Rivero’s Grand Slam, Lugo’s Long Ball Power Bees in Bricktown

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Salt Lake Bees broke an eight-game road series opener losing streak as Sebastian Rivero provided a seventh inning grand slam while Brett Kerry allowed just one run in 5.1 innings pitched as Salt Lake secured the 8-2 victory over Oklahoma City on Tuesday night.

Salt Lake Bees 8, Oklahoma City Comets 2

WP: Brett Kerry (4 - 6)

LP: Kyle Funkhouser (2 - 2)

Game Summary

Salt Lake left a pair of walks stranded in the top of the first before the offense found its rhythm in the next two frames. Tucker Flint sparked the second inning with a leadoff double off the right-field wall, followed by singles from Sebastian Rivero and Chad Wallach who drove in the game’s first run. The Bees tacked on another in the third when Matthew Lugo launched a 430-foot leadoff homer to left, his 10th of the season, to extend the lead to 2-0.

Salt Lake struck again in the fifth as Matthew Lugo reached for the third time in as many plate appearances, lining his second hit of the night into center field. He then stole second, advanced to third on a groundout by Chad Stevens, and came home with two outs on a throwing error by third baseman Max Muncy off the bat of Bryce Teodosio, pushing the lead to 3-0.

Former Bee Chuckie Robinson put Oklahoma City on the board in the sixth with a leadoff homer to left. A double from Noah Miller followed, and a pair of one-out walks ended Kerry’s night. Jared Southard entered with the bases loaded and escaped the jam with back-to-back strikeouts, limiting the damage to just one run.

Salt Lake loaded the bases on three walks before Bryce Teodosio brought in a run on a fielder’s choice. After a stolen base and another walk the bases were loaded once again for Sebastián Rivero who broke it open with a two-out two strike grand slam to left.The Bees plated five runs in the inning on just one hit to take a commanding 8-1 lead.

Oklahoma City got one back in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Noah Miller but that was all the Comets could muster up as Angel Felipe and Jack Dashwood shutdown the final two innings with five combined strikeouts and two hits allowed as the Bees took the opener 8-2 from Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Game Notes

• Salt Lake snapped an eight-game road series opener losing streak earning its 40th win of the season and moved to 2-5 against Oklahoma City this season.
• The Bees held Oklahoma City to fewer than three runs for the first time in seven matchups and have now limited opponents to under three runs in four straight series openers. With the win, Salt Lake improved to 22-3 when allowing fewer than three runs.
• Brett Kerry earned his second win of July and fourth of the season with a strong performance, allowing just one run on five hits over 5.1 innings. He struck out six Comets batters, matching his second-highest total of the year and his most since June 10 against Las Vegas. It marked his third start this season allowing one run or fewer, and his third consecutive outing with two walks or less.
• Matthew Lugo reached base four times in five plate appearances, collecting three hits and finishing a double shy of the cycle while extending his on-base streak to nine games. He crushed his 10th home run of the season—a personal best 430-foot shot—and added his team-leading fifth triple. It marked Lugo’s fifth three-hit game of the year and his fourth in July. He’s batting .353 this month with a career-high 30 hits, ranking third in the Pacific Coast League for July.
• Sebastian Rivero recorded his eighth multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-4 with his seventh home run of the year. The blast was his second career grand slam, his first since June 11, 2023, with Charlotte and matched his career high with four RBIs.
• Tucker Flint went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, marking his second multi-hit game in his last four. He’s crossed the plate in three of his last four games and is hitting .316 over his last five, with five runs, three RBIs, and a .935 OPS.
• Niko Kavadas drew a pair of walks and scored a run for the third game in a row. It marked his 14th multi-walk game of his 2025 campaign bringing his season-total to 70 base on balls this year ranking second in all of Triple-A behind Alex Freeland with 75.

Up Next

Salt Lake and Oklahoma City will face off for game two on Wednesday night at 6:05 p.m. MST from Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.