EL PASO, TEXAS. - Salt Lake trailed 7-0 after four innings, but came back to tie the game at 8-8 in the seventh inning on Thursday against the Chihuahuas. However, a bases-clearing double in the home half doomed the Bees and surged the hosts to an 11-8 victory at Southwest University Park.
El Paso 11, Salt Lake 8
WP: J.P. France (2-3)
LP: Jose Atencio (0-1)
SV: David Morgan (3)
Key Performers
Yolmer Sánchez: 3-4, R, 3 RBI
Jeimer Candelario: 2-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, K
Nelson Rada: 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI
Omar Martinez: 2-3, R, RBI
Game Summary
Joel Hurtado nearly worked out of a two-on, no-out jam in the first inning, but the Padres’ top prospect, Ethan Salas, came through for El Paso. His two-run single up the middle put the hosts ahead 2-0 to start Thursday’s showdown.
The Chihuahuas loaded the bases with no outs in the second, benefitting from another two-run knock into center to double their lead to 4-0. A sacrifice fly later in the frame extended the advantage to 5-0.
El Paso moved their margin to 7-0 in the fourth, courtesy of Carlos Rodríguez. The outfielder unloaded his fifth homer of the year over the right field corner with two outs to add to the total. Salt Lake got one of those runs back in the next half inning, as a string of three straight singles made it 7-1 as Nelson Rada picked up the RBI.
The Bees’ offense came alive in the sixth, making a huge dent in the deficit with a four-run frame. Kyren Paris extended his 30-game on-base streak with an RBI single and was followed a few batters later with Yolmer Sánchez’s first RBI knock of the game. Omar Martinez helped a run score on a double play, before Rada made it a multi-RBI effort tonight with a double that cut the margin to 7-5. The Chihuahuas did scratch a run with two outs in the home half, moving their advantage to 8-5.
Salt Lake’s bats stayed hot in the seventh, using three singles and two walks to even the ballgame. Sánchez’s third single of the night came with the bases loaded, getting the score to 8-7 ahead of Martinez’s game-tying RBI knock five pitches later. That RBI single erased what once was a seven-run deficit for Salt Lake.
The tie would be short-lived as the Chihuahuas loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half. Jose Atencio got a strikeout for the first out, but El Paso was ready against the next Bees arm. First baseman Nick Pratto pummeled a 87 MPH cutter into the right center gap, clearing the bases and giving the hosts the lead back at 11-8.
Salt Lake could not muster any threat in the final two innings as El Paso held on to complete their second straight three-run victory on Thursday evening.
Game Notes
- Salt Lake erased a seven-run deficit before a three-run bottom of the seventh proved to be the difference for El Paso. The Bees tallied 11 hits in the contest, moving to 35-8 when recording 10 or more and 12-54 when being outhit by the opponent.
- Four of Salt Lake’s seven RBI in the game came with two outs, two of which from Yolmer Sánchez and one each from Omar Martinez and Nelson Rada. Salt Lake leads the PCL with 274 two-out RBI this season batting .282 (T-2nd) in two-out situations.
- In his second Salt Lake start of the season and third career Triple-A appearance, Joel Hurtado fired 3.1 innings of work. He allowed six runs scattered around six hits and three walks. The righty struck out four Chihuahuas, a new Triple-A high and his most in a start since his final outing with Double-A Rocket City (July 30 at Columbus) where he punched out half a dozen hitters.
- Niko Kavadas collected his first hit since Saturday vs. Oklahoma City. He ended a mini 0-for-6 slide with the knock and is now batting 12-for-34 (.353) in the month of August. Kavadas also tallied his 10th multi-walk game in 2026 and first since July 31 at Sugar Land. The infielder drew three free passes tonight, his fifth such game this season. Salt Lake is one of the PCL teams to have four players each record 10+ games with multiple walks this season (Albuquerque and Oklahoma City) and is the only PCL squad with two players each having 5+ three-walk performances. Kavadas scored for the first time since August 8 vs. Oklahoma City, when he came home twice.
- Jeimer Candelario drew a five-pitch walk, thanks to the help of an ABS challenge. The third baseman has walked in three straight games, contributing to an on-base streak of five games. Candelario doubled for the first time since July 26 vs. Omaha and has 17 on the campaign, tied for third most on the team. A single gave him his second multi-hit effort over his last four games. Candelario has scored in four straight games, tallying his first multi-run effort since July 25 vs. Omaha.
- Omar Martinez has reached safely in three consecutive contests thanks to his third-inning free pass. He later collected two singles and an RBI, giving him his second multi-hit ledger in the month of August. Martinez has two multi-hit games over his last seven contests; he had two across his previous 13 games.
- Yolmer Sánchez has back-to-back multi-hit efforts, posting a 3-for-4 evening with three RBI. It is his second three RBI game in the month (August 4 vs. OKC) and his two runs tonight mark his first runs since scoring thrice on August 8 vs. Oklahoma City.
- In his 100th game this season, Nelson Rada put the Bees on the board in the fifth with an RBI single. He added an RBI double (his 15th two-bagger of the season) one inning later to pick up his seventh multi-RBI performance and first since July 24 vs. Omaha. These were Rada’s first two RBI in August and has 32 total in 2026. He is one shy of reaching the 50-RBI milestone in his Triple-A career.
- Paris extended his on-base streak in style with a RBI single in his third at-bat of the night. He has now reached in 30 consecutive games, dating back to the Fourth of July; it is two shy of his career-long of 32 between Rocket City (29gm) and his first three career MLB contests (3gm) in 2023. Paris swiped his 12th base with Salt Lake, a new Triple-A season high and his most with a single team since stealing 44 bags with the Trash Pandas in 2023. The infielder drew his 41st walk since his Salt Lake season debut on June 9, the most by any PCL hitter in that span.
- Christian Moore drew a walk tonight to extend his on-base streak to 10 games. He has collected a free pass in 10 of his last 11 games.
- Mitch Farris surrendered an earned run in his second straight appearance since being recalled to Triple-A Salt Lake on August 9. He threw 1.2 innings out of the bullpen with a walk and a strikeout. The lefty has yielded exactly one run in each of his last four outings with the Bees, dating back to April 18 vs. Sugar Land.
- Jose Atencio was tagged for four runs in his third career Triple-A outing, snapping a four inning scoreless streak to open his tenure at the level. Tonight, the right hander gave up five hits in 1.1 innings, but struck out two; he has five total at Triple-A.
- In his Bees debut, Michael Fulmer inherited a bases-loaded, one-out situation. The former Sacramento River Cat gave up the biggest hit of the night, a three-run double to Nick Pratto. Fulmer did record the final two outs without further damage to complete a nine-pitch outing. Combined with his last six appearances with the River Cats, the right hander holds an active 10.0 IP scoreless streak, the seventh current PCL pitcher with a double-digit shutout stretch.
- Jared Southard walked a Chihuahua, but tallied his first scoreless outing since July 29 at Sugar Land. The Texan has allowed two runs in 11.2 innings (1.54 ERA) against the three PCL teams from the Lone Star State and has yet to yield a score versus El Paso in 5.1 innings, including tonight.
Up Next
The series rolls into the weekend with a Friday night showdown in El Paso. First pitch between the Bees and Chihuahuas is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. MDT at Southwest University Park.