PCL Salt Lake Bees

Bees Return Home for Nine-Game Homestand against Express and Rainiers

Published on April 28, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


The Salt Lake Bees will return home this weekend for a nine-game homestand, running from April 29 to May 8. They will host Round Rock Express for a three-game set from Friday, April 29 to May 1 and then the Tacoma Rainiers for six games starting on Tuesday, May 3. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. at Smith's Ballpark in every game except for Sunday, May 1 and Sunday, May 8 which are both set for 1:05 p.m.

The Bees are currently at the tail-end of a nine-game road trip that has included six games against the Reno Aces and three against Round Rock Express. Salt Lake was only able to take two out of six from the Aces, but never lost by more than three runs in the series. The pitching staff gave up seven home runs, including back-to-back walk-offs in the first two games, after only having allowed seven through the first 12 games. The Bees out hit the Aces however, hitting .255 as a group and hitting five home runs of their own.

Kean Wong hit .450 (9-for-20) in the series and Luis Rengifo slugged .593 with two doubles, a triple, and a home run. Cesar Valdez threw the first nine-inning complete game of the 2022 season in all of baseball, giving up just two runs on five hits as the Bees beat Reno 6-2 in game four. The 37-year-old used just 93 pitches and recorded all 27 outs on the ground out or by strikeout. Valdez was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week by Minor League Baseball for his performance.

Despite a 9-11 record, the Bees currently hold the highest run differential in Triple-A and the fifth-highest in all of Minor League Baseball. They have scored 107 runs and allowed just 71 in their first 20 games, a differential of +36. Salt Lake also has the third-lowest ERA (3.33) and the fourth-highest batting average (.269) in Triple-A after three and a half weeks of play.

Round Rock Express, the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, is one of just two teams in all of MiLB to have won 14 games so far this season. They have won 11 of their last 14 games, including the first two of a three-game set with the Bees in Texas. The Express are the best hitting team in all of Triple-A, putting together a .272 batting average over 20 games. They also have the fourth-lowest ERA at 3.50, just .17 more than the Salt Lake pitching staff.

Bubba Thompson and Leody Taveras lead all of Triple-A in batting average, hitting .387 and .378 respectively. Thompson is the No. 29 prospect in the Rangers' organization, joining No. 2 Josh Jung, No. 3 Cole Winn, No. 7 Josh H. Smith, No. 17 Davis Wendzel, No. 25 A.J. Alexy, and No. 27 Yerry Rodriguez on the Express roster.

The Rainiers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, are still looking for their first series win of the season, having only won six games so far. When the Bees visited Tacoma to open the 2022 season, they won four of six and outscored the Rainiers 44-12. Since then, Tacoma has dropped four of six to Albuquerque, five of six to Sugar Land, and split their first two games with Las Vegas. The Rainiers have the highest ERA in all of Minor League Baseball at 6.88, having given up 133 earned runs over 174 innings of work.

Salt Lake and Round Rock will play one more game Thursday night at 6:05 p.m. in Texas before both teams head to Utah for the weekend. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:35 p.m. at Smith's Ballpark. A full week of festivities are planned at Smith's Ballpark, including Smith's Family Night on May 3 and Dollar Dog Night presented by Cyprus Credit Union on May4. Thursday, May 5 will be the first Las Abejas de Salt Lake night of the 2022 season and Sunday, May 8 will feature a Mother's Day brunch. Fans can buy specific Mother's Day brunch tickets at slbees.com.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 28, 2022


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