SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - Salt Lake dropped its second consecutive contest in an 11-9 Friday thriller, despite a high-scoring affair that featured 20 runs and 26 hits between both clubs. In front of 7,717 fans, the second-largest crowd at The Ballpark at America First Square, the Bees were unable to hold on in a game that saw multiple lead changes before Las Vegas pulled away late.
Las Vegas 11, Salt Lake 9
WP: Hayden Juenger (1-0)
LP: Justin Dunn (1-4)
SV: Wander Suero (4)
Key Performers
Christian Moore: 3-5, 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, K
Bryce Teodosio: 3-5, 2 R, 2 2B
Ben Gobbel: 2-4, R, HR, 3 RBI, BB, K
Game Summary
Las Vegas jumped on Salt Lake’s starter, Brett Kerry after he retired the first batter of the game. A pair of singles followed the early popout to the catcher and the Aviators clean up hitter Tommy White cashed in with an RBI double. Brian Serven followed suit with a sac-fly to the opposite field that scored the visitors second run.
The Bees responded immediately in their half of the first. Nelson Rada drew a leadoff walk and Christian Moore followed suit; both runners scored thanks to an RBI single from Ben Gobbel and a sacrifice fly by Omar Martinez, cutting the Las Vegas lead to one.
Salt Lake put together a four-run second inning after Kerry retired the side in order. The rally began with a Bryce Teodosio double, and he crossed the plate shortly after on a deep single by Ryan Nicholson. Nelson Rada then earned his second walk of the night, setting the stage for Christian Moore to blast a three-run home run to propel the Bees to a 6-3 advantage.
Following the Bees' four-run bottom of the second, the Aviators leveled the score in the top of the third. Tommy White ignited the comeback with a solo home run, and Brian Serven followed immediately with a back-to-back blast, knotting the game at 6-6 as the teams moved into the bottom half of the inning.
Las Vegas bounced back with a scoreless bottom of the third and Kerry got through the fourth unscathed. Arol Vera led the home half of the fourth off with a single. He was later brought in on a 427 foot blast by Ben Gobbel to put the Bees back ahead 8-6 after four.
Cade Marlowe gathered his third hit of the game for the Aviators, a triple, and he would score the batter later when White hit a sac-fly to deep right field to get the visitors within a run.
Teodosio sparked a one-out rally in the bottom of the fifth by lining his second double of the evening. After advancing to third on a ground ball from Nicholson, he crossed home plate on a balk, extending the Bees' lead to 9-7.
The score was leveled at nine apiece going into the bottom of the seventh inning after the Aviators utilized three hit batters to set up a game-tying single earlier in the frame.
In the bottom of the eighth, Salt Lake created a scoring opportunity by loading the bases but was unable to capitalize despite receiving seven consecutive balls.
As the game moved to the ninth, Justin Dunn took the mound and retired the first batter on a popout. However, Chad Wallach followed with a go-ahead home run into the visitors' bullpen, giving the Aviators the lead. A subsequent throwing error allowed a single to reach third base, and a groundout later enabled Las Vegas to stretch their advantage to 11-9 going into the final half-inning.
Salt Lake looked for some bottom of the ninth magic but it was too little too late as Wander Suero sat down the side in order to hand the Bees their second straight loss.
Game Notes
- Salt Lake was defeated on Friday for the first time in 10 tries, having won nine straight on the day of the week. Ironically, the Aviators were also responsible for handing the Bees their last Friday loss, doing so on April 24 in Las Vegas. Tonight’s loss also ended a streak of five straight wins at home on Fridays this season. Salt Lake is 11-4 on Fridays in 2026, tied with Knoxville, St. Paul and Inland Empire for the most wins across all 120 Minor League clubs on the day.
- Salt Lake lost for the first time at home when the margin was two runs (previously 2-0). On the season, the Bees are 8-2 overall in two-run games. Additionally, it was just the third loss at home Salt Lake has suffered when ahead after six innings.
- Bees starter Brett Kerry logged five innings, marking his ninth outing of the season of at least that length. While he surrendered 10 hits—the second time in his past three games reaching double digits—he struck out six batters without issuing a single walk. This performance was his fifth walk-free start of the year.
- To leadoff the game for the Bees, Nelson Rada worked a walk. After his seven game on-base streak was snapped in last night’s game, the outfielder reached base with his 45th free pass this season. Rada scored twice tonight, compiling 12 total in 11 games on Fridays this season, tied for fifth best in the PCL.
- After rejoining the Bees from a short stint with the Los Angeles Angels, Christian Moore has a hit in three of his four games. Despite going hitless in his first game back, tonight’s designated hitter pushed his hit and on-base streak to three games with his 16th double of the season. Moore crushed his 10th homer of the year, a three-run jack to the left of the batters eye to put the Bees up three in the second.
- With an RBI single in the first to give Salt Lake their first run, Ben Gobbel extended his hit streak to 11 games as well as ensuring he reached in every game as a Bee in 2026 (20 total). Across three levels of play this season, the infielder holds a 25-game on-base streak, dating back to May 30. Gobbel’s 11-game hit streak is tied for the longest active streak in the PCL (Brian Serven, LV; Charlie Condon, ABQ). In his third at-bat, the infielder blasted his third homer of the season, a 427 foot jack to centerfield. Gobbel has six total longballs in 2026 - three of those have been with Salt Lake and two have come in his last three contests. .
- Omar Martinez tallied his 30th RBI of his Triple-A career on a sacrifice fly in the first inning and has 21 total in 2026. A third of those RBI (7) have come in his most recent eight games, a stretch where he is batting .350 (8-for-25).
- Bryce Teodosio recorded a 3-for-5 ledger with two doubles and two runs scored. It is his first multi-double game at the Triple-A level, and three of Teodosio’s last four hits have gone for extra-bases (all doubles). He also scored twice tonight, his sixth game with the Bees where he has multiple runs. It is the second time Teodosio had three hits in a game at Triple-A this season (June 4 vs. Albuquerque).
- To tie the game at three in the second, Ryan Nicholson crushed a long single to the right field wall, scoring Bryce Teodosio. The first baseman pushed his hit and on-base streak to five games on the knock. Six of Nicholson’s eight career Triple-A RBI have come in his last seven games (dating back to June 23).
- Yolmer Sánchez extended his on-base streak to 14 games with a 13-pitch walk in the second inning. He’s just two games away from tying his season-high streak of 16 games. The veteran has hits in back-to-back nights thanks to his 17th double in the fourth.
- In the fourth inning, Arol Vera singled to start the home half of the frame. With the knock, the infielder has reached base in a season high three games. He has hits in three of his last five games.
- Tayler Saucedo retired all four hitters he faced to record his third consecutive scoreless appearance. It is his second longest streak of the season (3.1 IP), only behind a 5.1 inning streak between March 31 - April 5.
Up Next
Freedom rings on Independence Day as the Bees take on the Aviators for their penultimate game of a six game set. First pitch on Saturday inside The Ballpark at America First Square is set for 6:35 PM MDT.