Moore Walks Off Space Cowboys in Longest Game in Ballpark History

SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - Christian Moore’s two-run double in the bottom of the 12th sent fans home happy in The Ballpark at America First Square giving the Dirty Sodas a third straight victory and capping off the longest game in the ballpark’s short history.

Salt Lake 9, Sugar Land 8 (Final/12 inn.)

WP: Dylan Phillips (3-0)

LP: Logan VanWey (1-1)

Key Performers

Christian Moore: 2-5, R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, BB, K

Nelson Rada: 3-5, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB, K

Donovan Walton: 1-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, K

Jared Southard: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 K

Game Summary

Sugar Land struck first as CJ Alexander blasted his second homer of the series just to the right of the newly-unveiled Jackie Robinson “42” retired jersey plaque in the left center alley in the first inning.

The Dirty Sodas knotted the score in the second, thanks to a throwing error on a wild pitch that escaped into left field.

A big third inning for the Lone Star visitors swung the lead back to them, highlighted with Alexander’s second longball of the game, a two-run shot.

Sugar Land added one in the fifth, with a mammoth solo shot off the scoreboard from Jack Winkler to make it 5-1. Utah cut the deficit to one in the bottom of the fifth, courtesy of Christian Moore’s first home run of the season, a two-run shot, and a RBI double from Niko Kavadas.

The Dirty Sodas drew two walks to start the sixth and made them count. Yolmer Sanchez tied the game at five with a sacrifice fly to right. With a runner on first, Nelson Rada hit a high fly ball down the left field line that was misread by left fielder James Nelson and allowed Rada to round the bases with a go-ahead, two-run, inside-the-park home run.

The visitors edged closer in the eighth, on Riley Unroe’s RBI double to make it 7-6. A pitching change brought Tayler Saucedo into the game, who made sure the lead stayed with the Dirty Sodas.

Jose Fermin came on to secure the game for Utah, but Sugar Land had other plans. A one-out double came around to score with two outs on a slow roller that resulted in an infield single. The closer struck out Jax Biggers to send proceedings to the bottom half, all knotted up at seven. Utah went down in order, forcing extras in Daybreak for the first time this season.

Neither side broke through in the 10th, with both squads stranding a run 90 feet away. It was more of the same story in the 11th, despite a sacrifice bunt that moved a Dirty Soda baserunner to third.

The visitors scored in the top of the 12th using a single over a drawn-in infield to take a 8-7 advantage. The score stayed there, thanks to an outfield assist from Chris Taylor and no more damage allowed by Dylan Phillips.

A perfectly placed bunt from Rada started the bottom half, putting runners on the corners for Moore. The second baseman sliced a sweeper from Logan VanWey into right field, scoring both runners to end the longest game in ballpark history, with 12 innings played in 3 hours and 34 minutes. With the victory, the Dirty Sodas have collected three straight wins and the first two in the series against the Space Cowboys.

Game Notes

• This is Salt Lake’s first extra inning game of the season. It is the longest game by innings (12) and by time (3:34) in ballpark history, surpassing July 4, 2025 vs. Tacoma (11 inn.) and April 1, 2026 vs. Sacramento (3 hours, 30 minutes).

• Nelson Rada’s inside-the-park home run in the sixth inning marked the third such variety of roundtripper at The Ballpark at America First Square and first by a Salt Lake batter (Tyler Tolbert, Omaha; Tim Locastro, El Paso). It is the first inside-the-parker by a Bee since Kyren Paris accomplished it on June 22, 2024 versus Reno at Smith’s Ballpark. Rada has scored in seven straight games, marking the longest active streak in the PCL. Rada collected two hits tonight, pushing his season total to 15 to lead the team.

• Christian Moore notched his third professional walk-off and his first at the Triple-A level. Moore had a walk-off two-run homer on August 7, 2024 for Double-A Rocket City, while also notching a two-run homer in the final at-bat on June 24, 2025 for the Angels to win 3-2 at Angel Stadium over the Boston Red Sox.

• Jared Southard punched out four Space Cowboys tonight in his two scoreless innings of work. That effort ties his Triple-A career high, having last accomplished that on September 5, 2025 vs. El Paso, a game where he earned a win.

• Dylan Phillips picked up the win, matching a professional career-high with his third victory of the season—equaling the three wins he recorded with Tri-City (A+) in 2024. He tossed 2.0 innings in the 12th, allowing two hits and one unearned run while striking out two and issuing no walks. Phillips has now gone three straight appearances without surrendering an earned run and matched his Triple-A career-high with his fifth outing on Wednesday night.

Up Next

The six-game set continues from The Ballpark at America First Square with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch schedule for Thursday’s contest.