Bees Weather Late Surge, Take First Three in Las Vegas
PCL Salt Lake Bees

Bees Weather Late Surge, Take First Three in Las Vegas

Published on April 24, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


LAS VEGAS, NV. - A pitcher's duel through the first five innings gave way to late offense from both the Bees and Aviators. Salt Lake picked up its third straight win, tying its season-high streak and moving one win away from taking the series in Las Vegas with a 5-3 victory.

Salt Lake 5, Las Vegas 3 WP: Huascar Ynoa (1-1)

LP: Brooks Kriske (3-1)

SV: Jose Fermin (3) Key Performers Nelson Rada: 2-4, 2B, RBI, R, BB, K Omar Martinez: 1-4, HR, RBI, R, 2 K Mitch Farris: 5.0 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Game Summary Aviators right-hander Joey Estes set the tone early, retiring the Bees in order in the first--the first Las Vegas pitcher to do so through the opening three games of the series.

Mitch Farris answered on the mound for the visitors, navigating a bases-loaded jam in the bottom half and limiting the damage to one run inducing a double play and capped the inning with a strikeout.

Omar Martinez broke the deadlock to open the third, working a full count before launching a fastball to deep right for his team-leading fourth home run of the season, tying the game 1-1.

In the seventh, Salt Lake broke the tie as José Siri's hook slide gave Salt Lake its first lead of the game. He raced home on Nelson Rada's groundout to first, handing Las Vegas reliever Brooks Kriske just his second earned run of the season.

Siri's outfield counterpart, Donovan Walton, added another run with a sharp single up the middle. Walton drove in Denzer Guzman from second, marking his fourth RBI performance in the last five games.

Nick Madrigal later added a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Niko Kavadas from third to extend the lead to three, going into the bottom of the 8th.

In the bottom of the eighth, Henry Bolte cut the deficit in half with a 415-foot solo homer with two outs off Huascar Ynoa. The blast was followed by back-to-back singles, prompting a pitching

change to go to closer Jose Fermin. Las Vegas loaded the bases after getting within one run before the righty walked the tightrope, striking out Michael Stefanic to end the inning.

Denzer Guzman came through with a run of insurance, singling Rada in from second after his one out double. The insurance helped, as Fermin shut things down to end the night.

Game Notes

- The Bees homered for the fourth straight game, marking their second such streak of the season. They now sit one game shy of matching their five-game stretch from April 5-10.

- Salt Lake has won the first three games of the series for the first time since May 20-22, 2025 versus Omaha (the Bees won the first five in that series). Additionally, it is the first time the Bees have taken the first three games at Las Vegas since July 19-21, 2024 when they swept the Aviators in a three-game series. The last occurrence of Salt Lake taking the first three in Sin City in a six-game set was April 9-11, 2024, a series in which they split with the home squad.

- Jeimer Candelario extended his on-base streak to four games with a walk in the first inning. The veteran has reached base in four of his first five games as a Bee. Candelario walked twice, his first game with multiple base-on-balls this season. He tallied four of those games at the Triple-A level last season.

- Omar Martinez left the yard in his first at bat for the second straight game. The catcher crushed a 92 MPH fastball 391 feet to deep right field. All four of his homers have come on the road and in his last four games played away from Salt Lake City. Martinez had one homer at Triple-A in his career prior to the start of this season. His four homers in 2026 in just 13 games are his most in one campaign since hitting eight with High-A Hudson Valley in 2025 across 57 games.

- Salt Lake turned three double plays tonight, their most in a single game this season. This is the fourth time this season the Bees have turned multiple twin killings in a game with all occurrences coming on the road. Along with Las Vegas' three double plays turned, the game featured six twin killings, tied for most in a PCL game in 2026 (Tacoma at Oklahoma City, April 21).

- Niko Kavadas extended his team-leading 16 game on-base streak with a base on balls in his first time up to the plate. He is tied for fifth in the PCL and paces Salt Lake's lineup. The Notre Dame alum drew two walks tonight, his fourth multi-walk game of the season. Kavadas added a double to his ledger, the fourth straight game he's accomplished that at Las Vegas Ballpark. He has five two-baggers over his last seven games in Sin City, dating back to 2025.

- The Bees walked eight times tonight. Salt Lake has multiple walks in 23 of their 24 games played this season. This is the team's 8th time drawing eight or more walks in a contest in 2026, the most by a PCL squad this year.

- Nelson Rada swiped his seventh base of the season and has been caught just once. He's now stolen a base in three straight games for the first time this year, last accomplishing the feat from August 13-15 of last season.

- Mitch Farris turned in his longest outing of the season at either the Triple-A or MLB level, tossing five innings while striking out five Aviators. He is the fourth straight Bees starter to complete five frames, joining George Klassen (Apr. 19 vs. SUG), Brett Kerry (Apr. 22 at LV) and Sam Aldegheri (last night). Salt Lake had just three previous starts of 5+ innings across their first 19 games. The southpaw retired the final seven batters he faced in tonight's start.

- Another multi-steal day for the Bees, totaling three swipes. As a team, Salt Lake is 10-for-10 on the basepaths this week in Las Vegas. Rada leads the way with four of those stolen bases.

- Nick Madrigal collected an RBI tonight on his third sacrifice fly of the season. He is tied with Brock Rodden (TAC) and Michael Stefanic (LV) for second in the PCL in that category, behind only Zach Ehrhard (OKC)'s four.

- Denzer Guzman used a ninth-inning RBI single to extend his hit streak to 11 games, tied for the second highest active streak in the PCL. The shortstop scored a run, marking three straight contests he has come across for his club.

- Salt Lake successfully challenged four pitches today, tying their game high this season (April 12 at Reno).

- José Fermin picked up his third save of the season, marking a career-high at Triple-A and his most since the 2024 campaign with Tri-City. All three saves this season have come via the four-out variety.

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

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 24, 2026


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