Jose Siri nearly cycles as Salt Lake pounds Sacramento 18-8

Salt Lake’s bats finally turned The Ballpark at America First Square into a launching pad, and Jose Siri was at the center of it. The Bees hammered Sacramento 18-8 on Friday night, collecting 22 hits in an offensive burst that left Siri one hit shy of the cycle after a 4-for-5 night with six RBI and four extra-base hits.

The more telling part of the breakout was how it built. George Klassen worked around early walks to help Salt Lake jump to a 4-0 lead, but Sacramento answered with four runs in the second to tie it. Salt Lake responded with a big inning that sent nine batters to the plate and put the game back in hand, then kept adding layers with a five-run fourth. Sacramento scratched out three more in the sixth, but the Bees were already too deep and too relentless.

This was not a one-man show. Donovan Walton, Chris Taylor and Siri all drove in runs in the first inning, and the production kept coming from every spot in the order. Niko Kavadas went 3-for-3 with three runs, three RBI and three walks, while Denzer Guzman matched the night’s volume with a four-hit performance. All nine Salt Lake starters scored and all nine recorded at least one hit, the kind of balance that suggests this was more than a temporary heater against a tired pitching staff.

Siri’s seventh-inning homer put the final stamp on the game and made the cycle just out of reach, but the broader question is whether Salt Lake found something repeatable at the plate. The evidence from this game points toward yes. The Bees mixed patience, power and contact, kept extending innings instead of emptying them, and forced Sacramento into constant damage control.

The victory evened the series at two games apiece after Salt Lake had dropped the opener 5-2 and game two 17-7 before winning 4-2 in game three. It also came during Salt Lake’s first homestand at its new South Jordan ballpark, a setting that has already seen the Bees open a new chapter, and now one of their loudest offensive nights.