SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - In front of a record 7,853 fans, the Salt Lake Bees dropped their final home contest of the 2026 campaign by a 9-6 decision to Round Rock. The Express tallied five early runs and added on throughout the proceedings, using an Aaron Zavala two-run blast in the sixth inning to cement their victory.
Round Rock 9, Salt Lake 6
WP: Emiliano Teodo (4-5)
LP: Ryan Costeiu (1-2)
SV: Joe Ross (1)
Key Performers
Nelson Rada: 3-5, R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 SB
Yolmer Sánchez: 3-5, R, 2B, RBI
Niko Kavadas: 2-4, R, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 K
Game Summary
The 74th and final home game in 2026 got off to a similar start as the 73rd contest. Round Rock’s first five hitters reached safely off starter Ryan Costeiu, resulting in a 3-0 lead. A sacrifice fly extended the advantage to 4-0 and led to an early exit by Costeiu.
Salt Lake got one back on a pair of doubles from Nelson Rada and Niko Kavadas, the latter of which collected an RBI. The Express pushed the margin back to four runs as a two-out RBI single made it 5-1 in the second.
The Bees responded again, making it four straight half innings with runs. With two runners on, Rada came through with his second double in as many at-bats to close the gap to 5-3.
Neither side scored again until the fifth, when Round Rock scratched across their sixth run using a double and sacrifice fly. The Bees created an answer on three consecutive singles, capped with Yolmer Sánchez’s base knock that scored Kavadas. Sanchez, a switch-hitter, flipped batter’s boxes in the middle of his at-bat, which paid off to make the score 6-4.
After a quick first out, the Express pulled away in the sixth. Aaron Zavala homered to right center field for his fourth hit of the night, giving the visitors a 8-4 lead. A single and two stolen bases contributed to another run, making it three in the frame for a 9-4 score.
For the fourth time on Sunday, Salt Lake responded to a Round Rock set of runs. The Bees scored a pair of runs without the aid of a hit, using two walks, an error and a sacrifice fly to slim the margin to 9-6.
In the ninth, the Bees got the tying run to the plate in the form of Zach Humphreys. With two outs, the catcher lifted a fly ball into the air but it was corralled for the 27th and final out of the home slate. Round Rock finished the series, winning five of the six with their final victory coming in front of the largest crowd to visit The Ballpark at America First Square (7,853).
Game Notes
- The Bees dropped their home finale for the third straight season, last being victorious in the 2023 campaign. Salt Lake finished 35-39 at home (25-17 in the first half, 10-21 in the second half). With Round Rock winning the series 5-1, it is the fourth series defeat at home and 10th total series loss in 2026. All four home series defeats occurred in the second half with three of the four being 5-1 results (Omaha, Oklahoma City, and Round Rock). The Bees moved to 10-13 on Sundays with a 4-8 record at home; the 4-8 record is tied with Wednesdays for the worst mark on a given day at home this season.
- Salt Lake lost by three tonight, falling to 8-15 in such games this season. More notably, the Bees finished 1-7 at home in games decided by three runs as opposed to 15-9 in games with a one-or-two run difference.
- It was another night without a homer for the Bees, lowering their record to 14-33 when failing to leave the yard. Salt Lake has lost their last 14 contests in which they have zero homers, last winning on July 19 vs. Reno.
- Salt Lake managed four hits through the first two innings, all of which were doubles. It is the third time since 2005 that the Bees have accomplished this feat, with the most recent occurrence happening on June 19, 2014 vs. Memphis.
- Ryan Costeiu had his shortest start since April 14 vs. Birmingham as a member of the Trash Pandas. In both outings, the righty tossed 0.2 innings, allowed four earned runs, and walked two batters.
- Nelson Rada doubled in his first two at-bats, marking his first extra-base hits since August 20 vs. Reno. He is the third Bee to record two doubles in the first two innings of a game this season, joining Jose Siri (May 1 vs. SAC) and Jeimer Candelario (June 16 vs. TAC). Rada swiped two bags, pushing his season total to 40; he is the fourth Bee ever to tally 40 steals in a single season (Jordyn Adams, 44, 2023; Kean Wong, 41, 2022; Bryce Teodosio, 40, 2024). The outfielder is the fifth Triple-A player to reach the 40-stolen base milestone and first in the PCL.
- An RBI double gave Niko Kavadas his fourth straight game with an extra-base hit; he has eight in September, tied for the PCL lead. Kavadas has racked up 11 RBI in September, tied for third most in the PCL. A fifth-inning single secured the infielder’s third multi-hit ledger across his last four games.
- Yolmer Sánchez finished with a three-hit night. He snuck a double just inside the chalked line in left to start the second, before a RBI single and ninth-inning knock. Sánchez has hits in nine of the 12 games played in September.
- Zach Humphreys worked the count and drew a walk for the first time since July 5 vs. Las Vegas. The catcher scored twice tonight, his first run since July 5 and first multi-run night since June 14 at Reno. Humphreys’ single gave him hits in two of his last three games. Another free pass marked the backstop’s first multi-walk effort since July 2.
- Ben Gobbel walked to increase his on-base streak to four games. A single moved his hit streak to four games. Gobbel finished with an .888 OPS in 31 home games to go along with a .302 (32-for-106) average.
- Arol Vera walked for the third straight game with his base-on-balls in the sixth. The second baseman came around to score for the first time since September 3 in Sacramento. It was his 13th run of the season.
- One of two MLB rehabbers, Nolan Schanuel, batted second and played first base. The 2023 draftee drove home a run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth, collecting his first career Triple-A RBI. Schanuel was subbed out in the eighth inning.
- Sam Bachman began a rehab assignment tonight with Salt Lake, posting a zero in his one inning of work. The Indianapolis, Ind., native pitched as a Bee for the first time since September 17, 2025 at Las Vegas.
- Throwing 1.1 innings for the second straight outing was Alex Faedo. The righty yielded one run with two strikeouts in his efforts tonight. The Florida Gator has given up eight runs across his 14 appearances with Salt Lake this season.
- Mason Erla saw his scoreless streak halt at 4.0 IP, allowing a run in his second inning of work tonight. The Michigan State alum finished with two innings, surrendered three hits, and walked one.
- Jared Southard gave up three runs for the second time in his last four outings, doing so on four hits with a homer. He did tally a strikeout to push his season total to 67, the most among Salt Lake relievers.
- Rob Kaminsky has not given up a run in the month of September, spanning 6.1 innings (five appearances). The southpaw faced seven hitters, only surrendering a two-out single. Kaminsky tallied the only 1-2-3 frame by either side tonight in the eighth and added two strikeouts to his season tally of 29.
- Kaleb Ort walked two, but also collected two strikeouts in his scoreless ninth inning. He finished with a 1.82 ERA in the second half at home opposed to an 8.27 home ERA in the first half. Three of Ort’s last five appearances have been shutout efforts.
Up Next
After Monday’s off day, Salt Lake begins their final series of the 2026 campaign, taking on the Albuquerque Isotopes (Triple-A, Colorado Rockies) in New Mexico on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. MDT from RGCU Field at Isotopes Park.