WEST SACRAMENTO, CA. - The Salt Lake Bees closed out the first half with an 11-8 win over Sacramento on Sunday. Ryan Nicholson's first career grand slam highlighted a seven-run first inning as the Bees held off a late River Cats rally to head into the All-Star break with a victory.
Salt Lake 11, Sacramento 8
WP: Jared Southard (1-1)
LP: Eric Cerantola (0-1)
Key Performers
Ryan Nicholson: 2-4, HR, 5 RBI, R
Yolmer Sanchez: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB
Jeimer Candelario: 1-3, HR, RBI, 2 R, 2 BB, K
Kyren Paris: 1-2, 2 R, RBI, 3 BB, K
Game Summary
Salt Lake scored first for the fifth time in the six-game set. Christian Moore opened the game with a six-pitch walk before Yolmer Sánchez followed with a free pass of his own. After Pablo Reyes lined out for the first out of the inning, Jeimer Candelario drew the Bees' third walk to load the bases. Kyren Paris then worked another walk, forcing in Moore for the game's first run. Sánchez came home on a wild pitch to double the lead.
Omar Martinez drew Salt Lake's fifth walk of the inning before Bryce Teodosio popped out for the second out. Ryan Nicholson then cleared the bases with Salt Lake's second grand slam of the series, marking the Bees' first hit of the night. The Bees carried a 6-0 lead into the bottom of the first.
Both sides went quietly in the bottom of the first and the top of the second innings. In the bottom half of the second, Sacramento put two runners on base, with the first coming around to score on a deep sacrifice fly to left field. The River Cats recorded their first two hits against George Klassen in his second appearance of the series, plating their second run of the frame.
Both sides went down quietly in the third. Salt Lake struck for two more runs off of Ryan Walker in his first appearance with the River Cats since his option to Triple-A just days ago. Yolmer Sánchez mashed his fifth longball of the year, a two run jack to extend Salt Lake’s lead to 8-2.
In the bottom of the fourth, the River Cats pushed across a run on a sharp single into the right-center gap, trimming Salt Lake's lead to 8-3. The Bees went down in order in the top of the fifth, but Sacramento answered with a five-run inning to pull within one. The River Cats strung together an RBI double and four consecutive RBI singles to make it an 8-7 game before Jared Southard finally ended the threat on the pitching staff’s first strikeout of the day.
Both squads traded scoreless sixth innings, but Salt Lake broke through in the seventh. Jeimer Candelario opened the frame with a solo homer over the right-field wall. The Bees then loaded the bases and added another run on Ryan Nicholson's sacrifice fly to deep left field. Christian Moore capped the inning with an RBI groundout, extending Salt Lake's lead to 11-7 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
The eighth stayed scoreless and in the ninth Salt Lake couldn’t add any insurance as Kaleb Ort came into the game in the bottom of the ninth to close out the Bees high scoring win despite a late two out RBI double to get the River Cats within three.
Game Notes
- The Bees moved back to .500, sitting at 46-46. Today’s victory also marked the sixth day game win of the year and hold a 6-9 record.
- Salt Lake drew five walks in the first inning, tied for a franchise high in the opening frame (August 12, 2025 at Sugar Land). It is the fourth game this season in which the Bees walked five or more times in an inning and the third occurrence against Sacramento (March 31 and April 3 in South Jordan; today in California). Salt Lake’s walk total reached double digits for the third time this season, with the 11 total on Sunday matching a season-high (June 11 at Reno).
- The Bees launched three homers today, their third day game with multiple longballs this season (also three on both April 12 at Reno and May 24 vs. Tacoma). Coming into today, Salt Lake ranked last among the PCL in homers hit in day games (15) and are now tied with Round Rock (18) for the eighth under the sun in 2026. The Bees have hit three or more homers in 12 games this season, moving to 11-1 in such games. Two of those wins came this week in Sacramento with a third occurring on Opening Night in South Jordan earlier in 2026 against the River Cats.
- Bees pitching struck out just two batters in Sunday’s series finale, the second fewest of the season to just one punchout against Las Vegas on July 2. It was their fewest strikeouts in a win since having two in a 13-12 win over Tacoma in 11 innings on May 7, 2022. Salt Lake also allowed 16 hits in Sunday’s victory, marking the third time this season Bees pitching has allowed 16 hits and won the game going 3-6 in those games.
- All nine members of the Salt Lake starting lineup reached base at least once today, as Logan Porter’s seventh inning walk completed the feat.
