Bees Hang On, Rally Past River Cats in 10 Innings

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA. - Pablo Reyes delivered twice, including the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 10th, as the Bees rallied late to defeat Sacramento 4-3 in extra innings. Aeverson Arteaga tied the game in the eighth with a two-run single before Leonard Garcia shut the door in the bottom of the 10th, handing Salt Lake the Thursday night victory.

Salt Lake 4, Sacramento 3 (Final/10 inn.)

WP: Dillon Tate (3-4)

LP: Nick Zwack (3-3)

SV: Leonard Garcia (1)

Key Performers

Pablo Reyes: 1-4, 3 RBI, go-ahead sac fly

Jeimer Candelario: 1-3, R, HR, RBI, BB, K

Ryan Costeiu: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, BB, 8 K, ND

Game Summary

It wasn’t until the third inning that the scoreboard lit up. With two Bees on base following back-to-back singles to begin the inning, Pablo Reyes came through, driving in both runners to give Salt Lake a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third.

Sacramento answered right back in the home half of the frame, trimming the deficit to 2-1 following a two-out RBI double by Diego Velasquez.

Jeimer Candelario gave that run right back to the visitors with one swing of the bat. The veteran launched his 15th homer of the season off the yellow line in right-center field and over the wall to make it 3-1.

The score stayed knotted until the bottom of the eighth, when the River Cats loaded the bases following a single, error and walk. Aeverson Arteaga then came through with a two-run single into center field to tie the game at three.

In the top of the ninth, Salt Lake generated momentum by putting two baserunners aboard via a walk and a hit-by-pitch, but both were ultimately left stranded.

Sacramento would go on to load the bases in the bottom of the ninth, but Dillon Tate walked the tight rope and forced a force-out to send the game to extras.

Reyes delivered once more following Nelson Rada's sacrifice bunt that moved the automatic runner to third, floating a sacrifice fly to center field to put the Bees ahead in the 10th inning.

The River Cats answered in their half of the frame, advancing the automatic runner to third base and drawing a walk to put runners at the corners. However, Salt Lake left-handed reliever Leonard Garcia rebounded impressively, retired three batters in a row via the strikeout, and sealed the extra-inning win to give the Bees their second victory of the series.

Game Notes

• Salt Lake won their 60th game of the season with just six hits, marking the seventh win of the season when having six hits or fewer (7-27) while going to 13-58 when being outhit by the opponent.

• Jeimer Candelario’s five-pitch walk in the second inning was the 671st base-on-balls by the Bees in 2026, setting a new franchise record. Salt Lake added three more free passes, racking up their total to 674 on the year, good for the PCL lead. The 674 walks is equivalent to 11.49 miles, or roughly 169 football fields. Salt Lake sits second in all of Triple-A behind Columbus who has come up with 697 free passes this year.

• Salt Lake swiped two bags on Thursday night, both coming from Yolmer Sanchez. It gave the Bees 167 stolen bases on the year (3rd in PCL) and their 36th since Aug. 1 (T-3rd in PCL).

• The Bees played in their 13th extra-inning game tonight, their most in a season since 2015. Salt Lake is four games shy of matching the franchise record of 17 extended contests, accomplished in 1996. This season, the Bees are 6-7 in extra innings, their most victories in a season since 2024 when they managed seven wins. They snapped a four-game losing streak in extras tonight, having last secured a win on June 27 at Albuquerque. Tonight marked the Bees’ fourth extra-inning win on the road, their most in a season since 2024 (also four). They are one win shy of the club’s season high (since 2005), when the 2005 and 2019 squads each collected five road extra-inning victories.

• Salt Lake’s starters have managed four straight appearances of 5.0+ innings, a new season-high. It is the club’s longest since they finished the 2025 season with six straight (September 16-21 at Las Vegas). Four different arms have supplied the strong outings, with Hurtado (Aug. 30), Dana (Sept. 1), Kerry (Sept. 2) and Costeiu (Sept. 3). Costeiu made it two straight nights with a quality start, the club’s 21st of the year. Salt Lake holds a 0.53 starter ERA in September, second in Triple-A behind Gwinnett’s 0.52 ERA.

