Aviators Walk Off Bees, Spoil Drury's 9th-Inning Blast
PCL Salt Lake Bees

Aviators Walk Off Bees, Spoil Drury's 9th-Inning Blast

Published on September 17, 2025 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


LAS VEGAS - The Salt Lake Bees comeback fell short on Tuesday night in the series opener at Las Vegas Ballpark as Brandon Drury tied the game in the ninth with a three-run homer before the Aviators walked it off with a two-out single from Bryan Lavastida to take down the Bees 4-3.

Las Vegas Aviators 4, Salt Lake Bees 3

WP: Anthony Maldonado (2 - 5)

LP: José Quijada (1 - 2)

Game Summary

Both starters kept the game in check early as the Bees put a runner on in each of the first three innings while George Klassen began his Triple-A debut retiring the first seven batters he faced before working his way out of a two baserunner jam in the third.

Las Vegas pushed across the first runs of the game in the fourth inning as Cooper Bowman and Bryan Lavastida opened the frame with back-to-back singles. After two quick strikeouts, Alejo Lopez worked a walk to load the bases before Drew Swift came through with a two-out single to left, plating two and giving the Aviators a 2-0 edge.

After Matthew Lugo's single in the top of the fourth, the Salt Lake offense struggled to get anything going as nine of the next 10 were retired through the sixth inning while stranding the bases loaded in the seventh.

The Aviators looked poised to extend their lead late, but the Bees' bullpen held firm. Swift singled to open the seventh, only for Angel Felipe to slam the door with three consecutive strikeouts. An inning later, Las Vegas loaded the bases, but Victor González limited the damage to just one run as López brought home the third Aviators run on a fielder's choice.

That set the stage for late-inning drama in the top of the ninth, Chad Stevens singled and Cavan Biggio drew a walk, bringing the tying run to the plate. Without a run all night, Brandon Drury wasted no time, unloading on the first pitch he saw for a towering three-run homer to left, knotting the game at 3-3.

The Aviators answered immediately in the bottom of the inning. Euribiel Angeles led off with a single and advanced on a Salt Lake error with two outs. Things turned to Lavastida who delivered the game-winner, lining a single to right field to score Angeles from second, handing Las Vegas a 4-3 walk-off win.

Game Notes

Salt Lake dropped its fifth straight, matching its longest losing streak since July 12-20. Salt Lake is 0-7 in Las Vegas this year falling back to 4-9 in the season-series with the Aviators.

The Bees were walked off for the fifth time this season, falling to 4-5 in walk-off games and 5-47 when scoring three runs or fewer.

George Klassen provided Salt Lake's 34th quality start in his Triple-A debut, going six innings of allowing two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and just one walk. The Bees increased its Triple-A lead in quality starts with Durham (32) and Sacramento (31) trailing behind. Klassen became the fourth Salt Lake Bee to make their Triple-A debut as a starting pitcher this season, joining Caden Dada, Jack Kochanowicz and Sam Aldegheri.

Nelson Rada recorded Salt Lake's only two-hit game, marking his third multi-hit effort in the last four contests. He extended his hitting streak to 10 games and his on-base streak to 21, the third-longest by a Bee this season behind Carter Kieboom (23, Aug. 6-Sept. 6) and Niko Kavadas (22, Apr. 26-May 25). Since the streak began on Sept. 5, Rada is batting .366 (15-for-41) with seven runs scored, four RBI, two doubles, a triple, and an .863 OPS. His 15 hits in that stretch are tied for the PCL lead with Tacoma's Cade Marlowe and for the Triple-A lead with Toledo's Riley Unroe and Gage Workman.

Brandon Drury extended his hit streak to six games and his on-base streak to 11 with a clutch, game-tying three-run homer in the ninth. Since joining Salt Lake on July 22, both of Drury's long balls have come against Las Vegas. His blast marked the fourth Bees homer this season to tie or take the lead in the ninth inning or later, joining Chad Stevens' game-tying shot on May 25 vs. Omaha, Sebastián Rivero's walk-off in the 11th on July 4 vs. Tacoma, and Matthew Lugo's go-ahead homer on Aug. 13 at Sugar Land.

Chad Stevens went 1-for-3 with a run scored, extending both his hitting and scoring streaks to five games. His scoring streak is tied for the second-longest active run in the league alongside Tacoma's Rhylan Thomas, trailing only Oklahoma City's Esteury Ruiz at seven. Stevens' single on Tuesday marked his 128th hit of the season, the most by a Bee since 2023, tying Trey Cabbage from that year and trailing only Michael Stefanic's 139.

Up Next

Salt Lake will look to even the series on Wednesday night as Sam Aldegheri (0-0, 5.40) and Aaron Brooks (3-5, 5.13) take the mound with first pitch slated for 7:35 p.m. MST at Las Vegas Ballpark.

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Pacific Coast League Stories from September 17, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central