Humphreys' Career Night Fuels Bees to Thrilling Extra-Inning Friday Night Win
PCL Salt Lake Bees

Humphreys' Career Night Fuels Bees to Thrilling Extra-Inning Friday Night Win

Published on May 8, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Zach Humphreys' two-run double in the 10th inning helped Salt Lake prevail 9-7 on Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Humphreys' fourth hit, a new career-high, was enough to get the Bees over the finish line in a game that saw the visitors blow a six-run advantage, but still even the series at two games each.

Salt Lake 9, Oklahoma City 7

WP: Kaleb Ort (1-1)

LP: Chayce McDermott (0-1)

Key Performers

Zach Humphreys: 4-5, R, 2B, 3 RBI

Nick Madrigal: 2-4, 2 R, RBI

Denzer Guzman: 1-5, R, 2B, 3 RBI

Ryan Johnson: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R/3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

Game Summary

Following a 27-minute rain delay, Friday's contest officially got underway seeing Salt Lake go down in order.

Ryan Johnson took the bump for his Triple-A debut, making a rehab start tonight. The right-hander out of Dallas Baptist saw two other major leaguers on rehab assignments in his clean opening frame, getting Kiké Hernández to strikeout and allowing a single to Mookie Betts.

Nick Madrigal singled in the second to extend his hit streak to eight, but was erased on the Comets' fifth double play turned in the last 11 innings. Oklahoma City broke the ice in the bottom half, using two singles and a fielder's choice to go up 1-0 for the first time this week.

Salt Lake loaded the bases with one out on three straight singles in the third, searching for a big inning. Denzer Guzman cashed in with a double into the right field corner, emptying the bags and giving the Bees a 3-1 lead. Donovan Walton made it five straight hits and drove home Guzman to add another score to the advantage.

Johnson was efficient in the third, retiring the Comets in order and picked up two more punchouts. His offense provided more run support in the fourth on Chris Taylor's sacrifice fly and Zach Humphreys' RBI infield single to push the lead to 6-1. Salt Lake added a two-out run in the fifth, thanks to Madrigal's second hit of the game and extended the Bees' lead to 7-1.

The hosts sliced into the lead on Tyler Fitzgerald's first homer of the season, a two-run shot to left making it 7-3. Johnson wasn't fazed, getting the next three Comets out, punctuated by a strikeout of Betts that completed a five-inning start.

Both bullpens took over in the sixth, holding each offense in check. Samy Natera Jr., was superb, sitting down all five Oklahoma City hitters he faced, with the final two via the strikeout. Najer Victor followed for the Bees, retiring four of the five he faced and collected three punchouts. Oklahoma City's relievers shut down a crucial Salt Lake scoring chance, as the Bees stranded the bases loaded in the eighth.

With a four-run lead, Jared Southard came in to close out the contest. The Longhorn loaded the bases with one out and Fitzgerald made him pay. A game-tying grand slam from the second baseman evened the contest, a game that Salt Lake once led by six. Three pitches later, a double forced Southard out of the game and brought Kaleb Ort in. The righty used four pitches to end the ninth to force extra innings.

With two down and the ghost runner Madrigal standing on third, Chris Taylor drew a walk to bring up Humphreys. The catcher delivered his biggest hit of the season, hammering a double into the right center gap, bringing home both baserunners to give Salt Lake the lead again. Humphreys' double was his fourth hit of the night, a new career high.

Ort stayed in for the 10th, searching for his first win at any level since July of 2025. The Michigander won a 10-pitch battle that Ward lifted into left. Ghost runner Noah Miller attempted to take third base, a decision that backfired and resulted in a huge 7-5 double play. The very next pitch was popped up and caught by Madrigal to complete a road extra-inning win and even the series.

Game Notes

The Bees evened this week's series at two games each, giving themselves a chance for their first series win. Salt Lake has split three straight six-game sets, having last won a series at Round Rock in August 2025.

Salt Lake saw its six-run lead disappear after giving up a ninth inning grand slam. Despite the blown lead, Salt Lake remains unbeaten (12-0) when leading after the eighth inning. Friday marked the third extra innings game of the year and first on the road as Salt Lake is 2-1 in those games.