• After Brett Kerry’s quality start yesterday, Ryan Costeiu followed it up with one of his one. It marks the Bees’ third such occurrence of consecutive games with a quality start (May 21 & 22 vs. Tacoma; August 11 & 12 at El Paso). Salt Lake is 12-9 in games their starter tallies a quality performance, with a 3-7 record on the road.

• The Bees’ eight-game error-free streak was snapped with a trio of errors tonight. Salt Lake’s streak was the longest active stretch in pro baseball, before today’s game, spanning over 260 total chances.

• Ryan Costeiu was commanding in his fifth start as a Bee. The right-hander struck out a Triple-A career-high eight batters across six innings of work. Costeiu allowed six hits and just one run en route to his second quality start in his last three games. The last time he struck out eight was August 1 with Rocket City.

• Jeimer Candelario became Salt Lake’s first baserunner with a walk in the second inning. The veteran has reached in consecutive games and set a Triple-A season high with 48 walks, surpassing his previous high of 46 free passes in 2017. Leading off the fourth frame, Candelario launched his 15th home run of the year, matching his Triple-A career mark previously set in that 2017 season.

• With an out in the second inning, Yolmer Sánchez grounded a single into center field to make it two straight Bees to reach base. The infielder extended his on-base streak to nine games and his hit streak to four games with the knock. Sánchez has recorded a hit in all three games to begin September. The Venezuelan worked his 445th Triple-A walk with two outs in the sixth. In addition, Sánchez stole his 17th base of the season, establishing a new personal Triple-A high.

• Arol Vera led off the third inning with a single up the middle. The infielder has hits in back-to-back games. Vera went on to score a run in tonight’s game, giving him runs in two of his last three games.

• Nelson Rada tallied two sacrifice bunts tonight, his second career such game. He laid down a pair of sacrifices on September 3, 2023 with Single-A Inland Empire, also a 10-inning contest.

• In his second at-bat, Raudi Rodriguez beat out an infield single to second to snap an 0-for-8 skid that spanned two games.

• Pablo Reyes slapped a two-run single to the opposite field to give Salt Lake an early 2-0 lead. The run-scoring knock extended his Triple-A career-high hit streak to 14 games and was his 550th Triple-A hit. Reyes has recorded a multi-RBI game in two of his last three appearances.

• Leading off the sixth inning, Ben Gobbel snuck a single past the second baseman for his first hit of the night. The Belmont Abbey alum has recorded a hit and reached base in five straight games.

• Bouncing back from having his four-game scoreless streak broken in his previous outing, Rob Kaminsky threw a clean inning, allowing just one hit and recording one strikeout in his first September appearance since Sept. 22, 2024, with Tacoma.

• In a brief 0.2-inning outing tonight, right-hander Brady Choban yielded two runs on two hits, marking his shortest stint on the mound since pitching 0.1 innings on June 28 in Albuquerque.

• Omar Martinez tabbed a free pass in his ninth inning at-bat. The catcher’s walk was his first time reaching base since August 16 in El Paso after recently being reinstated from the development list. Martinez’ free pass was his 290th in his Minor League career.

• Reliever Dillon Tate recorded a season-high three walks in his inning of work, his highest total since May 16 of last season as a member of the Buffalo Bisons. Tate also recorded his first scoreless appearance since Aug. 21 against Reno.

• Leonard Garcia notched his first save at the Triple-A level, sitting down three River Cats in a row to slam the door on Salt Lake’s extra-inning victory. The southpaw’s one inning save is his first at any level since April 19 with Rocket City. He has a 3.2-inning scoreless streak, one out shy of his longest at Triple-A (August 16-19 - 4.0 IP).

Up Next

Salt Lake gears up for the 10th game of the road trip and fourth of the six-game set against Sacramento. The Bees and River Cats battle Friday at 6:45 p.m. MDT inside Sutter Health Park.