El Paso Erases Six-Run Deficit to Top Salt Lake
PCL Salt Lake Bees

El Paso Erases Six-Run Deficit to Top Salt Lake

Published on September 3, 2025 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - The Salt Lake Bees saw a six-run deficit disappear as El Paso crawled back to earn the 11-9 victory on Tuesday night in the series opener at The Ballpark at America First Square.

El Paso Chihuahuas 11, Salt Lake Bees 9

WP: Bradgley Rodriguez (2 - 0)

LP: Connor Brogdon (1 - 2)

SV: Stephen Jones (1)

Game Summary

After a quiet opening frame, Salt Lake struck first in the second inning. Denzer Guzman drew a walk and came around to score on Chad Stevens sacrifice fly, while Cavan Biggio plated another run on a Chad Wallach single to give the Bees a 2-0 advantage.

The Bees broke the game open in the third with four straight one out hits including an RBI triple from Ben Gamel to right-center. Carter Kieboom followed with an RBI single, and Guzman capped the rally with a two-run homer to extend the lead to 6-0.

El Paso got on the board in the fourth with its first hit of the game coming on a Tirso Ornelas solo shot to lead off inning, but Salt Lake answered back in the bottom half, scoring for the third consecutive inning as Tucker Flint drove in Wallach on a triple down the right field line.

The Chihuahuas stormed back in the fifth, scoring all four runs with two outs as five in a row reached base. Luis Campusano delivered an RBI single, Ornelas doubled home another run, and Nate Mondou's two-run single pulled El Paso within 7-5.

The Chihuahuas surged ahead in the sixth coming back from six runs down. Clay Dungan laced a two-run single to right-center to tie the game while Yonathan Perlaza added an RBI double to follow, completing a three-run frame that pushed El Paso in front for the first time, 8-7.

Salt Lake answered immediately in the bottom half putting the first two on with no outs as Chad Stevens was hit by a pitch and later scored on Nelson Rada's ground ball to even things at 8-8. The Bees loaded the bases after a Chihuahuas error and a Ben Gamel walk, but reliever Raul Brito escaped the jam with a strikeout on Carter Kieboom to keep the game tied.

The back-and-forth continued in the eighth when Campusano drilled a solo homer for El Paso before Gamel answered with a game-tying RBI single, setting up the ninth inning at 9-9.

The Chihuahuas broke through in the final frame. Tim Locastro doubled and came home on Rodolfo Durán's pinch-hit RBI double, while Perlaza added a run-scoring single to push El Paso ahead 11-9.

Salt Lake went down in order in the ninth as a diving stop by Ripken Reyes at third took away a game-extending single from Chad Stevens to seal the 11-9 comeback victory for El Paso.

Game Notes

After winning back-to-back series openers, the Salt Lake Bees fell to El Paso 11-9 on Tuesday. The Bees allowed double-digit runs for just the third time in their last 22 games, though it marked the 30th overall game this season in which they've surrendered 10 or more runs--second-most in the league behind Reno's 31.

El Paso scored 10 of its 11 runs from the fifth inning on overcoming a six-run deficit, tying the largest blown lead in a loss this season for Salt Lake since July 12 against Sacramento.

Every player in the Salt Lake lineup recorded a hit on Tuesday night, with eight different Bees crossing the plate. Salt Lake also extended its home extra-base hit streak to 19 straight games, a run that dates back to July 22.

Salt Lake matched a season high with two triples on Tuesday, coming from Ben Gamel and Tucker Flint. The Bees also tallied a pair of triples in games on May 24 vs. Omaha, June 7 vs. Round Rock, and August 22 vs. Reno. Salt Lake is one of four PCL teams to record multiple triples in a game at least four times this season, tying Albuquerque for the fourth-most. Oklahoma City has done it five times, while El Paso and Reno lead the league with seven such games.

Chad Wallach paced the Bees with a three-hit night, matching his season high and doing so for the first time since June 26 at Reno. It was his 14th multi-hit game of the season, as he drove in his 38th run and scored for the 30th time--just one shy of matching his 2024 total.

Ben Gamel went 2-for-4 with his first triple of the season, recording his first multi-RBI game since June 15 at Las Vegas. Since joining Salt Lake on June 10, Gamel has hit .321 over 19 games with 10 runs scored, nine RBI, four home runs, five doubles, and a triple, posting a 1.133 OPS.

Carter Kieboom stayed hot on Tuesday, extending his hitting streak to 15 games and his on-base streak to 19, while scoring for the fifth straight contest. His 15-game hit streak ties Matthew Lugo for the second-longest by a Bee this season and is just one shy of Chad Stevens' team-high mark. During the stretch, Kieboom is batting .448 with six extra-base hits, 14 RBI, 11 runs, five stolen bases, and a 1.125 OPS.

Denzer Guzman went 1-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored, belting his fifth home run of the season. Since his Triple-A debut on August 2, Guzman has tallied six multi-hit games and scored multiple runs five times. All five of his homers have come at The Ballpark at America First Square, where he's batting .354 with 16 RBIs and 16 runs in 13 games, compared to just .157 with three runs and two RBIs on the road.

Tucker Flint tallied his second triple of the season and first since May 8 against Sugar Land as Flint hit safely for the third game in a row and fifth time over his last sixth while adding his 21st game this season with an RBI and run scored.

Jack Kochanowicz made his fourth start for Salt Lake and second at home, cruising through the early innings by allowing just one hit--a solo homer to Tirso Ornelas--over the first four frames. In the fifth, he retired the first two batters before giving up four runs with two outs, exiting after 4.2 innings. Kochanowicz was charged with five runs on three hits, walked a season-high five, and struck out four.

Up Next

Salt Lake will look to even the series up in game two against El Paso on Wednesday night with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. MST.

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics

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



Pacific Coast League Stories from September 3, 2025


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