SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - The Bees put together a nail-biting ninth-inning rally to erase a two-run deficit and force extra innings, but Oklahoma City scored in the 10th to hand Salt Lake a heartbreaking 6-5 loss on Sunday.
Oklahoma City 6, Salt Lake 5 (Final/10)
WP: Jerming Rosario (4-1)
LP: Dillon Tate (1-3)
SV: Griff McGarry (2)
Key Performers
Christian Moore: 3-4, 2B, RBI, BB, K
Jeimer Candelario: 1-4, HR, RBI, R, BB, 2 K
Jose Atencio: 2.0 IP, 2 K, BB, 0 H, 0 R
Game Summary
Yusei Kikuchi began his second rehab appearance as a Bee by retiring the side in order in the opening frame.
In the bottom half, Christian Moore greeted rehabbing starter Tyler Glasnow by lining an opposite-field single with one out. Moore then stole second and advanced to third on a groundout by Yolmer Sánchez. He subsequently crossed the plate on a wild, spiked pitch from the Oklahoma City pitcher, giving Salt Lake an early advantage. This marked the first time the Bees scored first in the series.
Kikuchi opened the second with a strikeout but a single and walk were both scored on a Griffin Lockwood-Powell double off the wall to put the Comets ahead.
In the bottom of the second, Glasnow delivered a shutdown inning. The offense quickly capitalized in the top of the third, scoring two runs when James Tibbs III launched a 107 MPH, two-run blast into the Bees bullpen in left for his 22nd home run of the season.
The scoreboard remained unchanged until the bottom of the fourth inning. With two outs, Jeimer Candelario cut the deficit in half by mashing his ninth home run of the year, a 404-foot blast to the right-field berm that left the bat at 110 MPH.
It wasn’t until the sixth that the scoreboard saw some action. With two outs, Lockwood-Powell singled and scored a run to extend the Comets lead to 5-2.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Omar Martinez kept the momentum going with two outs by lining the team's third consecutive single. This driving hit brought Kyren Paris home, pulling Salt Lake back to within two runs.
The game turned into a defensive battle with both teams trading scoreless frames until the bottom of the ninth inning. Entering their final turn at bat trailing 5-3, the Bees mounted a thrilling rally. Following a strikeout to start the inning, a subsequent walk and single forced Oklahoma City to remove reliever Ronan Kopp.
Facing a new pitcher, Moore delivered a crucial single up the middle, driving home Logan Porter to cut the deficit to a single run. The dramatic climax came when Niko Kavadas, down to his final strike, smashed a sharp liner toward Comets third baseman Noah Miller; the ball deflected off Miller's glove for an error, allowing Rada to cross the plate and lock the game in a 5-5 tie to send it into extra innings.
Oklahoma City broke a 5-5 tie in the top of the 10th inning when Alek Thomas hit a two-out single up the middle to drive in the go-ahead run. Despite putting a runner on via an intentional walk in the bottom half of the frame, Salt Lake was retired in order to seal a 6-5 defeat, marking the Bees' fifth loss of the series.
Game Notes
- Salt Lake finished the season series with Oklahoma City tonight, holding a 3-8 record against the Comets. The Bees have not defeated OKC in a series in Utah since August 15-20, 2023 when they took four of six from the Dodgers at Smith’s Ballpark.
- The Bees have now lost three straight series and their last five six-game sets. Salt Lake last captured a series victory in a three-game weekend series over Reno coming out of the All-Star Break. Notably, the Beehive State squad also last secured a six-game series win against the Aces in Nevada on June 9-14.
- The Bees played in their first extra-inning game at home since June 17. They have lost their last three extra-inning contests at home (June 3 vs. ABQ; June 17 vs. TAC; tonight vs. OKC) and have lost three straight regardless of venue. The last time Salt Lake secured victory in extra innings was June 27 at Albuquerque (8-7 in 10 inn.).
