OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Five runs across the seventh and eighth innings powered the Oklahoma City Comets past the Salt Lake Bees in the penultimate game of the six-game set, as Salt Lake finished with 13 team strikeouts at the plate.
Oklahoma City 7, Salt Lake 4
WP: Keynan Middleton (2-0)
LP: Justin Dunn (0-2)
SV: Carlos Duran (2)
Key Performers
Jeimer Candelario: 1-3, HR, RBI, R, BB, K
Alberto Rios: 1-3, 3B, RBI, 2 K
Nelson Rada: 1-4, 3B, R, K
Game Summary
The force was strong with the Salt Lake Bees to start Star Wars Night as they picked up right where they left off after scoring nine runs the night before. Nelson Rada ripped his second triple of the season down the left-field line and later scored on an RBI single from Denzer Guzman, marking Guzman’s 29th RBI of the year and his fifth over the last three games.
With two outs in the bottom of the third, Oklahoma City collected third consecutive singles and four straight base runners as Jack Suwinski roped a two-out RBI single in the third inning to tie the game at one. It brought an end to Shaun Anderson’s night, as Huascar Ynoa entered and escaped the two-out threat.
In his first game of the 2026 season and Triple-A debut, Alberto Rios ripped an RBI triple in the fifth inning to score Jose Siri and give the Bees a 2-1 lead. The hit and RBI were the first of Rios’ career at the Triple-A level.
The Comets answered right back in the bottom of the inning with some aggressive baserunning. Mookie Betts raced to third on a groundout off the bat of Jack Suwinski before scoring on Tyler Fitzgerald’s RBI single, his seventh RBI over the last two games, to tie the game at two.
Four free bases via a walk to Guzman, an error on a pickoff, and a wild pitch put the Bees ahead, and then Jeimer Candelario’s second round-tripper of the series extended Salt Lake’s lead to two.
Oklahoma City found its way back with a four-run seventh started by a two-run home run by Jack Suwinski marking his 29th RBI of the season and seventh hit of the series. Oklahoma City built off the longball plating two more in the inning on a wild pitch and sac fly to put the Comets up two headed to the eighth.
Oklahoma City held on to its lead and added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a sacrifice fly. Carlos Duran closed it out, recording his second save of the season while working 1.1 innings securing the 7-4 win in game five.
Game Notes
- Salt Lake drops the fifth game of the series on Saturday night. They have yet to win a Saturday road game, moving to 0-4. More importantly, they will play for a series split tomorrow afternoon, hoping to avoid their third series loss of the year.
- The Bees have allowed opposing offenses to record at least one three-run frame in each of the last eight games, dating back to Apr. 30 vs. Sacramento.
- Salt Lake tripled twice tonight, marking the second time they have multiple three-baggers in a game in 2026 (Apr. 17 vs. Sugar Land). It is the Bees’ first occurrences of two or more triples in a road game since the 2024 campaign when Salt Lake tallied two at Greater Nevada Field in Reno, Nev., on May 29.
- Hitting ninth continued to be productive for Salt Lake today, as Rios went 1-for-4 with a triple and RBI in the final spot of the lineup. Across the five games in Oklahoma City, the Bees’ nine-hole hitter is batting 11-for-20 (.550) with six extra-base hits (five doubles, one triple), seven RBI, two walks, and three runs scored. This season, the Salt Lake nine-spot has contributed 37 hits, the second highest of all 10 PCL squads.
- Following Nelson Rada’s leadoff triple to open the game, Denzer Guzman delivered an RBI single, recording the 50th RBI of his Triple-A career. The hit marked his 29th RBI of the season, and he has now recorded at least one hit in each of his last five games while driving in five runs over his last three contests.
- Rada tallied a triple in his first at-bat tonight, marking his 15th professional three-base knock. He later scored on Guzman’s run-scoring single, his 24th run scored in 2026, the second most on the team.
- In his first start of the year at the Triple-A level, Shaun Anderson punched out four in his 2.2 innings of work including the rehabbing Mookie Betts. It was his 75th start at the level and his first at any level since September 21, 2025 against Las Vegas.
- With an RBI triple in the fifth inning, Alberto Rios recorded the first Triple-A hit and RBI of his career. The three-bagger was the catcher’s first since Aug. 6, 2025, when he was with the Inland Empire 66ers, while the RBI marked his first since Sept. 4 of last season.
- On Alberto Rios’ RBI triple, Jose Siri came around to score and give the Bees a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning. Siri has now scored in three of his last four games and has crossed the plate 15 times this season. After drawing a walk earlier in the inning, he has also reached base in eight of his last nine games.
- In the sixth inning, Jeimer Candelario extended Salt Lake’s lead to two with his second home run of the series. It marked the veteran’s first homer of the season against a left-handed pitcher and his third long ball overall. Candelario has hit more effectively against southpaws this year, batting over 150 points higher versus lefties compared to right-handed pitching. Tonight’s solo shot was the New Yorker’s fifth dinger at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in his career, his most at any current PCL venue.
- In his first year in the Angels organization and fourth game as a Bee, Justin Dunn struck out three, his highest mark of the year and most since July 25, 2025 with the Omaha Storm Chasers.
Up Next
The Salt Lake Bees and Oklahoma City Comets wrap up their six-game series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on Sunday afternoon. First pitch from Oklahoma City is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. MDT.