Bees Split Doubleheader, Take Game Two Behind Balanced Scoring Effort, 8-3
PCL Salt Lake Bees

Bees Split Doubleheader, Take Game Two Behind Balanced Scoring Effort, 8-3

Published on April 18, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


SOUTH JORDAN, UT - The Bees took the nightcap after falling in Game One of the doubleheaders to the Space Cowboys, taking a 3-2 series lead going into Sunday's matchup.

Game One

Sugar Land 2, Salt Lake 1 WP: Josh Hendrickson (1-0)

LP: Caden Dana (0-1) Key Performers Caden Dana: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 7 K Denzer Guzman: 1-3, 2B, RBI, 2 K Trey Mancini: 1-3, 2B, 2 K

Game One Summary

The Bees managed just three baserunners in the opening contest of Saturday's twin bill. After three scoreless frames to start, Sugar Land scored twice in the fourth on three straight two-out hits. Jax Biggers brought home the runs with a two-run double laced into the right field corner to hand the visitors the lead.

Sixteen of the first 17 Bees to come to the plate were retired, except for Trey Mancini. The former big leaguer launched a double to the left field wall in the second inning.

Caden Dana did his job to keep the home team in the game, as he tossed six strong innings and punched out seven to collect Salt Lake's first quality start of the season.

In the sixth, Salt Lake cut the lead in half. Yolmer Sanchez bunted his way on with a single, before Denzer Guzman brought him home. The shortstop nearly left the yard, punishing a baseball 393 feet into Jackie's Corner in the left center alley and made it 2-1 Sugar Land.

Jared Southard pitched a scoreless seventh, leaving two Space Cowboys stranded. His efforts gave the Bees a chance to walk it off in the bottom half, but Alimber Santa sat down the three Bees he faced to grab the save and complete a game one victory for Sugar Land. Both squads took two games in a row to start the series, evening things up entering the nightcap.

Game Notes

Game One marked the quickest matchup of the season. The result was decided in just an hour and 38 minutes, beating out the previous season high of one hour and 51 minutes.

Salt Lake managed three hits in the first game, their lowest total at home this season and second fewest overall, in front of only two hits coming in Las Vegas on Mar. 28. The Bees left two men on base, the fewest in a contest in 2026.

Caden Dana retired the side in order to start the game. The last time he recorded that feat was in his last start with the Bees on August 28, 2025. The starter also posted a no-walk, seven strikeout performance in his six-inning outing, the third time in his Triple-A career with that line. It also marked the first quality start by a Salt Lake arm in 2026.

Trey Mancini provided the first Salt Lake extra-base hit in game one, with a second-inning double. He has four two-base knocks in his last six games.

Denzer Guzman roped in Salt Lake's first run on an RBI double to deep left center. The infielder extends his hit streak to six games and has back-to-back days with an extra base hit.

Jared Southard relieved Caden Dana and allowed no runs in his second straight game.

Game One on Saturday marked the first PCL game this season with zero combined walks by both pitching staffs. The last time that happened in the PCL also involved Salt Lake, doing so on June 25, 2025, at Reno.

Game Two

Salt Lake 8, Sugar Land 3

WP: Jose Fermin (1-0)

LP: Jason Alexander (0-1)

Key Performers Nelson Rada: 2-3, RBI, R, K

Chris Taylor: 2-3, 3 RBI, BB, K

Niko Kavadas: 2-3, RBI, R, BB, K

Game Two Summary

James Nelson continued his stellar showing in Salt Lake, knocking in the game's first run two pitches into the game. The utility man sent Mitch Farris' cutter 348 feet to right center field. It came off the bat at 99.8 miles an hour.

Salt Lake jumped right back into the game in the bottom of the frame, taking a 3-1 lead. Nelson Rada knocked a single into center field to begin the Bees' first inning and scored the first run.

Donovan Walton and Chris Taylor produced RBI singles to give the Bees a 3-1 advantage.

Salt Lake extended the lead to three on Rada's sac-fly, scoring Nick Madrigal after he roped one over the third baseman's head.

Tayler Saucedo entered the game as the third straight lefty to throw in the nightcap, tossing two innings of one run baseball while giving up no hits.

The Bees added four runs of insurance in the bottom of the sixth on a pair of bases loaded walks and a two-run double by Taylor en route to Jose Fermin's first win of the season.

Game Notes

Chris Taylor extended his hit streak to five games in the nightcap. He also has driven in a run in two straight games. During his five-game hit streak, Taylor is hitting .467 (7-for-15) with two doubles, four RBI, five walks and a 1.200 OPS.

Salt Lake's three first-inning runs are the most in a game this season. They have two multi-run opening stanzas this season, both coming this week against Sugar Land (Apr. 14 and tonight).

The Bees pitching staff held Sugar Land to three hits in game two, setting a new season-low for hits allowed. Salt Lake's top three fewest season hit totals surrendered have come against the Space Cowboys in this week's series.

After ending the run-scoring streak in the first game, Nelson Rada got right back into the column as he's scored in nine of his last ten games. His run was Salt Lake's first of the game. Rada also notched his second multi-hit game of the series, following up a three-hit ledger on Wednesday, Apr. 15. Rada's seven runs in the five games against the Space Cowboys are the most by a single hitter against Sugar Land this season.

Mitch Farris punched out four Space Cowboys tonight in his outing. The southpaw has struck out at least four hitters in each of his last six starts at any level.

Christian Moore extended his run-scoring streak to eight games with his score in the first inning. The infielder's streak leads the PCL by two games.

Samy Natera Jr. struck out two in his one inning appearance tonight and has punched out at least one in his most recent six outings. That streak is tied with Angel Perdomo for the team high this season. He has 14 strikeouts in that stretch.

Jose Fermin has multiple strikeouts in five of his seven outings this season, including his last four appearances. In each of his last two games, Fermin has tallied at least three strikeouts. The closer picked up his first win of the season and has two as a member of the Salt Lake Bees, both against Sugar Land (August 13, 2025 on the road).

With a bases-loaded walk in the sixth, Niko Kavadas marked three straight games with at least one RBI, the team's longest active streak. The designated hitter also collected a two-hit day, his first since Sunday, Apr. 12 at Reno. Kavadas has an RBI in eight of the 10 games he has appeared in the month of April.

Chris Taylor's three RBI makes it his most at the Triple-A level since he did so on September 5, 2016 as a member of the Oklahoma City Dodgers. He has back-to-back multi-hit games with two hits in each Triple-A contest for the first time since Sept. 4-5, 2016 at Omaha.

Trey Mancini walked three times in tonight's ballgame and added an RBI to his ledger. It is the seventh time in his professional career he has drawn three base-on-balls in a single contest and first time at the Triple-A level. Mancini last accomplished his career high in walks on May 10, 2023 as a member of the Chicago Cubs in a 10-4 home win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Donovan Walton scored twice in game two tonight on a Chris Taylor single and a Trey Mancini bases-loaded walk. Walton has two games with two runs scored this season, both coming against Sugar Land this week (Apr. 15). In the series, the Oklahoma native has scored six times, tied for the second most in the five games.

Up Next

The Salt Lake Bees and Sugar Land Space Cowboys will wrap up the series on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. at The Ballpark at America First Square where the Bees will look to snatch their first series win.

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 18, 2026


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