EL PASO, TEXAS. - Aided by four El Paso walks, the Bees charged from behind in the ninth inning, scoring four times to defeat the Chihuahuas 8-7 on Saturday night. Niko Kavadas led the Bees’ comeback efforts with four RBI, including the game-tying bases-loaded walk, while Kaleb Ort encapsulated a solid bullpen effort tonight with a perfect ninth inning.
Salt Lake 8, El Paso 7
WP: Rob Kaminsky (1-2)
LP: Hans Crouse (0-1)
SV: Kaleb Ort (9)
Key Performers
Niko Kavadas: 3-4, R, HR, 4 RBI, BB
Gustavo Campero: 3-5, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, K
Nelson Rada: 2-5, 2 R, 2 2B, K
Pablo Reyes: 2-4, R, BB
Game Summary
The hosts got things started on Saturday night, going up 1-0 in the first on a sacrifice fly. One inning later, Marcos Castañon launched his team-leading 15th homer ahead of a two-out RBI single that extended the Chihuahuas’ advantage to 3-0.
Niko Kavadas converted a trio of two-out singles with a knock through the right side, driving home two Bees to trim the score to 3-2 after three innings. The Chihuahuas were patient at the plate to begin the fourth as the first two hitters drew walks off starter Ryan Costeiu. El Paso’s patience paid off, as consecutive doubles grew their lead to 6-2.
Kavadas continued to lead the Salt Lake offense tonight, cutting the deficit to 6-3 with his eighth longball of the year, a 406-foot sixth-inning solo blast to left. In the seventh, Nelson Rada reached second on a hustle double and moved to third on a groundout. That put the speedster in position to score on Christian Moore’s two-out infield single to the left side and slim the margin to 6-4.
El Paso nabbed important insurance in the home half of the eighth, thanks to Mason McCoy. The shortstop collected his 300th hit in a Chihuahua uniform, then stole second and third, setting up an RBI single that increased the score to 7-4.
Just as they did on Tuesday, Salt Lake made a late charge in the ninth. Rada’s second double led off the inning’s momentum, which saw a single and walk subsequently load the bases. Gustavo Campero inched the Bees closer at 7-6 with a two-run single. Another walk chucked the bags full with one out for Kavadas. The infielder again came up clutch, bringing home the game-tying run with a free pass. El Paso made a pitching change, hoping to keep the game even. However, following a strikeout, reliever Ethan Routzahn could not throw strikes, walking Raudi Rodriguez to push across the go-ahead and eventual winning score at 8-7.
Manager Doug Davis called upon his closer, Kaleb Ort, to complete the comeback win. The big right hander wasted no time at all, firing a perfect ninth inning that ended with a strikeout swinging. Ort’s ninth save gave Salt Lake consecutive wins and has them in the driver’s seat to clinch their first series in El Paso since 2018.
Game Notes
- Salt Lake entered the ninth trailing 7-4 before a four-run frame put the Bees in front for good. It marked their 37th comeback win of the season, the most in Triple-A. Entering tonight’s game Salt Lake was 2-56 when trailing after eight innings of play while the four runs scored in the final inning were the second most scored in the ninth by Salt Lake this season (7; May 28 at Round Rock).
- All four Salt Lake’s walks tonight came in the ninth inning, marking the eighth time this season Salt Lake has walked four or more times in a single inning. It is the ninth time in the PCL (and 21st time in Triple-A) this season that a team has drawn four free passes in the ninth inning; only 11 of those instances resulted in victories.
- Salt Lake tied and took the lead with a pair of bases loaded walks in the ninth, the sixth time this season the Bees have walked multiple times with the bases loaded in a single inning this season. Salt Lake leads the Pacific Coast League with 599 walks this season which stands as the most through 118 games in franchise history.
- Salt Lake captured their 17th victory in one-run games, holding a 17-12 record. They are 5-6 on the road when the final score is margin of one, with two of those wins coming this week at El Paso. The Bees have won three of their last four one-run games with the one defeat coming in extra innings, losing 6-5 to Oklahoma City last Sunday.
