Bees Drop Opening Game of Second Half in Albuquerque
Published on June 23, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Back-to-back big innings spurred Albuquerque to an 11-3 series-opening victory over the Bees in New Mexico on Tuesday night. Four Isotopes tallied three-hit nights in the teams' first game of the PCL Second Half.
Albuquerque 11, Salt Lake 3
WP: Valente Bellozo (1-7)
LP: Brett Kerry (3-4)
Key Performers
Ryan Nicholson: 1-4, 2 RBI, K
Omar Martinez: 1-3, HR, RBI, R, BB, K
Ben Gobbel: 1-5, 2B, R, K
Rob Kaminsky: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 2 K
Game Summary
The so-called second Opening Day of the season got the second half underway for Salt Lake in New Mexico on Tuesday. A couple of Bees were stranded in the first, while Albuquerque struck first in the bottom half. Brett Kerry yielded a pair of doubles around two strikeouts that gave the hosts an 1-0 lead.
A double and two walks loaded the bases for the Isotopes in the second. However, Kerry struck out the side to avoid damage and tally five total punchouts through two innings of work. The Isotopes stretched their lead in the third, posting a four-spot on four hits and a sacrifice fly. Chad Stevens was responsible for the big blow in the frame, a two-run triple.
Josh Lowe tallied Salt Lake's first hit of the week-long series, singling on the fifth pitch of the fourth. Omar Martinez drew a walk after a double play to bring up Logan Porter. The catcher nearly put the Bees on the board, but his deep flyball stayed in the ballpark to end the threat.
The hosts piled onto their lead with a five-run fourth. They sent all nine to the plate, using five hits and one walk to move the score to 10-0. Rob Kaminsky needed just seven pitches to set down the Isotopes in order across his first full inning of work.
Salt Lake's bats appeared to wake up in the sixth, loading the bases with two outs. After a pitching change, Ryan Nicholson put the Bees on the board with a two-run single that snuck through the infield for a 10-2 score. Kaminsky worked around a leadoff double in the bottom half, completing 2.2 scoreless innings in relief with two strikeouts.
Albuquerque added to their total in the seventh on an RBI double for an 11-2 advantage. Martinez got the run back for the Bees with his seventh longball of the season, a 403-foot solo shot to right field.
Following a scoreless eighth from Jared Southard, the Bees put pressure in the ninth. The visitors put Bees on all three bases with one out in the final top half to force a pitching change. The new Isotope arm worked out of the jam, getting a groundout to complete the opening victory of the second half.
Game Notes
Salt Lake fell to 14-19 on the road and 9-4 in Tuesday games. The Bees move to 3-13 when held to three runs or fewer and 10-32 when being outhit by the opponent.
Salt Lake went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base while the pitching staff allowed double-digit hits for the third straight game.
The Salt Lake pitching staff allowed eight extra-base hits tonight (six doubles, two triples) for just the second time this season (April 8 at Reno). It is just the second time in 2026 that the Bees have allowed at least six doubles (7, May 6 at Oklahoma City).
With Arol Vera's single in the ninth, all nine Bees in the starting lineup reached base in tonight's series opener. They last accomplished that on June 14 at Reno.
Kyren Paris walked in his first plate appearance of the series, starting a new on-base streak since his 14-gamer was snapped on Sunday. Following his call-up to Triple-A on June 9, the infielder has reached safely in 11 of 12 total games. Paris later singled with a runner on second, moving to .500 (6-for-12) this season in RISP with the Bees.
Since his 21-game on-base streak ended, Josh Lowe has four straight games with a hit, doing so tonight on a third-inning single. Lowe holds a 1.480 OPS over the four-game stretch and has reached in nine of the 16 total plate appearances over that span.
Jeimer Candelario drew a free pass to extend his on-base streak to five games. He has four walks over that span. Candelario later singled, his seventh hit against Albuquerque this season.
Catcher Omar Martinez reached safely in consecutive games with his seventh homer of the season. Six of those longballs have come in games away from Utah, where he owns an .820 OPS on the road compared to a .508 mark at home.
Yolmer Sánchez pushed his on-base streak to five games thanks to two base-on-balls. It is his sixth multi-walk game of 2026. Sánchez is batting .471 (8-for-17) over the five-game stretch to go along with a 1.336 OPS.
Ben Gobbel has back-to-back games with a double and now has three extra-base hits at Triple-A this season. The second baseman has reached in every game played with Salt Lake in 2026, and holds a 16-game on-base streak dating back to May 30 when he was at the Complex.
Logan Porter reached base for the first time as a Bee tonight as he drew a walk that loaded the bases in the sixth. It was the catcher's fifth walk at Triple-A this season, combined with his action as a Sacramento River Cat earlier in 2026.
Brett Kerry collected his sixth straight outing with at least five strikeouts tonight, putting up five through his first two frames. Kerry has 35 total punchouts over that span.
Ryan Nicholson doubled his Triple-A RBI total on one swing, bringing home Salt Lake's first runs of the contest on his two-out, two-run single. In just seven games at the level, the Kentucky Wildcat has six hits and four RBI for the Bees. All of Nicholson's damage this season with Salt Lake has come off a reliever.
Rob Kaminsky has tossed 7.1 innings without allowing an earned run. The southpaw has accomplished this across his last five outings with just one unearned run being yielded. He has five strikeouts over this span, all coming in his most recent three outings.
Jared Southard moved his active scoreless streak to 10.0 innings tonight with a scoreless eighth. He now has a shutout performance in eight straight appearances, tied for the highest active streak in the PCL. Southard is the first Bee to tally a double-digit scoreless streak since he and Sam Bachman each did so in 2025 (Bachman - 16.0 IP from June 5-September 10; Southard - 12.1 IP from June 17-July 11).
Arol Vera singled in the ninth, marking back-to-back games with at least one hit. He is 3-for-8 (.375) since snapping his 0-for-25 skid.
Up Next
Salt Lake looks to bounce back tomorrow evening against Albuquerque. Game two's first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. MDT from Rio Grande Credit Union at Isotopes Park.
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