SALT LAKE CITY — It took just two innings for the Sacramento River Cats to do all the damage necessary to defeat the Salt Lake Bees Tuesday night.
The visiting team used three doubles, three singles and a couple of walks across just the fourth and fifth innings to score the majority of its runs as the River Cats posted a 6-3 victory at Smith's Ballpark. The loss was the third straight for the Bees, who remain solidly in last place in the Pacific Southern Division of the Pacific Coast League. They are now 17.5 games behind Las Vegas, the first-place team in the division, and 4.5 games behind Albuquerque, the next team up in the standings.
While the River Cats are last in their own Pacific Northern Division, Sacramento has won seven more games than the Bees this season and holds an 11-4 advantage over Salt Lake when going head-to-head.
In the Tuesday night matchup, Sacramento designated hitter Juan Perez led off the top of the fourth inning with a double to left field and then left fielder Mac Williamson singled to left and sent Perez home. After a walk and a single to center field, Sacramento catcher Trevor Brown sent a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Williamson and giving the River Cats a 2-1 lead.
An inning later, a line drive single to center field, two doubles to right field and a two-out walk led to three more Sacramento runs and a 5-1 advantage after 5½ innings.
In the top of the ninth inning, Sacramento shortstop Skyler Stromsmoe reached base with a walk and then Ryan Lollis sent him home with his second double of the night for the River Cats' final run of the game.
The Bees' three runs were sprinkled throughout the game. Shortstop Ryan Jackson scored in the third inning after reaching base with a walk and then moving around the diamond on a Grant Green single to center and an Efren Navarro RBI-single to center.
In the bottom of the fifth, Green doubled with one out, Navarro moved him to third with a single, and then third baseman Kaleb Cowart sent Green home with a sacrifice fly to left field to pull the Bees to within three, 5-2.
The same players were involved in the final Salt Lake run of the night when Green got on base with a one-out single to left, Kyle Kubitza moved him to second with a single to right field, and Navarro tallied another RBI when he sent Green home with a single to center field.
Lollis and Jarrett Parker each had two hits and two RBIs to lead Sacramento on offense while winning pitcher Clayton Blackburn totaled seven strikeouts in five innings.
For Salt Lake in the loss, Navarro was 4-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs and a double.
Sarah Thomas earned a degree in Mathematics from the University of Utah and is currently pursuing an MBA at Westminster College. She has been covering sports for the Deseret News since 2008.