Bees pitching struck out 10 hitters tonight, marking the 10th time double-digit punchouts have been reached in a game this season. It is the second time Salt Lake has done so this week, notching 12 K's in Tuesday's series opener. The Bees are 8-2 when they reach the 10+ strikeout echelon.

Salt Lake mustered 11 hits in the first five innings of the ballgame, reaching double-digit totals through that point for the second time this season, both in May (May 1 vs. Sacramento). It is the 16th time the Bees have tallied at least 10 hits in a game this season. Salt Lake has reached the double-digit hit threshold in all four games this week against Oklahoma City. That ties the longest consecutive stretch this season (April 18 (Game 2) - Apr. 22).

Nick Madrigal pushed his current hit streak to eight games. It is the second longest in his career at the Triple-A level, trailing a nine-gamer between August 18-27, 2019 with Triple-A Charlotte. Madrigal holds two double-digit hit streaks in his career, both coming at Double-A Birmingham when he accomplished 10 in a row (July 18-27, 2019) and 16 straight games with a hit (June 22-July 12, 2019). Madrigal has five two-hit performances during his current nine-game hit streak, including tonight's 2-for-2 ledger in which he reached in all three plate appearances.

On a rehab assignment, Ryan Johnson nabbed his first strikeout at the Triple-A level. Although getting drafted in 2024, the righty has played at just the A levels and the MLB. He had 90 combined strikeouts in his professional career coming into the contest. He finished his start with five innings tossed, six hits, three earned runs, no walks and five strikeouts. Johnson has 14 strikeouts across his three appearances this season (one at each MLB, Single-A, and Triple-A). Johnson held fellow big league rehabbers Kiké Hernández and Mookie Betts to a combined 1-for-6 with three strikeouts - Betts' first-inning single was the only blemish.

Zach Humphreys now has three straight games with at least one hit. It is his longest stretch, since a career-high nine game hit streak set last season between July 25-August 23, 2025 with Salt Lake. Humphreys set a new career-high with four total hits in the game, including the go-ahead two-run double in the 10th inning. He put together his most complete performance as a Bee, with a double and three total RBI in the win.

Denzer Guzman doubled home three runs tonight, marking his first three RBI game since August 21, 2025, vs. Reno. It is his seventh multi-RBI game in 2026, tied with Niko Kavadas for most by a Bee this season.

Tallying his fourth straight game with a hit tonight was Donovan Walton. He collected an RBI in the big fourth inning. It is Walton's longest hitting streak of the season and he has an RBI in two of the four games. With his two-hit day, Walton now has three multi-hit efforts in the month of May.

The Bees swiped three bases in the fourth inning. It's the first time since September 13, 2025 that Salt Lake has stolen three in one inning, doing so against Tacoma.

On Guzman's bases-clearing double, Chris Taylor achieved 200 runs at the Triple-A level. The veteran has 861 total runs in his professional career.

Nelson Rada ended a 0-for-22 skid with his single in the third, notching his first hit since a first inning knock on April 30 vs. Sacramento. Rada later scored in the frame, marking his third score since that slump began.

Jose Siri tabbed his third multi-hit performance in six games to start the month of May going 2-for-5 to hit safely in seven of his last eight games. Siri remains red hot on Friday's batting .419 (13x31), with nine extra base hits, 10 RBI and six runs scored.

Samy Natera Jr. extended his active scoreless streak on the bump to 5.2 innings, the longest by a Bee this season. The southpaw has faced 11 Comets in his two appearances this week, and has retired all of them with seven coming on strikeouts.

Retiring four of the five batters he faced tonight was Najer Victor. The recent Triple-A call up has struck out three in both appearances at the level. Victor has not allowed a run across his most recent seven outings (Double-A & Triple-A) in nine innings pitched.

Kaleb Ort earned his first Triple-A win since 2023 with Worcester finishing off the ninth and 10th innings with a shutout of 1.2 innings with no hits, no walks and a strikeout.

Up Next

Lightsabers and merit badges take over Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark as Boy Scout Night and Star Wars Night collide Saturday in Oklahoma City. Game five is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. MDT from the Sooner State's capital city.

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 8, 2026


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