SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - The Bees built an early three-run lead behind Kyren Paris' first-inning home run and regained the advantage multiple times throughout the night, but Omaha answered every rally to pull away late to hand Salt Lake a 9-8 loss in Tuesday's series opener.
Omaha 9, Salt Lake 8
WP: Ben Sears (5-1)
LP: Rob Kaminsky (0-2)
SV: Justin Topa (2)
Key Performers
Nelson Rada: 3-4, 2 R, 2B, BB
Travis d’Arnaud: 2-2, 2 R, RBI
Kyren Paris: 2-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Ben Gobbel: 1-2, R, HR, 2 RBI, K
Game Summary
Brett Kerry kicked off Salt Lake's second straight home series by striking out two Storm Chasers and overcoming a one-out single in the top of the first.
Nelson Rada then started the home team's offense with a bunt single down the third-base line. After a lineout, Travis d’Arnaud, playing in his third rehab game, singled to the opposite field to give the Bees an early lead. Following another lineout, Kyren Paris launched his sixth home run of the year onto the right-field berm, putting Salt Lake up by three at the end of the first inning.
Following what looked like a homer, Omaha’s Elih Marrero hit a ground-rule-double to lead off the third inning, immediately after, Jack Pineda singled in Marrero from second. Rehabbing Kyle Isbel tripled to keep things going and bring Pineda in from first to get the Storm Chasers within a run. John Rave came through with a groundout to first to score Isbel from third and tie the game at three.
d’Arnaud led the third off with a lined single to left field. Christian Moore followed with a double to the same gap. After Paris flew out, Gustavo Campero doubled to drive both of them in to put the Bees up 5-3.
Four pitches into the fourth, the skies opened. Following a 44-minute rain delay, Kerry got through the frame in four batters. The Bees went down without a fight in the bottom half of the fourth. Omaha would tie things up at five apiece in the fifth using a two-run jack that would eventually knock Kerry out of the game.
Salt Lake took the lead back in the bottom of the fifth using a Bryce Teodosio sacrifice fly. The Storm Chasers surged back with three RBI doubles to plate four runs and put the visitors back ahead 9-6.
The bottom of the sixth and the top of the seventh stayed quiet. Rada doubled with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. Ben Gobbel came through in his first at-bat of the game, crushing his sixth homer of the season over the left field wall.
While Salt Lake kept the score right there, they were retired in order in the bottom of the ninth to hand the victory to the visitors.
Game Notes
- After playing well on Tuesdays to start the season (9-3 overall record), Salt Lake dropped their fourth straight Tuesday contest tonight. Omaha has collected two straight victories over the Bees, following Salt Lake’s five straight wins to start last year’s six-game series.
- Rain delayed tonight’s contest four pitches into the top of the fourth; play was halted for 44 minutes due to a passing thunderstorm. It marked the first ever in-game rain delay at The Ballpark at America First Square and the first at a Bees home game since September 19, 2023 in a game between Salt Lake and Sacramento at Smith’s Ballpark. That game finished 7-6 on a 10th inning walk-off single from Chris Okey with a game time of two hours, 58 minutes. The delay in that game occurred in the middle of the fifth inning and lasted 47 minutes.
- Brett Kerry’s 16th start of the season saw him go 4.1 innings. The righty surpassed the 80 strikeout mark on his first K of the game. He finished with three strikeouts, while giving up nine hits and five runs in his first appearance against Omaha.
- To lead off the game, Nelson Rada pulled out a classic leadoff spot, bunting for a single down the third baseline to start things for the Bees. He moved his on-base and hit streak to three games on the number. Rada has multiple hits in back-to-back games after he hit a line drive single to the opposite field in the second. The outfielder worked a walk in the bottom of the fourth, his 80th of the season. Rada recorded his second three-hit performance in the month of July after he doubled in the seventh inning.
- In his third game of his rehab assignment, Travis d’Arnaud drove in his first run as a member of the Bees. Tonight’s catcher singled to the opposite field, bringing in Nelson Rada from third.
- Kyren Paris capped off a first-inning, two-out surge in a big way, launching his seventh home run of the season to the opposite field. Pushing the Bees to a 3-0 lead, the blast bounced off the right-field berm to extend Paris's on-base streak to 12 games and his hit streak to a season-high 11 games. With seven homers now on the year, this marks his most productive homer season at the Triple-A level in three years of play.
- Pablo Reyes led off the second inning by lining a single to left field. On the knock, tonight’s designated hitter has reached in eight straight games. Reyes’ single also pushed his hit streak to five games.
- With one out in the second, Niko Kavadas worked a walk. In his second game off the injured list, the first baseman has reached base in eight straight games.
- After going hitless in his last game, Christian Moore doubled in his second at-bat. The two-bagger was his 20th of the season. It was Moore’s sixth in the month of July and his eighth extra-base hit in the month. Moore singled in the fourth, making it his 25th multi-hit performance of the season.
- Gustavo Campero lined a two-run single to the pull side in his second at-bat as a Bee. It was his first hit at Double-A or higher since playing with Rocket City on May 30, following a brief three-game stint with the Arizona Complex League Angels. The two RBIs marked his 24th and 25th runs driven in at the Triple-A level.
- In Omar Martinez’ first at-bat of the game in the fourth inning, the catcher singled to the pull side. Martinez's free pass moved his on-base streak to two games.
- Adam Frazier’s final at-bat of his second rehab assignment game saw him hit a single. It was his first knock as a Bee and his 119th at the Triple-A level.
- Bryce Teodosio hit a sac-fly in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the score at five. The RBI puts him one shy of 80 at AAA.
- In the bottom of the sixth, Ben Gobbel kept the Bees alive by blasting his sixth home run of the year, bringing Salt Lake within a single run. The two-run shot drove in his 23rd and 24th RBIs through 30 games with the team this season. Additionally, the longball extended both his active hitting streak and on-base streak to three consecutive games.
- Jared Southard recorded his third scoreless outing in his sixth outing in the month of July. The righty struck out one in 1.1 innings of work. He’s just two strikeouts away from 50 on the season.
- Huascar Ynoa, appearing as the fourth pitcher of the game for Salt Lake, threw a single inning to secure his third consecutive scoreless outing. This performance gives him three scoreless appearances in July, marking his highest total for any single month and passing his previous high of two established in April.
- Tayler Saucedo got back on track with his first scoreless outing since Friday, July 17 vs. Reno. The southpaw has allowed one earned run across his most recent six appearances (5.2 IP - 1.59 ERA).
Up Next
Salt Lake is back in action as they transform into the Dirty Sodas on Wednesday. First pitch from The Ballpark at America First Square is set for 6:35 p.m. MDT.