SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - The Bees nearly had enough pixie dust on Saturday’s Princess Night, but fell 6-5 to Reno after a ninth-inning surge from the visitors. Niko Kavadas homered twice, with his second as part of a game-tying, back-to-back tally in the eighth, but it wasn’t enough.
Reno 6, Salt Lake 5
WP: Dylan Ray (2-5)
LP: Kaleb Ort (5-5)
SV: Isaiah Campbell (3)
Key Performers
Niko Kavadas: 2-3, 3 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI, BB, K
Jeimer Candelario: 3-4, R, HR, RBI
Nelson Rada: 1-4, R, RBI
Game Summary
Salt Lake’s starter, Trevor Martin, worked in and around traffic to tally two zeros starting Saturday’s Princess Night off strong. Niko Kavadas got him some early run support, catapulting a mammoth moonshot into a far-away kingdom for a 1-0 lead. The Bees chucked the bases full later in the frame, tacking one another courtesy of Zach Humphreys’ sacrifice fly.
Teams traded one run each in the third, with Reno using a catcher’s interference and RBI single from major league rehabber Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to get on the board. The Bees got it back in the home half as three straight hitters reached, culminating in Nelson Rada’s run-scoring single.
Reno began the fourth with three straight singles off the first Bees reliever, Hagen Danner. A run came home off the third hit, marking the first earned run given up by the Salt Lake bullpen since last Sunday in El Paso.
The visitors posted their fourth crooked number of the series, tying and taking the lead in the fifth inning. LuJames Groover’s two-out single tied the game, before a wild pitch on ball four to the next Ace brought across the go-ahead run at 4-3. Groover then collected insurance in the seventh, nabbing another two-out RBI to push the score to 5-3 Reno.
In the eighth, Salt Lake got some magic from a fairy godmother. Kavadas lasered his second longball of the night 399 feet halfway up the berm to cut the lead to one. Two pitches later, Jeimer Candelario got in on the action, sneaking a solo shot just inside the foul pole to even the score at 5-5. As the rain began to fall, Reno collected three outs to send the game to the ninth and into a slim 19-minute delay.
Kaleb Ort restarted the showdown, getting two outs around a single. The Aces then put together two-out magic for the fourth time on Saturday, using consecutive base hits to take a 6-5 lead.
Salt Lake appeared to be in a great position to tie or even win the contest in the ninth after Zach Humphreys reached third base following a throwing error on his infield single. However, Reno’s Isaiah Campbell shut down the rally with a groundout and two strikeouts to help the visitors find their happily ever after on Saturday night.
Game Notes
- The Bees fall to 11-13 on Saturday nights and 8-6 at home. Salt Lake had won three of their last four on Saturdays, having last seen defeat on August 1 in Sugar Land on a walk-off double.
- Salt Lake is now 26-12 overall and 17-8 at home when they hit two home runs in a game. The Bees have now homered in eight consecutive games, the longest active streak in the Pacific Coast League and the third-longest home run streak of the season for the Bees. Salt Lake previously homered in eight straight games from May 27-June 4. The Bees have launched 16 home runs during their current eight-game streak dating back to Aug. 14, the most in the PCL over that span.
- Starter Trevor Martin turned in three innings of work in his fourth start of the campaign and first with Salt Lake. The righty matched his longest outing of the year (June 24 at Norfolk, game two of DH with the Durham Bulls). Martin allowed an unearned run for the second consecutive appearance as a Bee and worked around two walks and three singles to limit the potential damage.
- Niko Kavadas left the yard twice, his first multi-homer game of the season and the eighth in his professional career. The last time Kavadas went yard twice in a contest was September 18, 2025 in Las Vegas. His first longball was his third home run in South Jordan and first since April 29 vs. Sacramento. The designated hitter’s first moonshot left the yard with a 41-degree launch angle off the top of the apartment building in right field. Kavadas then lasered his second homer 399 feet to right field in the eighth. He has an extra-base hit in three straight games, as well as an eight-game on-base streak.
- Nelson Rada scored for the sixth consecutive game, posting his eighth run over that span. His 86 total runs in 2026 are tied for third most among PCL hitters. Rada extended his hit streak with an RBI base knock in the third and has gone seven straight contests with a hit. Rada notched the 180th RBI in his professional career tonight.
- Bryce Teodosio made it three straight games with a hit, thanks to a single in his first at-bat on Saturday. The outfielder is batting .348 in seven August games, since being activated from the injured list on August 11.
- Extending his on-base streak to five games was Ben Gobbel. The first baseman drew a walk in the second inning. He later collected a base hit to left to push his hit streak to five games and continue his success at home (batting .321 in 25 games).
- Zach Humphreys delivered a sacrifice fly in his second game back off the developmental list. The catcher snagged his first RBI since July 19, also against Reno at home.
- Kyren Paris pushed his on-base streak to four games on a free pass. The infielder has walked in three of his last four games as he now sits at 45 on the Triple-A season.
- Jeimer Candelario secured a three-hit night, thanks to his 12th homer of the year. His longball in the eighth tied the game at 5-5 and snuck just inside the foul pole in right. Candelario now has back-to-back multi-hit efforts and hits in six of his last seven games. The infielder holds an 11-game on-base streak, while his fifth-inning single marked his 390th Triple-A knock over seven seasons at the level.
- Hagen Danner yielded his first two runs tonight since doing so in game one of a June 27 doubleheader with Louisville. The earned runs given up by the right hander were the Bees bullpen’s first scores surrendered this week and first since Mitch Farris gave up a two-run homer to Ethan Salas on Sunday, August 16 at El Paso. Danner finished with 1.2 innings of work with four hits allowed.
- Southpaw Leonard Garcia struck out the side in his first full inning of work after entering with two outs in the fifth inning. His 1.1 inning effort saw one earned run come across, snapping his 4.0 IP scoreless streak. Garcia has seven strikeouts over his last four appearances (six innings).
- In his second Triple-A outing, Kyle Roche fired two innings of one-run ball. He walked two and ended his night with two strikeouts, his first at the level. Roche last pitched for the Bees on August 8 vs. Oklahoma City.
- In his one-inning appearance, right-hander Kaleb Ort snapped a seven-inning, six-game scoreless streak and was charged with his first loss since August 2 in Sugar Land. His ERA for August currently stands at 3.24.
Up Next
The six-game set and season series between Reno and Salt Lake concludes on Sunday with Abejas Night at The Ballpark. First pitch for the finale is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. MDT.