Walton’s Grand Slam Lifts Bees Over Chihuahuas on Golf Night

SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - On Golf Night at The Ballpark at America First Square, Donovan Walton delivered the biggest drive of the evening, slicing a seventh inning grand slam in the tee box that snuck over the right field wall and gave Salt Lake a 3-1 series lead over El Paso.

Salt Lake 10, El Paso 5

WP: Brady Choban (1-0)

LP: Logan Gillaspie (2-3)

Key Performers

Donovan Walton 1-3, HR (GS), 4 RBI, 2 R, BB, K

Christian Moore: 2-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Zach Humphreys: 2-4, 2B, RBI, R

Yolmer Sánchez: 2-4, RBI

Game Summary

George Klassen was on his way to winning the Masters on Golf Night, retiring the first two batters of the first inning. The righty missed the cut, finishing his outing at just 0.2 innings and 40 pitches. El Paso used four straight singles and a walk by the visitors to take a 3-0 lead forcing Klassen off the mound and Jared Southard into the game. The latter got through the jam in two pitches.

Both pitching staffs worked zeroes through the top half of the fifth inning before Zach Humphreys snapped the scoring drought and lined a single up the middle with two outs in the bottom of the frame, making way for Christian Moore’s third homer of the year. It cut El Paso’s lead to one.

Nick Schnell battled right back in the top of the next frame, putting the visitor’s back up by a pair with his seventh longball of the year.

The first two batters went down in the bottom of the sixth to begin the inning. Salt Lake went full force with two outs again. Jose Siri recorded his 27th RBI of the year, singling in Donovan Walton to get the Bees within one. Siri swiped second after the base hit and Yolmer Sanchez notched his second hit of the game, scoring the outfielder to tie the game at four.

El Paso fought back right away. Mason McCoy drove in the leadoff walk to take the lead headed to stretch time. After the song, Salt Lake plated six runs to go ahead 10-5 after seven innings.

The scoring started on a bases loaded hit by pitch that moved Trey Mancini to first and Christian Moore to the plate. The scoring continued on Donovan Walton’s grand slam that snuck over the right field wall and Zach Humphreys

A scoreless inning filled the eighth and in the ninth Brady Choban achieved his second 1-2-3 inning in a row to give the Bees their third win of the set.

Game Notes

• Salt Lake secures at least a series split with their third win of the week. With two games left in the six-game set, the Bees are in search of their first series victory in 2026 and first since taking a week-long series at Round Rock on August 26-31, 2025.

• Tonight’s win marked the Bees’ fourth victory at home on Friday night, moving to 4-1 on the day of week and 5-3 overall this season. In May, Salt Lake is 5-2 in South Jordan, tied with Albuquerque for most home wins among PCL teams in the month.

• Christian Moore and Donovan Walton each homered, marking the 10th game Salt Lake has accomplished that feat in 2026. They are 8-2 in such games and 4-1 at home.

• All nine Salt Lake hitters collected a hit, with Zach Humphreys, Yolmer Sánchez, and Christian Moore leading the way with two hits each. It is the second time every starter has notched a hit in a game this month (May 1 vs. Sacramento) and the third time this season (Apr. 22 at Las Vegas). Eight of the nine batters scored at least once, highlighting a complete effort through the lineup.

• After being shutout in 12 consecutive innings dating back to Thursday evening, the Bees erupted for 10 runs over the fifth, sixth and seventh. It is the most runs scored by Salt Lake across those three innings in a single game this season, surpassing the eight runs scored earlier this week on Wednesday.

• Nick Madrigal singled in the first, extending his on-base streak to 14 games. It is the longest active streak and tied for third longest at any point in 2026 by a Bee.

• Jared Southard appeared in his 150th Minor League game of his career. The right-hander replaced George Klassen with two outs in the first. He finished with 3.1 innings of shutout baseball, the longest outing in his college or professional career. Southard tossed 45 pitches, the most since he threw 54 on 4/24 in Las Vegas. He’s up to 27 innings pitched on the season with 20 strikeouts to 14 walks. Over his last six appearances (9.0 IP), Southard has held teams scoreless in five of those six outings with the only blemish coming on May 8 at OKC in a four run bottom of the ninth inning.

• With a first inning walk, Denzer Guzman moved his on-base streak to 12 games. He holds the second longest streak behind Madrigal and tied for third longest this season. His single in the seventh inning extended his hitting streak to nine games, batting .421 (16-for-38) with 14 RBI and 10 runs scored over that span. This month, Guzman is slashing .412/.492/.686, all of which rank in the top six in the PCL in May.

• Yolmer Sánchez extended his hit streak to five games with a second inning single into left field. He’s hitting 9-for-19 (.474) in that time frame. It’s his longest hit streak of the season with the previous being a four gamer from April 22-26 in Las Vegas.

• To begin the bottom of the fourth, Trey Mancini lined up a ball in the left-center gap. It was the veteran’s 11th double of the year and third in his last three games. His last double that came two games ago was his 50th at the Triple-A level.

• After the first two batters went down in the bottom of the fifth, Zach Humphreys singled up the middle. Humphreys went 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and run scored. The catcher has reached safely in seven straight games with hits in six of those, including five multi-hit games. He is batting 11-for-23 (.478) with four doubles, six RBI and a 1.190 OPS in the month of May.

• Following Humphreys’ two out single, Christian Moore launched his third round-tripper of the year. It was the first homer the second baseman has hit since Apr. 21 at Las Vegas before he was placed on the seven-day injured list. He later singled, making it his second multi-hit performance in his last three games.

• Jose Siri singled in his 27th RBI of the year to get Salt Lake within a run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Siri crossed the plate for the fifth time in the last six games while batting .333 in the month of May (15-for-45) with 14 RBI, eight runs scored and a .945 OPS.

• In the bottom of the seventh inning with the bases loaded, Donovan Walton smashed his third grand slam of his Triple-A career. It was the first grand slam for Salt Lake this season and Walton’s first grand slam since July 2024 as a member of the Sacramento River Cats. For Walton, it was his seventh long ball of the year, tying Denzer Guzman for the team lead and 28th RBI, which ranks second on the team.

• After 16 at-bats without a hit, Chris Taylor broke through with a seventh-inning single. It was the veteran’s 26th base hit of the year, and he worked his 20th walk of the campaign.

• Joey Lucchesi needed only seven pitches, all strikes, to tally a perfect 1-2-3 ninth. He holds a 2.25 ERA (4 IP/1 ER) in the month of May adding a 0.75 WHIP over three appearances in the month. Six of the lefty’s 17 strikeouts have come this month and has yet to allow a run in the ninth inning.

• Brady Choban picked up his first win of the campaign, twirling two innings of work with one strikeout, one earned run, and one hit allowed. The one run was the first he’s allowed in the month of May. In the month, he’s made four appearances, accounting for a 1.29 ERA with four strikeouts to two walks through seven innings pitched.

Up Next

The series rolls on into a Saturday Military Appreciation Night at The Ballpark at America First Square. Salt Lake and El Paso will square off for the fifth game of the set starting at 6:35 p.m. MDT from South Jordan.

DONOVAN WALTON CLEARS THE DECK WITH A GRAND SLAM pic.twitter.com/c7OlO1ulyZ

— Salt Lake Bees (@SaltLakeBees) May 16, 2026