- The Bees continued the trend of winning when they outhit their opponent, doing so tonight by one hit (13 H to 12 H). In 2026, Salt Lake is 37-7 overall, and 15-4 on the road when mustering more base knocks than the other side.
- Salt Lake secured the season series against El Paso tonight, currently holding a 7-4 record versus the Chihuahuas this season; they last defeated the Padres affiliate in a season-long series in 2024 with a 7-5 record. This season and 2024 mark the only two times, since El Paso joined the PCL in 2014, that the Bees have won the season series. Salt Lake will attempt to win their fifth ever series inside Southwest University Park with a win tomorrow, joining the 2014, 2017 and 2018 (twice) squads.
- Gustavo Campero doubled for the fourth time this season at Triple-A. The catcher has notched 11 extra-base hits in 2026 with Salt Lake and collected 17 two-baggers over his 70 games at the level. Two singles later in the frame completed a three-hit night, giving him consecutive multi-hit efforts and six total over 11 August contests. Campero’s ninth-inning single drove home two, delivering his sixth multi-RBI performance. He scored the go-ahead run, marking two straight games coming across home plate.
- Niko Kavadas posted a three-hit ledger along with four RBI. It is his 12th multi-hit effort and ninth multi-RBI performance in 2026. The first baseman has three straight games with a base hit and a walk. His free pass tonight tied the game in the ninth. Kavadas homered for the eighth time tonight and his first since opening August with his first professional grand slam in Sugar Land. He has hits in 10 of his 13 games played in August to go along with 13 RBI in the month; he is batting 16-for-42 (.381), his best average of any month in his minor league tenure (min. 20 AB).
- Pablo Reyes singled twice, recording multi-hit ledgers in three of the four games he has played in El Paso this week. The infielder is batting 7-for-16 (.438) against his former team with three extra-base hits.
- A single gave Raudi Rodriguez a hit in seven of his nine career Triple-A contests. The 23-year-old has reached safely in eight of the nine games. Rodriguez picked up his third and biggest RBI of his young Triple-A tenure, drawing a six-pitch walk that brought the go-ahead run across in the ninth.
- Starter Ryan Costeiu took the mound for the second time at the Triple-A level, throwing one inning more than his debut with four innings tonight. The Arkansas Razorback has tallied seven total innings with the Bees, surrendering 13 earned runs.
- Nelson Rada doubled twice tonight, his 16th and 17th of the season. This is the outfielder’s second career game with multiple doubles, previously doing so this season on June 27 at Albuquerque. Rada has back-to-back two-hit evenings, as well as consecutive games with a double. He scored twice tonight to eclipse 80 runs in 2026, the fifth most in the PCL.
- Christian Moore extended his on-base streak to 11 games, earning an RBI as he beat out a two-out grounder for an infield single. He drew his 13th walk over his last 12 games, collecting at least one in all but one of those games (August 12 at ELP).
- Texan Jared Southard put together his longest scoreless outing since July 12 at Sacramento, as he fired two shutout innings with three strikeouts tonight. He has tallied back-to-back scoreless outings, holding his longest streak (3.0 IP) since ending July with 3.2-inning stretch.
- Cade Marlowe managed his 14th hit over 17 games as a Bee, singling as part of the big ninth-inning. He snapped an 0-for-14 skid with the base hit and later scored his fifth run with Salt Lake later in the frame. Marlowe has reached in 14 of his first 17 games in the Black and Gold.
- Closer Kaleb Ort was nails for Salt Lake, firing a perfect ninth inning to collect his ninth save of the season. The right hander has been excellent as of late, tallying five consecutive scoreless outings (6.0 IP over that span) with three saves in that stretch. Ort has five strikeouts in that span, with tonight’s two strikeout performance being the first multi-punchout effort over the five outings.
Up Next
The week-long set between Salt Lake and El Paso concludes Sunday with a 12:05 p.m. afternoon first pitch inside Southwest University Park.