Salt Lake's Late Rally Falls Short as Isotopes Secure 9-7 Win

SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - The Salt Lake Bees came up just short in their comeback bid on Saturday night, leaving the winning run at the plate in a 9–7 loss to the Albuquerque Isotopes.

Albuquerque Isotopes 9, Salt Lake Bees 7

WP: Matt Turner (1 - 0)

LP: Luke Murphy (0 - 2)

SV: Dugan Darnell (1)

Game Summary

Offense came early and often for both sides, combining for 12 runs and 15 hits through the first three innings as the Isotopes led 8-4 heading into the fourth.

Salt Lake got on the board in the first on a pair of RBI singles from Matthew Lugo and Chad Stevens and put up two more in the second on an RBI single from Chad Wallach and scored again off the bat of Niko Kavadas thanks to error by the Albuquerque first baseman Keston Hiura.

Albuquerque answered each time back-to-back four run frames in the second and in the third with leadoff home runs by Hiura and Sam Hilliard in each inning. The Isotopes strung together four straight hits in the third who all came around to score to give them an 8-4 advantage.

With two down in the fourth, Chad Wallach kept the inning alive with his second single of the night. Yolmer Sánchez then reached on a fielding error by Hiura, allowing Wallach to move into scoring position. Niko Kavadas capitalized, ripping a two-run double to center to bring home both Wallach and Sánchez on his second hit of 105+ mph off the bat.

The Bees added another in the fifth with two outs once again as it was Tucker Flint this time keeping the inning alive with a single to left. Sebastián Rivero drew a walk, and another wild pitch allowed both runners to move up into scoring position. Bryce Teodosio came through with a bloop single to shallow center, driving in Flint to pull the Bees within one.

Salt Lake’s pitching staff held Albuquerque scoreless from the fourth through the eighth inning, striking out eight of the ten batters they faced from the fifth through the eighth. Victor González punctuated the stretch by striking out the side in the eighth inning.

The Isotopes maintained their one-run lead until adding one more insurance in the ninth on an infield single by Sterlin Thompson to make it 9-7.

Niko Kavadas reached base for the fifth time in as many plate appearances, drawing a leadoff walk to begin the bottom of the ninth. Brandon Drury followed by getting hit by a pitch, putting the tying run on base. Matthew Lugo executed a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position, bringing the winning run to the plate. However, Dugan Darnell avoided any chance of a walk off, striking out Chad Stevens and Tucker Flint to earn the save and secure the 9-7 win for Albuquerque.

Game Notes

• Salt Lake dropped Saturday’s game giving Albuquerque with the very least of a split in the series and tying the season-series record at 8-8 with the Bees moving to 38-62 overall.
• Every hitter in the Salt Lake lineup reached base, collecting 12 hits to the Isotopes 13, dropping to 14-48 when being outhit by their opponent, while falling to 13–6 when recording at least 12 hits in a game.
• The Bees pitching staff racked up 15 strikeouts while issuing just two walks, tying their second-highest strikeout total of the season, just one shy of their season-best mark set on April 27 against Oklahoma City.
• Niko Kavadas reached base five times on Saturday night, going 3-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and a run scored. He became the third Bee in the last two nights to post a three-RBI game, joining Zach Humphreys and Tucker Flint from Friday’s contest. It marked his seventh game this season with three or more RBIs and extended his team lead to 17 multi-RBI performances. Kavadas also drew his 68th walk of the year, ranking second in all of Triple-A behind Oklahoma City’s Alex Freeland, who leads with 73.
• Matthew Lugo turned in his second consecutive game with multiple hits, a run scored, and an RBI, while adding his team-leading 19th double of the season. He has now scored in three straight games and extended his on-base streak to seven. In the month of July, Lugo ranks tied for sixth in the league with 26 hits, batting .338 with five doubles, three triples, two home runs, 13 RBIs, 12 runs scored, and a .949 OPS.
• Bryce Teodosio recorded his second two-hit game of the series, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. He has hit safely in 10 of his 12 games this season, posting a .368 batting average with three doubles and two triples over that span.
• Chad Wallach went 2-for-4, marking his second multi-hit effort in his last four games. He scored for the first time since July 3 and recorded his first RBI in a month, with his last coming on June 26 against Reno.
• Chad Stevens went 1-for-5 hitting safely for the third straight game and the eighth time in nine appearances against Albuquerque. Stevens has driven in four in four consecutive games bringing season total to 51 RBI on the season ranking second to Niko Kavadas (61).
• Kenyon Yovan and Angel Felipe combined for 4.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen, racking up seven strikeouts between them. Yovan delivered his third consecutive scoreless relief outing, tossing a season-high three innings with three strikeouts. Felipe followed with a dominant performance, striking out four of the five batters he faced to set a new season high in strikeouts while logging his first hitless appearance since July 6 against Tacoma.

Up Next

Salt Lake will look to save the series and go for the split on Sunday in the series finale against Albuquerque with first pitch set for 12:05 p.m. MST at The Ballpark at America First Square.