game in his last five with at least one hit. Vera also walked later tonight, his fourth as a Bee. The second baseman is at his best when the weekend arrives, batting 9-for-36 (.250) on Saturday and Sundays combined.
- Yolmer Sánchez drove home the Bees’ first run on a sacrifice fly, his fourth of the campaign. It is the infielder’s third RBI of the month and 47th total in 2026.
- The newest Bee, Pablo Reyes, walked and scored tonight, marking back-to-back games with a run scored. His base-on-balls also confirmed that Reyes has reached in all three appearances with Salt Lake.
- Christian Moore led off the sixth with a triple, his fifth of the season. It is a new single-season career high for the former first round selection and marks back-to-back games with a hit. Moore later scored on a sacrifice fly, also his second consecutive game with a run scored. The triple came off a left-handed pitcher, continuing Moore’s dominance of the southpaws in 2026. It was the first three-base hit against lefties, but his 14th extra-base knock and 28th total hit off southpaws.
- Ben Gobbel carried on his recent charge at the plate, singled to extend his league-leading hit streak to 17 games. It is the longest active streak in professional baseball. That base hit also secured a growth to his on-base streak, now at 32 games. He has reached in all 26 games he has played with the Bees.
- Houston Harding fired two innings as the first reliever out of the ‘pen tonight. He has tossed at least a pair of frames in six straight outings, dating back to June 21 vs. Tacoma. In those six appearances, the southpaw holds a 2.57 ERA with 14.0 innings and six strikeouts.
- Bryce Teodosio’s single made it hits in consecutive games for the first time since his season-high six game hit streak between June 24-30. The outfielder has extended his on-base streak to five games with the base knock.
- Starting the seventh with a single was Jeimer Candelario, who has hits in two straight contests. The on-base streak also moved to five games on the base knock. A ninth-inning double handed Candelario his 13th of the season and notched back-to-back games with an extra-base hit.
- Shaun Anderson retired the first five River Cats he faced en route to two shutout innings. The reliever only gave up a walk in his first outing since June 27 at Albuquerque.
- Completing his third straight scoreless outing tonight was Justin Dunn. The Salt Lake arm has four shutout innings over that streak, coupled with three strikeouts.
- Sammy Peralta needed just seven pitches to toss a scoreless eighth tonight. It is the fourth straight appearance in which the lefty has yet to give up an earned run, tossing 3.2 innings in that stretch. Peralta’s last three outings have been true shutout performances, yielding two hits to two strikeouts in that span.
Up Next
The final game before the All-Star Break will take place in a Sunday matinee, as the Bees and River Cats conclude their six-game set in the Golden State. First pitch is set for 2:10 p.m. MDT.