Bees Offensive Clinic Overwhelms Aviators in Las Vegas
PCL Salt Lake Bees

Bees Offensive Clinic Overwhelms Aviators in Las Vegas

Published on April 23, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


LAS VEGAS, NV. - A new season-high in runs, hits, doubles, and extra-base hits paced the Salt Lake Bees their second straight win in Las Vegas, defeating the Aviators 14-3 on Wednesday.

Salt Lake 14, Las Vegas 3

WP: Sam Aldegheri (1-2)

LP: Kade Morris (1-1)

Key Performers Christian Moore: 3-6, 2 R

Chris Taylor: 3-4, R, 2 2B, 3 RBI, BB, K, SB

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

Sam Aldegheri: W, 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 7 K

Game Summary

Nelson Rada used his speed to get the Bees on the board in the opening frame. The outfielder swiped second and third, before scoring on a tiny dribbler out in front of the plate.

Salt Lake added to the score in the second on Omar Martinez's third homer of the season, a two-run shot to center. All three of the catcher's longballs have come away from Utah.

Meanwhile, Sam Aldegheri shined. The southpaw tossed three no-hit innings to start his outing in Las Vegas using three strikeouts. Aldegheri did surrender his first hit of the day to begin the fourth, but still posted another shutout frame.

The offense gave the Italian plenty of additional run support, posting a four spot in the fifth.

Following a pitching change, Jeimer Candelario made the new Aviator arm pay with a two-run double and extended the Bees lead to 5-0. Consecutive RBI singles from Niko Kavadas and Chris Taylor pushed the lead out to 7-0 for the visiting squad.

Despite giving up a one-out double, Aldegheri punched out two more Las Vegas hitters to complete five scoreless innings with seven total strikeouts.

Las Vegas got on the board in the sixth off Kirby Yates, who began a rehab assignment tonight with the Bees. The home team used a 374-foot three-run home run from Bryan Lavastida to cut into the Salt Lake lead at 7-3.

Salt Lake got one of those runs back immediately, as Candelario popped a solo shot onto the right field berm in the top of the seventh. His first homer as a Bee this season had a 45-degree launch angle and more importantly made it 8-3.

One inning later, the Bees reached double digits and piled on. Donovan Walton collected a two-run single with the bases loaded. A hot shot to third from Denzer Guzman went down as a RBI single and grew the advantage to 11-3. Kavadas notched an RBI double just inside the right field line, followed by Taylor's two-run double. When the dust cleared, Salt Lake tallied six runs on six hits, three of those doubles, and held a 14-3 lead. The large eighth inning also solidified that every Bees batter scored and notched a hit in the ballgame.

Kaleb Ort, Tayler Saucedo and Angel Perdomo tossed the final three innings in relief for the Bees, each tallying a scoreless frame. Perdomo had the honors of closing out the offensive explosion to give Salt Lake their second straight victory.

Game Notes

- Salt Lake won their second straight game, marking back-to-back series where they have been victorious in the first two contests. Additionally, the Bees have won three road games in a row, dating back to the series finale on April 12 at Reno. It's the longest road winning streak, since the Bees won three in a row at Sacramento between May 15-17, 2025.

- The 14 runs on 15 hits both set new game-highs this season. Salt Lake's previous highs were 13 runs (Home Opener, Mar. 31 vs. Sacramento) and 14 hits (last night in Las Vegas). The Bees are batting 29-for-81 (.358) across the last two games after batting .247 (165-for-813) over their first 20 games.

- This is the third PCL game to have at least 14 runs, 15 hits, and seven extra base hits by the same team this season, with Albuquerque accomplishing it twice (Apr. 12 at El Paso & Apr. 19 vs. Oklahoma City). Wednesday night marked just the fifth time since 2015 the Bees have scored 14+ against Las Vegas and the most runs vs. the Aviators since Aug. 7, 2025. The 11-run win was also the largest margin over Vegas since the 13-0 shutout on May 18, 2023.

- The Bees notched seven extra-base hits, their most in a contest in 2026, breaking the high of six on April 15 and 17 vs. Sugar Land. They also managed five doubles, a new game high this season; they last accomplished that feat on Sept. 17, 2025 at Las Vegas.

- Every single Bees hitter scored and notched a hit in tonight's contest, accomplishing this for the first time in 2026. The last game Salt Lake reached this milestone was on June 24, 2025 at Reno in a 18-15 defeat to the Aces.

