Tacoma Scores Nine Unanswered To Hand Bees 9-3 Loss on Wednesday Night

TACOMA, Wash. - The Salt Lake Bees dropped Wednesday nights contest to Tacoma 9-3 after the Rainiers scored nine unanswered behind a pair of homers as the Bees fall to 0-8 against Tacoma in 2025.

Tacoma Rainiers 9, Salt Lake Bees 3

WP: Casey Lawrence (2 - 2)

LP: Victor Mederos (5 - 4)

Game Summary

Salt Lake struck first in game two on Wednesday night using the long ball as Niko Kavadas and Kyren Paris delivered back-to-back jacks that put the Bees up 3-0 in the third.

Victor Mederos breezed through the first three innings hitless with a pair of strikeouts before running into trouble in the fourth. After a quick out to leadoff the inning, Tacoma strung together two singles and a walk before a hit-by-pitch brought in their first run. Victor Labrada, in just his ninth Triple-A at-bat, tied the game with a two-run single before the Rainiers added two more on a groundout and an error to cap a five-run frame and take a 5-3 lead.

Tacoma pulled away behind the long ball—Tyler Locklear launched a solo shot in the fifth, and Harry Ford delivered the dagger with a three-run homer off Luke Murphy to cap nine unanswered runs in a 9-3 Rainiers win.

Salt Lake had traffic throughout the night, with a runner reaching in six innings. Korey Holland tallied a pair of leadoff singles but only scored once on the Kavadas homer. The Bees were retired in order in the ninth to close out the loss.

Game Notes

• Salt Lake dropped game two of the series on Wednesday night, falling 9–3 to Tacoma to slip to 32–50 on the season. Despite both teams tallying seven hits, the Bees were held to three runs—continuing a tough trend as they fell to 1–32 when scoring three or fewer.
• The loss also extended Salt Lake’s 2025 struggles against the Rainiers, falling to 0–8 in the season series. It marks the Bees’ longest single-season skid against Tacoma since a nine-game stretch in 2021, which eventually stretched to 10 with a loss on Opening Day 2022.
• Kyren Paris stayed hot at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a 446-foot homer—his fourth long ball of the year and second in the last three games. It marked his fourth straight multi-hit performance and tied his Triple-A career high in home runs, originally set in 2024. His last two homers have combined for 945 feet, both ranking among the top five longest by a Bee this season.
• Victor Mederos held Tacoma hitless through the first three innings before a five-run outburst in the fourth flipped the momentum. Mederos was tagged with the loss—his first since June 15—despite working six innings for a third straight start. He allowed six runs (five earned), matching a season-high, and struck out three.
• Korey Holland continued to make an impact since being called back up from Rocket City, going 2-for-4 with a run scored—his second two-hit effort against Tacoma this season and seventh multi-hit game overall. Wednesday marked his fifth game back since June 25 after missing nearly three weeks and his first run scored in that span.
• Niko Kavadas extended his team lead in home runs with his 17th of the season, putting him two shy of his Triple-A career high and ranking fourth in the Pacific Coast League. The blast also gave him his 14th multi-RBI game of the year. Kavadas has now reached base in 19 of his last 20 games and 49 of his last 53.
• Matthew Lugo went 1-for-4 to stretch his hitting streak to six games. Since June 17, Lugo is slashing .322/.375/.525 over a 14-game stretch with 13 runs, nine RBIs, and a .900 OPS—reaching base in all but one of those contests.

Up Next

The Bees and Rainiers will face off for the final game in Tacoma before coming to Salt Lake as Thursday’s first pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. MST as Dakota Hudson (4-4, 6.62) and Blas Castano (4-1, 4.05) take the mound at Cheney Stadium for game three.