Salt Lake Falls in Game Five, 4-2, Despite Holding an 8-4 Hit Advantage

Published on August 16, 2025 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release

SUGAR LAND, Texas – The Salt Lake Bees fell 4-2 to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys on Saturday night, despite holding an 8-4 advantage in hits. With the win, Sugar Land secured a series split, setting up a decisive finale on Sunday evening.

Sugar Land Space Cowboys 4, Salt Lake Bees 2

WP: Tyler Ivey (4 – 9)

LP: Caden Dana (5 – 8)

SV: Jose Fleury (1)

Game Summary

Salt Lake went quietly in the first inning as Nelson Rada, Matthew Lugo, and Brandon Drury were each retired on groundouts and lineouts. Caden Dana matched zeros in the bottom half, setting down the Space Cowboys in order with ground balls to the infield.

The Bees threatened in the second when Ben Gamel doubled to right, but three straight strikeouts left him stranded. Sugar Land capitalized in their half as Zack Short reached on an error at first base and scored on Miguel Palma’s RBI double to put the Space Cowboys ahead 1-0.

After a quick third for Salt Lake, back-to-back walks to Colin Barber and Edwin Díaz opened the inning and a fielding error by Scott Kingery allowed Barber to score. Díaz later came home on a sacrifice fly from Shay Whitcomb, giving the Space Cowboys a 3-0 advantage.

Salt Lake’s best chance to answer early came in the fourth when Drury reached on a hit-by-pitch and Gamel followed with a single, but Denzer Guzman struck out and Drury was caught stealing third to end the inning. In the bottom half, Sugar Land extended the lead to 4-0 as Short was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on Collin Price’s single to center.

The Bees finally broke through in the fifth as Chad Stevens tripled to right to lead off the inning and later scored on a Zach Humphreys single. Humphreys stole second, moved to third on a flyout, and came home when Rada lined a single into center, trimming the deficit to 4-2. Rada was caught stealing to close the rally, keeping Sugar Land in front.

Caden Dana finished five innings before handing the ball off to the bullpen who threw four scoreless innings. On the other side, Alimber Santa, Jose Fleury, and the Space Cowboys’ late relievers combined to strand four Bees runners across the sixth through ninth innings.

In the ninth, Salt Lake brought the tying run to the plate after Gamel worked a leadoff walk, but Guzman grounded into a force out and Stevens struck out before Kingery popped out to end the game.

Game Notes

Salt Lake dropped its second game in a row allowing…