- Salt Lake starter George Klassen couldn't complete at least six innings for the first time since his three-inning outing on June 13 in Reno. The right-hander tossed 4.1 innings, allowing six hits and four earned runs while walking three on 95 pitches.
- Christian Moore led the game off with a six pitch walk. On the free pass, today’s second baseman has 53 walks on the season. He’s now reached base in three straight games and has scored in all three of those contests. Additionally, it is Moore’s 20th game in 2026 where he has scored at least twice.
- Yolmer Sánchez followed with another walk to see the first two batters reach via free passes to begin the game. His 38th walk of the season began a new on-base streak for the veteran. In his second at-bat, Sánchez singled to start a new hit streak. Sánchez blasted his fifth homer of the season, a two run jack to the pull side to extend Salt Lake’ lead to 8-2. It’s his first homer since June 20 against Tacoma. He scored twice today, his sixth multi-run effort this season.
- Jeimer Candelario was the third Bee to walk in the first inning. The infielder pushed his on-base streak to six games on the free pass. He is just one game shy of tying his season high streak of six straight games. Candelario moved his hit streak to three games by belting a solo homer in the seventh inning. The longball was his sixth of the season and marked his third straight game with at least one extra-base hit. Candelario swiped second in the eighth to tally his second stolen base of the season (May 2 vs. Sacramento) and just his third career Triple-A steal.
- Kyren Paris made it six straight games with an RBI, getting one today with a bases-loaded walk. Today’s centerfielder moved his on-base streak to eight games on the free pass. He drew two additional walks, recording his fourth career Triple-A game with a trio of walks and third in 2026. Paris collected his first hit of the game, a single in the seventh inning to extend his hit streak to seven games. He’s now just two games shy of tying his season-high nine game hit streak.
- The fifth walk in the first inning belonged to Omar Martinez. The catcher has reached base in consecutive games as he worked a walk for the first time in three games. Martinez moved his hit streak to two games, with a seventh-inning base knock.
- Ryan Nicholson cleared the bases with two outs in the first inning, belting the Bees' second grand slam of the series. The blast was the first baseman's first professional grand slam and his third home run with Salt Lake. It also marked the first opposite-field homer of his Bees tenure. Nicholson has now recorded hits in back-to-back games after going deep. It was the first grand slam hit by a Bee in a day game this season and first since a Sunday contest in South Jordan on August 24, 2025. Nicholson singled in the fifth to notch his third career multi-hit ledger as a Salt Lake Bee (all in 2026). Additionally, the first baseman collected five RBI today, surpassing his Triple-A career high set on July 4th (4 RBI); it is Nicholson’s third career 5+ RBI game as he holds a professional high of seven with High-A Tri-City on July 10, 2025.
- Pablo Reyes has now reached in all four games as a Bee after joining Salt Lake at the start of the set. He doubled in his second at-bat to extend his on-base streak to four games while also starting a new hit streak. Reyes has an extra-base hit in two of the first four contests with the Bees.
- With two outs in the third inning, Bryce Teodosio extended his on-base streak to six games with a hit-by-pitch. He is just one game shy of his season high seven games with the free base. Teodosio was plunked a second time in the seventh, marking his second career game with multiple hit-by-pitches (April 11, 2023 with Double-A Rocket City).
- Sammy Peralta’s 3.2 inning streak without allowing an earned run came to a screeching halt, recording just one out in the fifth inning. He allowed three runs (all earned) on four hits on 18 pitches.
- Logan Porter walked in the seventh, moving his on-base streak to 11 games. He has walked in three of his six games in July, with nine total at Triple-A in 2026.
- Settling the game with 2.2 scoreless frames was Jared Southard. It is the reliever’s longest outing since his scoreless streak ended and tallied his second longest shutout performance of the season (May 15 vs. El Paso). Southard collected the only strikeout by a Bees arm today, a huge punchout that ended Sacramento’s threat in the fifth. Additionally, it was Southard’s 45th strikeout of the campaign.
- Dillon Tate has tallied back-to-back scoreless appearances with a shutout eighth inning. The righty has only yielded one run over his first 3.2 innings as a Bee.
Up Next
Following a four-day hiatus to celebrate the MLB All-Star Break, the Bees will return to action Friday in South Jordan to host the Reno Aces (Triple-A, Arizona Diamondbacks) at The Ballpark at America First Square for the first time in 2026. Friday’s contest is set for 6:35 p.m. MDT.