- Omar Martinez launched his third dinger of the season with a two-run shot to center tonight. All three of his homers have come on the road and in his last three games played away from Salt Lake City. Additionally, the catcher has three extra-base hits, all of which are homers. He has a hit in four straight games and is batting 6-for-15 (.400) in that span.

- Denzer Guzman extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a 1-for-4 night at the plate notching back-to-back nights with multiple runs driven in while crossing the plate two times. Since his hit streak began on Apr. 11, Guzman is batting .375 (15-for-40) with 10 RBI, seven runs scored and a .968 OPS. Guzman's 15 hits in that span are second in the PCL behind Ryan Fitzgerald of Oklahoma City (16) and is one of six players in the league to drive in at least 10 runs in that timeframe.

- Nelson Rada stole two bases in the first inning tonight, doing that for the second time in his Triple-A career and seventh overall. Both ledgers at Triple-A have come against the Aviators (August 5, 2025 at home and tonight on the road). Rada pushed his season total to six swipes, tied for third most in the PCL. With one steal yesterday, he recorded his second instance of back-to-back games with at least one stolen base this season (Apr. 12 @ RNO; Apr. 14 vs. SUG).

- The four stolen bases by Salt Lake tonight is a new game high in 2026. The Bees have tallied back-to-back nights with three or more steals. Salt Lake last stole four bases in a game on September 13, 2025 vs. Tacoma.

- Sam Aldegheri started with three no-hit innings in his start tonight. That is the first time he has accomplished that at the Triple-A level and seventh total in his pro career (last time was for Double-A Rocket City on May 28, 2025). The Italian finished his outing with five scoreless frames and eight strikeouts, the 17th time he has hit those marks in the same start. This is Aldegheri's first career scoreless outing at Triple-A, and first overall in his pro career since May 5, 2025 for Rocket City at Knoxville, when he pitched seven shutout with eight punchouts. Tonight's seven strikeouts by the southpaw tied the most by a single Salt Lake arm this season, matching the mark by Huascar Ynoa on Apr. 17 vs. Sugar Land (3.2 IP, 7 K). Most importantly, Aldegheri earned his first career Triple-A victory tonight in his fifth try.

- Chris Taylor notched his second double in as many days, marking the second time this season he's recorded doubles in back-to-back games. He previously accomplished the feat on April 15 and 17, and before that, last did so with the big league club on June 6 and 7 of last season. He ended the night with his best hitting statistics of the year, going 3-for-4 with a run scored, two doubles, three RBI, a walk, and a stolen base. This is Taylor's first three-hit ledger since a 3-for-3 afternoon on July 17, 2025 at the Arizona Complex League against the ACL Athletics.

- Christian Moore tallied a season-high three hits on Wednesday night marking his fifth Triple-A game with three hits, the most since June 7, 2025 against Round Rock. Moore tabbed multiple hits and multiple runs scored for the second straight games and reached base for the 17th time in his last 18 contests. Moore's two runs scored gave him a team-best 20 total on the year, becoming the fourth player in the PCL to reach the 20-run mark, ranking fourth in the league while having the third best on-base percentage in the PCL of .462.

- Niko Kavadas extended his team lead in RBIs with his 17th of the young season, ripping a ball through the right side with the infield in to score Denzer Guzman. Kavadas also pushed his active on-base streak to 15 games, tied with Christian Moore for the longest streak by a Bee this season. The South Bend, Ind., native continues to rake in Sin City, batting 4-for-11 (.364) this season in Las Vegas and now has back-to-back multi-RBI games in Las Vegas Ballpark. He also has a double in all three games he's played in Las Vegas this season. Among visiting PCL players hitting at Las Vegas Ballpark in the last two seasons, Kavadas is one of two players (Ryan Ward, Oklahoma City) with 10+ XBH, notching 11 total (five doubles, one triple, five homers).

- Jeimer Candelario notched a double and home run tonight, his first two extra base hits with the Bees this season. He collected three RBI in the game, pushing his Salt Lake total up to four, all coming in the last three games. The infielder has four RBI over his last three games - he had three combined across his last 24 professional games. Candelario has five hits in his most recent three games with Salt Lake, batting .333 over those contests.

- Angel Perdomo closed out the contest with a scoreless ninth. The lefty has three shutout appearances over his last four total outings, compiling four innings of shutout baseball with five strikeouts. He has multiple punchouts in three straight relief appearances.

Up Next

Game three of the series between the Bees and Aviators is set for first pitch at 8:05 p.m. MDT on Thursday evening at Las Vegas Ballpark.

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics

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



Pacific Coast League Stories from April 23, 2026


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