EL PASO, TEXAS. - Brett Kerry delivered seven shutout innings while Omar Martinez drove in four runs as the Bees cruised past the Chihuahuas, 8-2, to even the series at two games apiece on Friday night.
Salt Lake 8, El Paso 2
WP: Brett Kerry (4-7)
LP: Joe Musgrove (0-1)
Key Performers
Omar Martinez: 3-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, K
Raudi Rodriguez: 2-3, 2 R, BB, K
Bryce Teodosio: 2-4, R, 2 2B, RBI
Brett Kerry: Win, 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K, QS
Game Summary
A Copa de la Diversión clash between the Abejas and Matachines began with back-to-back 1-2-3 innings by both starters. Rehabbing Joe Musgrove began the game with a 1-2-3 inning, while Brett Kerry recorded the next one in the bottom half.
Salt Lake got to the seasoned MLB hurler after he struck out the leadoff hitter in the second. Back-to-back singles from Jeimer Candelario and Raudi Rodriguez came around to score on Omar Martinez’s 11th homer of the season, giving the Bees an early 3-0 lead headed to the bottom of the second.
Kerry rolled another 1-2-3 frame in the second, and the Bees kept rolling in the top of the third. Niko Kavadas cashed in on a walk and hit-by-pitch by singling in a run. Candelario came through again, rolling into a force out to score the Bees’ fifth run of the game.
Kerry’s perfect game bid was snapped in the fifth inning via a free pass. The righty’s no-hitter was broken with two outs in the seventh on a base hit into right field. El Paso made things interesting with another single and a walk to load the bases, but both pitchers continued to trade zeroes.
Salt Lake plated its first run since the third inning off the bat of Martinez, who gathered his fourth RBI of the game by doubling home Rodriguez from first after he walked with two outs. It extended the Bees’ lead to 6-0.
Bryce Teodosio came through right away, hitting his 10th double of the season to plate Martinez from second and add another run, making it 7-0. The next batter, Logan Porter, reached on an error to plate Teodosio and extend Salt Lake’s lead to eight.
Entering the bottom of the eighth, Alex Faedo took over on the mound in relief of Kerry. El Paso avoided the shutout by plating their first run when a one-out double was driven home on a single to right field.
The score stayed put until the bottom of the ninth when the Chihuahuas made it interesting. A leadoff walk came around to score El Paso’s second run of the game. Kaleb Ort came in with two outs and slammed the door with a strikeout.
Game Notes
- Three guarantees in life - death, taxes, and the Salt Lake Bees winning on Fridays. They are 14-7 on the year on the day, notching seven wins each on the road and at home. Salt Lake’s 14 victories are one shy of the Triple-A leader (Rochester) this season, and are three wins shy of tying the club record for wins on a single day (17 on Fridays in 2005). Since 2005, the Bees are 232-230 on Friday, the most victories of any day of the week in franchise history.
- The Bees have won both games this season in which their starting pitcher has spun at least seven innings, last doing so on July 1 vs. Las Vegas (George Klassen, 7.0 IP). It is also the team’s 10th win when a quality start is recorded and second to happen on the road. Prior to this week, Salt Lake was 0-5 in road games where they got a quality outing from the starter.
- Salt Lake wore their Abejas jerseys for the second time away from home this season and have won both contests (April 21 at Las Vegas and tonight). Ironically, Brett Kerry was on the bump in each of those wins. In 2026, the Bees are 3-1 when donning the Abejas identity.
- Eight of the nine hitters in Salt Lake’s lineup recorded a hit. Four Bees recorded multi-hit games and three notched extra-base hits.
- A milestone fourth-inning strikeout marked a major highlight in Brett Kerry’s performance, bringing him to 250 punchouts for his Triple-A career. The righty was masterful, holding a perfect game into the fifth inning and a no-hitter into the seventh. Kerry is the second Bees pitcher to take a no-hitter 6.2 innings into a game this season (George Klassen, April 25 at Las Vegas). Tonight’s seven-inning outing was Kerry’s longest since September 18 of last season in Las Vegas. He struck out two and walked three while giving up no runs in tonight’s outing. Kerry tallied his third quality start in 2026 tonight, his first since July 9 at Sacramento.
- Kerry secured the third quality start over the first four games of the series for the Bees, their most in a single six-game set in 2026. The last time Salt Lake had a trio of quality starts in the same series was at Round Rock at the end of August 2025 (26th, 30th, 31st); the Bees accomplished this feat three other times in 2025, doing so all away from home (at Oklahoma City, at Sacramento and at Albuquerque).
- Jeimer Candelario lined a single with one out in the second inning to extend his hitting streak to back-to-back games and his on-base streak to five straight games.
- In his first eight games with Salt Lake, newly acquired Bee Raudi Rodriguez has picked up hits in six contests, continuing his momentum with a second-inning single to stretch his on-base streak to two games.
- Omar Martinez gave the Bees an early three-run lead with his 11th blast of the season, banging a pulled round-tripper off the bricks in right field. Tonight’s designated hitter has multiple hits in back-to-back games, notching his third three-hit ledger of the season (first since June 30 vs. Las Vegas). It’s his first homer since July 29 in Sugar Land. Nine of his 11 homers have come on the road. The four-RBI performance marks Martinez’s highest single-game total at any level since driving in five runs with Hudson Valley on May 7 of last season.
- The second straight extra-base hit of the second inning came off the bat of Bryce Teodosio. The outfielder mashed a double to right field before being thrown out at third while trying to extend the knock. Teodosio has hits in consecutive games and has one in both games he’s played since being reinstated from the injured list just days ago. With this multi-hit effort, the outfielder secured his first multi-hit contest since a three-hit performance on July 18, which was also the date of his last double.
- To lead-off the third inning, Kyren Paris worked his 42nd walk since his season debut with Salt Lake on June 9, the most by any PCL hitter in that span. He holds a 31-game on-base streak, dating back to the Fourth of July. He’s now one game shy of tying his career high (32 games between AA Rocket City and first three MLB games in 2023).
- Niko Kavadas cashed in on a leadoff walk from Kyren Paris by banging a single into right field to score the Bees’ fourth run of the game. The first baseman has hits in back-to-back games.
- Gustavo Campero was the second straight batter to reach base in the third inning after being hit by a pitch. The hit-by-pitch snapped a two-game skid where tonight’s left fielder hadn’t reached base. Opening the fifth inning with a base hit, Campero snapped a three-game hitless stretch. He then picked up another single in the seventh frame to record his first multi-hit game since August 7th.
- Logan Porter hit the third single of the fourth inning. The catcher has hits in two of his last three games.
Up Next
The Bees and Chihuahuas do battle in the penultimate game of their series and season series. The Angels and Padres’ Triple-A affiliates begin action at 6:35 PM MDT from inside Southwest University Park.