Baseball Game Preview: Katella Knights vs. Valencia Tigers

For the second straight game, Katella will face off against Valencia. The Knights will head out on the road to face off against the Tigers at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Katella has five straight wins, Valencia has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Katella barely beat Valencia the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Knights blew past the Tigers 17-3 on Tuesday. Considering the Knights have won seven games by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.

Hector Perez made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching four innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (five). He was even better at the plate, going 3-for-5 with one home run, three runs, and four RBI.

In other pitching news, Juan Carlos Navarro looked comfortable as he tossed three innings while giving up just two earned runs off two hits. He has been consistent : he hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances.

Back at the plate, Julian Bustos was a standout: he scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances. That's the most runs he has posted since back in March of 2024. Guillermo Leyva also deserves some recognition as he got his first hit of the season.

Katella kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least nine hits in three consecutive matchups.

Katella's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-3. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.3 runs over those games. As for Valencia, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-9.