- Salt Lake’s pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts against the Comets. This is the first double-digit strikeout game for the Bees since their August 1 matchup with Sugar Land.
- For the first time since matching up with Sugar Land on July 30, Salt Lake swiped three bases in a single game. Throughout June, the Bees reached the number 10 times, followed by just two such performances in July.
- Making his second rehab appearance for Salt Lake, Yusei Kikuchi registered seven strikeouts, his highest total at any level since fanning eight against the San Diego Padres on April 18. Over the course of the outing, he surrendered four runs on six hits and permitted only one walk.
- With one out in the first, Christian Moore greeted rehabbing Tyler Glasnow with a lined single into right field. The base knock extended his on-base streak to eight games and his hit streak to three. In his third at-bat, Moore would establish a season-high eight-game walk streak, moving within one game of Kyren Paris, who owns the longest walk streak by a Bee this season. A walk today made Moore and Paris the only pair of teammates in Bees franchise history (2005-present) to each record walk streaks of eight or more games. They are the first teammates in the PCL to accomplish the feat this season and the first since 2025, when Austin Gauthier and Alex Freeland (OKC); Nick Martini and Colby Thomas (LV); and Alejandro Osuna and Justin Foscue (RR) did so.
- With two outs in the bottom of the second, outfielder Cade Marlowe drew a walk, securing his 170th career free pass at the Triple-A level. This marks the fifth time he has safely reached base over his last six games.
- In the bottom of the fourth, Jeimer Candelario cut the deficit in half by crushing his ninth home run of the season. The veteran launched a 404-foot shot to the right-field berm that registered 110.6 MPH off the bat, the eighth highest exit velocity this season and extending his hit streak to two games and his on-base streak to three.
- Kyren Paris worked a walk in his second at-bat. He extended his on-base streak to 27 games on the free pass. Tonight’s shortstop has the longest on-base streak by a Bee since Michael Stefanic posted two separate streaks of 53 games (April 1-June 8) and 34 games (July 8-September 16) in 2023. In the sixth inning, Paris hit a two-out single to push his hitting streak to seven games.
- Relieving the rehabbing Yusei Kikuchi, left-hander Rob Kaminsky tossed 0.2 scoreless frames in his 21st appearance of the year. He has now gone three consecutive outings without yielding an earned run.
- Nelson Rada extended his hit and on-base streaks to three games with a legged out double that was lined in the right-center gap. The two-bagger was his 20th at the Triple-A level and his first since July 26 against Omaha.
- To keep the two-out rally alive, Omar Martinez singled to the opposite field at 105.9 MPH off the bat. It scored one and got the Bees within two runs. Martinez extended his on-base streak to two games on the knock.
- Making his first appearance with Salt Lake and at the Triple-A level since April 23 in Las Vegas, Mitch Farris allowed one run on three hits over two innings, striking out two and issuing one walk.
- Jose Atencio delivered an outstanding performance in his second appearance for Salt Lake since being promoted from High-A Tri-City just days ago. The righty pitcher tossed two scoreless and hitless innings, racking up two strikeouts while allowing only one walk. With this outing, Atencio maintains a perfect scoreless streak to begin his tenure with the Bees. This marks his first back-to-back scoreless appearances since pitching for High-A Fredericksburg on June 30 and July 6, 2023.
- During the bottom of the 10th inning, Gustavo Campero was intentionally walked, extending his on-base streak to seven consecutive games. This also marks the second straight game in which he has drawn a walk. Overall, Campero has successfully reached base in 13 out of his 16 games since joining the Bees this season.
- In his 11th outing of the year for Salt Lake, Dillon Tate threw two innings without giving up an earned run. He has now kept opponents from scoring earned runs in eight of his 11 games this season.
Up Next
Following a travel day, the Bees head to El Paso to face the Chihuahuas for their second and final series this season. Salt Lake will aim for better results in Texas after being swept in Sugar Land during their last road trip. The series opens on Tuesday at Southwest University Park, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:35 PM MDT.