Guzman Homers, Bees Take Series Against Reno

SOUTH JORDAN, UT. -The Salt Lake Bees clinched the series victory on Saturday night with its fourth win over the last five games as Denzer Guzman went deep for the second time this series while Matthew Lugo drove in two helping lift Salt Lake over Reno 6-4.

Salt Lake Bees 6, Reno 4

WP: Sammy Peralta (4-2)

LP: Hayden Durke (0-2)

SV: Jose Quijada (1)

Game Summary

Salt Lake and Reno jumped out to a fast start for the third night in a row, scoring five of the games 10 runs in the first two innings.

Salt Lake struck first, scoring all three first inning runs with two outs that was ignited by Matthew Lugo lining a single to center field. Carter Kieboom got the scoring started with an RBI double driving home Lugo for the games first score. It was then followed up by a two-run home run from Denzer Guzman that made it a 3-0 game after one for the second night in a row.

The Aces answered right back as Aramis Garcia singled to open the second frame and got around to third as Andy Weber followed with a double to right. Christian Pache drove both runners home to cut the deficit down to one before the Bees recorded an out.

After four straight scoreless innings from both teams, Reno would score the game-tying run on a fielder’s choice to make it 3-3 in the seventh.

Salt Lake erupted in the seventh with its second three-run frame of the night to seize control. After loading the bases with no outs, Nelson Rada delivered the go-ahead RBI single to left, putting the Bees back on top. Moments later, Matthew Lugo nearly cleared the wall in right-center, settling for a two-run double off the fence that stretched the lead to 6–3.

The Aces refused to go away quietly in the eighth, putting their first two hitters aboard before Andy Weber singled home a run to cut the deficit to 6–4. Sam Bachman steadied things from there, stranding a pair to keep Salt Lake in front.

Salt Lake once again loaded the bases in the bottom half, but this time came up empty in its bid to add insurance.

Six runs proved to be enough, though, as José Quijada worked a scoreless ninth to slam the door on Reno and clinch the series for the Bees.

Game Notes

• With the win, Salt Lake has now won their fifth series of 2025 and third series of the second half, improving to 5-8-9 in series play on the season and 3-2-5 in series play at home.
• Salt Lake has been outhit by Reno in each of the five games in the series including the Aces having a 10-8 edge on Saturday night as the Bees improve to 19-55 when having fewer hits than the opponent.
• Carter Kieboom continued his strong series against Reno by going 2-for-2 with a double, two walks, RBI, and stolen base. In the series versus the Aces, Kieboom is 7-for-15 (.466) with four extra-base hits, five RBI, and three walks. Kieboom is now batting .410 with 14 RBI and seven walks against Reno in 2025.
• Denzer Guzman extended his on-base streak to six games after a 1-for-3 performance that included his fourth home run of the season. Guzman launched his second home run over the last three games that saw a distance of 437 feet, his longest recorded home run of the season. Guzman has driven in a run in three straight games totaling six RBI for the series while batting .375 in five games against the Aces this week with a 1.349 OPS.
• Matthew Lugo was productive at the plate tonight going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run. Lugo collected his 28th multi-hit game of the year, the second most on the team behind Chad Stevens and picked up his 15th multi-RBI games of the season, a team-best mark.
• Shaun Anderson made his 18th start of the season on Saturday night racking up five innings pitched where he allowed two runs on six hits giving up one walk with two strikeouts. Across Anderson’s last five starts, he has come up with a 2-0 record and a 3.21 ERA over 28.0 innings pitched where he has collected 18 strikeouts and surrendered just two free passes.
• Sam Bachman pitched his way out of a jam in the eighth to record his 10th straight scoreless appearance for the Bees. Since being optioned to Salt Lake on August 2, Bachman has a 0.00 ERA, allowing just five hits and four walks in seven games in that span.
• Zach Humphreys went 1-for-3 with a run and a walk to extend his hit streak to nine games, the longest streak of his career. During his streak, Humphreys is batting .379 (11x29) with two doubles, six RBI, seven runs scored and three stolen bases.

Up Next

Salt Lake and Reno will face off once more in the series finale on Sunday as Dakota Hudson (6-6, 7.26) takes the ball for the Bees to go up against Casey Kelly (2-5, 5.76) for the Aces with first pitch slated for 12:05 p.m. MST at The Ballpark at America First Square.