Bees Fight Back, Erase Six-Run Deficit with Eight Unanswered Runs for Series-Opening Win
PCL Salt Lake Bees

Bees Fight Back, Erase Six-Run Deficit with Eight Unanswered Runs for Series-Opening Win

Published on May 6, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Down 7-1 in the sixth after striking first, the Salt Lake Bees clawed all the way back scoring eight unanswered to beat the Oklahoma City Comets in the series opener on Cinco de Mayo, turning the celebration into a full comeback fiesta.

Salt Lake 9, Oklahoma City 7 WP: Samy Natera Jr. (4-0)

LP: Wyatt Mills (3-2)

SV: Jared Southard (1)

Key Performers

Jeimer Candelario: 3-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, K

Denzer Guzman: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB

Omar Martinez: 2-4, 2 2B, RBI, R, BB, K

Trey Mancini: 2-3, 2B, 2 R, 2 BB

Game Summary

The Bees started the fiesta in the first inning after Nick Madrigal sent a leadoff double off the wall in left on Cinco De Mayo. The infielder scored after Denzer Guzman walked and Jeimer Candelario blooped a pulled single into left.

It wasn't long before Oklahoma City knotted things right back up. On the fourth pitch of the game by Caden Dana, Ryan Fitzgerald crushed a 405 foot blast to deep right field. It was his third homer of the year and PCL leading 32nd RBI.

The Comets took the lead in the next inning as Noah Miller came home from third on a Chuckie Robinson check-swing groundout to Trey Mancini. Miller had moved up to third on a balk by Dana.

The game remained at a standstill through the third, fourth, and into the fifth, with Salt Lake going down in order in each frame. The Comets' 2-1 lead was broken open in the bottom of the fifth when Ryan Ward launched a 420-foot, three-run homer--his sixth of the year--to push the home side up 5-1.

The fifth inning featured three different pitchers in a 58-pitch frame for the Bees, including Shaun Anderson, who lasted just 2.2 innings, and Najer Victor, who made his Triple-A debut after being promoted from Double-A Rocket City earlier in the day. Victor recorded his first strikeout at the level to end the inning, but the Comets led 7-1 after the frame.

Chris Taylor drew a walk to open the sixth, and Denzer Guzman followed with his sixth home run of the season to cut the Comets' lead to four. The 365-foot shot left the bat at 103.8 mph.

The Bees added another run later in the inning on a Jose Siri sacrifice fly that scored Jeimer Candelario, trimming the deficit to 7-4 after six.

Rehabbing big leaguer Brusdar Graterol came in for the Comets and retired the first two Bees batters to open the seventh. On a 2-2 pitch to Jeimer Candelario, he bounced one off the roof beyond the left-field wall to bring the visitors within two. Trey Mancini followed with a double, and Niko Kavadas added one of his own to score Mancini and cut the deficit to a run.

Samy Natera Jr. relieved Victor and worked a 1-2-3 seventh. Salt Lake capitalized in the next half-inning, tying the game on a Chris Taylor RBI single that scored Omar MartÃ-nez after he led off the frame with a double. The game was deadlocked at 7-7 heading to the bottom of the eighth. Natera kept things where it was striking out the side in the bottom of the eighth as Bees pitching retired nine in a row on seven strikeouts entering the ninth inning knotted up at seven.

Salt Lake broke through in the ninth to complete the comeback. Omar MartÃ-nez lined one off the wall in deep right-center field, scoring Trey Mancini and moving Jose Siri to third to give the Bees the lead. Nick Madrigal followed with a sacrifice fly to bring Siri home, adding an insurance run for Salt Lake.

Jared Southard came on in the ninth and earned his first save of the season, sealing Salt Lake's game one comeback victory.

Game Notes

- Salt Lake erased a six-run deficit just a game after coming back from five down against Sacramento while scoring eight unanswered runs in Tuesday's game from the sixth inning on to secure the second road series opening win of the season.

- Salt Lake pitching retired the final 12 of 13 it faced which included eight strikeouts to close out the game from the sixth frame on. Bees pitching finished with 12 strikeouts and 11 walks marking the first time since June 21, 2025 vs Sacramento the pitching staff has had double digit punchouts and free passes the same night.

- On the second pitch of the game, Nick Madrigal ripped a ball off the left-field wall, just missing a solo home run. The infielder extended his hit streak to five games with the double, then came around to score the game's first run. He has now scored in three of his last four games. He provided a massive insurance run in the ninth on his fourth sacrifice fly of the season, tied for second most in the PCL in 2026.

- After earning PCL Pitcher of the Week honors this past week, Caden Dana recorded his 100th Triple-A strikeout in the first inning, fanning outfielder Jack Suwinski to end the frame. It was his 15th strikeout of the season. Dana pitched four innings in his his fourth start of the year, his longest outing in his career against Oklahoma City. He walked a season-high five batters while striking out two matching his previous total on the road coming in Las Vegas.

- In his first at-bat of the contest, Jose Siri slashed a single into left field, extending his hit streak to six games. During his hitting streak, Siri is batting .440 (11x25) with 10 RBI, five extra base hits and a 1.224 OPS.

- Trey Mancini reached base for the sixth straight game after drawing a walk in the first inning. It was his 15th walk of the season and his fourth over the past three games, continuing a patient stretch at the plate. Mancini went 2-for-3 on Tuesday, notching his fifth multi-hit game of the year and second over his last four games. He has scored a pair of runs in back-to-back games and seven total in a stretch of games to start the month of May which ranks third in the PCL for the month behind Cole Carrigg (9) and Braxton Fulford (8) of Albuquerque.

- Jeimer Candelario stayed hot at the plate, extending his hitting streak to three games with a first-inning RBI single--his second such streak of the season. The infielder has now driven in a run in back-to-back games and finished things off in a big way, launching a two-out homer in the seventh for his second long ball of the year. Candelario finished 3-for-5, setting a season high in hits while scoring twice, marking his third straight game crossing the plate.

- After his morning promotion from Double-A Rocket City, Najer Victor made his Triple-A debut. The UCF alum posted a 2.84 ERA with the Trash Pandas, racking up 21 strikeouts across 12.2 innings. Victor picked up his first strikeout at the level just two batters into his outing, punching out Tyler Fitzgerald.

- Denzer Guzman lasered his fifth homer of the season, a two-run shot to left. That longball total is second on the team, behind Donovan Walton's six. Guzman has driven home a run in four straight games giving him five RBI to start the month of May while batting .412 in his last four games since May 1.

- Candelario's solo shot with two outs sparked the rally, followed by a Trey Mancini double. Niko Kavadas then delivered a double of his own to score Mancini, bringing his RBI total to 25 on the year and extending his hit streak to five games.

- After striking out three in his last appearance on May 1 against Sacramento, Samy Natera Jr. set a season high with five strikeouts across two innings of work. He delivered 1-2-3 frames in both the seventh and eighth innings and struck out the side in his second inning of relief.

- Omar MartÃ-nez delivered the go-ahead run on his second double of the night in the ninth inning. He notched his first two doubles of the 2026 season while all six of his extra base hits have come on the road. Martinez finished the night with an RBI and a run scored, crossing the plate for the fourth time in the last five games.

Up Next

The Bees will look to build off their Game 1 win early Wednesday in Game 2 against the Oklahoma City Comets (Triple-A, Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate). First pitch from Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla., is set for 10:05 a.m. MDT.

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 6, 2026


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