Mederos Quality Start, Seventh-Inning Offense Propels Bees to 5-3 Win for Series Split

SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - The Salt Lake Bees salvaged a series split with Albuquerque, earning a 5-3 win on Sunday behind a seven-inning quality start from Victor Mederos and a three-RBI performance from Yolmer Sánchez.

Salt Lake Bees 5, Albuquerque Isotopes 3

WP: Victor Mederos (6 - 5)

LP: Connor Van Scoyoc (5 - 4)

Game Summary

Albuquerque struck first in the second inning when Kyle Karros lifted a solo home run to left on the first pitch he saw, giving the Isotopes a 1-0 lead.

The Bees evened things up in the third when Korey Holland worked a leadoff walk then stole second. Yolmer Sánchez came through with a single through the right side to plate Holland, knotting the game at 1-1.

The score remained tied at one apiece through six innings, with Albuquerque putting a runner on base in every frame except the fourth and leaving six stranded, while Salt Lake had a baserunner in all but the fifth and left five aboard.

Victor Mederos finished off his day in the seventh securing another quality start allowing just one run on six hits while holding the Isotopes scoreless in his final five innings of work.

The Bees bats came alive in the bottom half of the seventh inning scoring four runs on five hits while sending eight to the plate. Chad Wallach and Zach Humphreys led off the inning with back-to-back knocks including a double from Humphreys to put both runners in scoring position. Yolmer Sanchez delivered once again with a two-run single to left to break the tie before Niko Kavadas launched his 21st homer of the year to the opposite field to give Salt Lake a 5-1 edge.

Albuquerque did not go quietly, opening the ninth with three straight hits as Zac Veen ripped a double to left-center, scoring Braiden Ward and advancing Jose Torres to third.. Aaron Schunk followed with a sacrifice fly to left on a masterful diving catch by Bees centerfielder Matthew Lugo that brought home Torres and trimmed the deficit to two.

With the tying run on first after Sam Hilliard worked a walk, Dakota Hudson regrouped and struck out Keston Hiura to end the game and seal the 5-3 win for Salt Lake.

Game Notes

• With the win, Salt Lake salvaged the series split against Albuquerque and secured a 9-8 season-series win over the Isotopes moving to 25-19 across the past three seasons against Albuquerque.
• The split gives Salt Lake a 2-7-9 overall series record and a 1-3-4 record in series at home. Salt Lake is now 5-12 in series finales and snapped a three-game losing streak on Sundays.
• The Bees held the Isotopes to no more than three runs for the third time this season moving to 21-3 when holding opponents to three runs or less and tabbed double-digit hits for the third consecutive games despite being outhit by Albuqueruque in the previous two going to 15-48 when having fewer hits than the opposition.
• Victor Mederos delivered another masterclass on the mound, earning his team-leading sixth win of the season while matching his season-high with seven innings pitched—last reached on June 20 against Sacramento. He allowed just one run on six hits and struck out five for the second straight outing. Mederos notched his sixth quality start of the year, tying for the third-most in the league. It marked Salt Lake’s second quality start of the series, fifth against Albuquerque this season, and the team’s 20th overall—second-most in the PCL behind Sacramento (21).
• Yolmer Sánchez became the fourth Bee in the past three games to record a three-RBI performance, joining Zach Humphreys and Tucker Flint on Friday and Niko Kavadas on Saturday. The three RBIs marked a season-high for Sánchez, who also collected his 23rd multi-hit game of the year, ranking second on the team behind only Chad Stevens (26). Sánchez has now hit safely and scored in four consecutive games and extended his on-base streak to eight straight. He wrapped up the series batting .318 (7-for-22).
• Brandon Drury turned in a three-hit performance on Sunday, matching his season-high set back on April 20 with Charlotte. Drury has now hit safely in three of his four games with Salt Lake, with Sunday marking his first multi-hit effort in a Bees uniform.
• Niko Kavadas went yard for the second time in the series after going deep in the series opener, launching his 21st home run of the year to the opposite field. His 21 home runs bring him one away from tying his second-best professional career-high total set in 2023 across with Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester. Kavadas has knocked in multiple runs in back-to-back games increasing his team-lead multi-RBI total to 18 while finishing the series hitting .304 with six RBI and four runs scored.
• Chad Stevens hit safely for the fourth straight game, going 1-for-4 with his 12th stolen base of the season. He drove in a run in four of the five games he played in the series, bringing his season total to 51 RBIs, second-most on the team behind Kavadas. Stevens also leads the club with 93 hits on the year.
• Zach Humphreys stayed hot at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored. He has now doubled in back-to-back games and hit safely in eight of his last nine, while scoring in two straight. Humphreys is batting .400 in the month of July and closed out the series with a .444 average (4-for-9) over three games, collecting two doubles, three runs scored, and three RBIs.
• Matthew Lugo went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to three games and has now doubled in back-to-back contests. He wrapped up the series batting .316 (6-for-19) with three doubles, a home run, four runs scored, and two RBIs. Lugo is hitting .333 in July with 27 hits, just one shy of matching his career-high for hits in a single month, set in July 2021.

Up Next

Salt Lake will hit the road and travel to Oklahoma City to take on the Comets in a six-game set that will start on Tuesday, July 29 with game one scheduled for 6:05 p.m. MST at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.