SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - The Bees moved above the .500 mark after taking the series opener of a six-game set at home against the Albuquerque Isotopes, fueled by a pair of home runs during a six-run explosion in the fifth inning. Omar Martinez and Denzer Guzman provided the big blows, as part of a season-high eight total hits in the frame.
Salt Lake 7, Albuquerque 4
WP: Brett Kerry (3-3)
LP: Valente Bellozo (0-5)
SV: Samy Natera Jr. (1)
Key Performers
Nelson Rada: 3-4, RBI, R, K
Denzer Guzman: 2-5, HR, 3 RBI, R
Omar Martinez: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, K
Game Summary
The opening game of the set remained scoreless through the first three innings as both starters dominated. However, the deadlock was broken in the fourth when Albuquerque's Zac Veen hit a single up the middle against Brett Kerry. After stealing second base, Veen managed to score when a spiked pitch got past the catcher and hit the backstop, marking the first run of the contest.
Albuquerque scored in their second straight inning in the top of the fifth. The Isotopes catcher Andrew Knizner sent an 89 MPH fastball off the batters eye at 105.6 MPH off the bat. The round-tripper extended the lead to two.
Omar Martinez’ sixth homer of the year and first at home knotted the game right away in the bottom of the frame. His round-tripper was sent past Beddy’s Berm in right field and scored Nelson Rada after he singled to start the inning.
Yolmer Sánchez and Arol Vera continued the hit surge with two straight singles. Christian Moore cashed in with a ringing RBI double into left-centerfield. Following a flyout by Josh Lowe, Denzer Guzman drove both Vera and Moore in with his 11th home run of the season.
Albuquerque continued the run scoring surge from both teams with a two spot in the top of the sixth. A leadoff double was plated on a single and Knizner hit his second straight extra-base knock with a two-bagger off the wall in left that scored another.
In the seventh, Jared Southard provided a shutdown inning, retiring the side in order. His clean inning was aided by Omar Martinez, who caught a runner attempting to steal second following a leadoff base hit.
Salt Lake stretched its advantage to 7-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning. The scoring rally was sparked by Nelson Rada, who collected his third single of the evening to drive home Trey Mancini.
Samy Natera Jr. shut the door for the rest of the evening to pick up his first save of the year, as Salt Lake held on for the win in the series opener.
Game Notes
- Salt Lake secured their fifth straight series opening victory, dating back to May 5 at Oklahoma City. The Bees moved to 8-2 on Tuesdays this season, with a 5-1 record on the day of the week at home.
- The Salt Lake pitching staff struck out 13 Isotopes tonight, tied for second most in a game by the Bees this season. The trio of Brett Kerry, Jared Southard, and Samy Natera Jr., recorded all 13 punchouts, also tied for the single-game high by Albuquerque hitters this season (May 5 at Sugar Land).
- Eight of Salt Lake’s nine batters recorded a hit in tonight’s win. Josh Lowe was the only Bee without a knock, despite reaching base on two walks.
- Salt Lake homered twice in the six-run fifth inning, marking the fifth time the Bees have tallied multiple longballs in the same frame this season. Four of the five occasions have come in home games. Additionally, the Bees recorded eight hits in the big inning, their most in a single frame this season.
- Salt Lake’s first baserunner of the game, Josh Lowe walked with one out in the bottom of the first. With the free pass, Lowe pushes his on-base streak to eight games as he enters his first full home series as a member of the Bees.
- Nelson Rada swiped his team-leading 15th bag of the year after hitting a single in the opening frame. That base hit pushed his hitting streak to four games and his on-base streak to seven. He finished with a three hit night, his third of the season. The outfielder currently holds the fourth-highest stolen base total in the PCL.
- In his 10th start of the season, Brett Kerry reached the 50 strikeout mark in the top of the third inning. His 53 total punchouts this season are good for fourth in the PCL. Kerry finished with his sixth straight start in which he went 5+ innings. He ended with seven strikeouts, his most this season and since August 26th of last season in Round Rock. The right hander collected his third win of 2026, tied with Sam Aldegheri for most by a Bees starter this season and tied for sixth among PCL starters.
- Omar Martinez hit his first home run at home this season, a two-run blast that traveled 420 feet to the right-field patio. The catcher’s sixth homer of the year came off an 83 MPH cutter and registered an exit velocity of 111 MPH, immediately following a leadoff single by Nelson Rada. It was Martinez's first multi-hit game since May 5 at OKC.
- With two men on base, Christian Moore knocked his 11th double of the season into the left-center gap. Tonight’s third baseman has back-to-back games with a double. The two-bagger put the Bees ahead in the fifth. Additionally, Moore has played in eight Tuesday games this season and collected at least one hit in all eight games.
- Following Martinez’ game-tying homer Yolmer Sánchez singled and scored. It’s the third straight game where he’s recorded at least one hit and one run. Over his last 14 games dating back to May 17, Sanchez is batting .349 (15-for-43) with four doubles and a triple, 13 RBI, 12 runs scored and a .979 OPS.
- Denzer Guzman, continuing his impressive performance from the month of May, recorded his 53rd RBI of the season with his 11th home run, leading the PCL and tied for sixth in the league, respectively. This blast was one of two Salt Lake homers during a productive fifth inning. It’s his second straight multi-hit performance and comes on the heels of a month where he managed 15 games with two or more hits across his 26-game May.
- In an action packed and high scoring fifth inning, Trey Mancini extended his on-base streak to 15 games. He is now tied for fourth with Denzer Guzman and Christian Moore for the season long. The first baseman pushed his run scoring streak to 10 games after doubling in the seventh. Mancini also extended his hit streak to 11 games on a leadoff double in that inning.
- With a single in the fifth inning, Arol Vera now has hits in four of his first six games as a member of the Bees. The knock was his fourth with Salt Lake this season.
- Jeimer Candelario snapped his two game hitless streak with a hard single in the fifth inning. He has now reached in five straight contests, while drawing a walk in the most recent three games.
- Jared Southard relieved Brett Kerry and recorded his fifth scoreless outing in his last six games. The righty bounced back from his last appearance where he gave up a run and two walks. He struck out one in 1.1 innings of work tonight. Across his last 10 innings pitched, Southard holds a 0.90 ERA. Additionally, the right hander enjoys pitching at home, lowering his ERA to 1.89 in 11 appearances.
- Salt Lake’s third pitcher of the night, Samy Natera, punched out five in two innings of work en route to his first save at Triple-A and first since August 24th of last season with the Rocket City. The southpaw is holding hitters to a 204 batting average and has a 3.00 ERA in 30 innings of work. Natera Jr.’s 44 strikeouts are the most by a PCL reliever this season, and second most among Triple-A arms in relief.
Up Next
The Bees transform into the Utah Dirty Sodas for a Wednesday night clash with the Isotopes. Game two of the six game set kicks off at 6:35 PM MDT.