Lugo Leads 15-Hit Attack as Bees Drop Game Five, 9-7

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PCL Salt Lake Bees

Lugo Leads 15-Hit Attack as Bees Drop Game Five, 9-7

July 6, 2025 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


SOUTH JORDAN, UT - The Salt Lake Bees dropped game five on Saturday night 9-7 despite a four-hit night from Matthew Lugo as Tacoma held off a late rally to secure the series victory.

Tacoma Rainiers 9, Salt Lake Bees 7

WP: Josh Fleming (2 - 2)

LP: Shaun Anderson (1 - 6)

Game Summary

Tacoma got off to a fast start in game five on Saturday scoring a run in each of the first two innings with three singles in the first and an RBI bunt single by Samad Taylor in the second.

After falling hitless in the first two innings, Salt Lake broke through in the third its first two reaching base as Mitchell Daly provided the Bees first hit of the night. Scott Kingery reached on the second walk of the inning by Sauryn Lao setting the stage for Matthew Lugo to drive in three runs on a laser to left center field that flipped the scoreboard giving the Bees a 3-2 lead.

The Rainiers responded quickly, reclaiming the lead in the top of the fourth by loading the bases before Salt Lake could record an out. Tacoma tied the game on a fielder's choice, and Samad Taylor followed with his second RBI single of the night to put the Rainiers back on top.

Tacoma continued to tack on more offense, extending its lead in the fifth as Tyler Locklear launched a 453 feet home run to lead off the inning that marked as the second longest tracked at The Ballpark America at America First Square. The Rainiers added two more on swing from Jack Lopez who doubled to left center increasing the advantage to 7-3.

Salt Lake threatened in the sixth, rallying with one out on singles by Yolmer Sánchez and Korey Holland, followed by a walk to Zach Humphreys to load the bases. Mitchell Daly delivered his second hit of the night with a bloop single falling just inside of the right-field line to bring in a run. Niko Kavadas then grounded into a fielder's choice to plate another before a strikeout ended the inning, as the Bees pushed two across to cut the deficit to 7-5.

The Rainiers added insurance in the eighth, starting with a Jacob Hurtubise single and a Samad Taylor walk. Rhylan Thomas laid down a perfectly placed bunt single to load the bases with no outs, prompting a pitching change to Jared Southard. After a strikeout, Tyler Locklear drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in a run, and Leody Taveras followed with a sac fly to right, scoring another. Southard limited the damage with a lineout to end the inning, but Tacoma extended its lead to 9-5.

Salt Lake threatened in the ninth as Matthew Lugo sparked the rally with his fourth hit of the night on a one-out single. With two outs, Tucker Flint doubled down the left field line and Yolmer Sánchez followed with an RBI single, bringing the tying run to the plate. Korey Holland, already with three hits on the night, came up looking to extend the game, but Jesse Hahn shut the door, striking him out on three pitches to seal Tacoma's 9-7 win and the series victory on Saturday night.

Game Notes

Salt Lake dropped Saturday night's contest, 9-7, as Tacoma secured the series win-handing the Bees their first home series loss since May 7-14 against Sugar Land. The Bees fall to 33-52 on the season and 2-6-7 in series play.

Despite the loss, Salt Lake out-hit Tacoma 15-14, marking the ninth time this season the Bees have recorded 15 or more hits. They are now 5-3-1 in those games and 21-13 overall when out-hitting their opponent.

Tacoma secured its second series win over Salt Lake this season, taking 10 of 11 games in the season series. The Rainiers have scored at least seven runs in seven of those games and recorded double-digit hits in nine. Salt Lake has been outscored 94-52 but has scored seven runs in three straight games. Saturday marked the sixth game in the series decided by two runs or fewer, and the seventh decided by three or fewer.

Five Bees recorded multi-hit games, including three with at least three hits. While the top four in the lineup went just 4-for-19 (.210)-all hits coming from Matthew Lugo-the bottom five combined to go 11-for-21 (.523), with each player scoring a run.

Matthew Lugo stayed hot, going 4-for-5 with a double and three RBI-marking his first career four-hit game at the Triple-A level. It was also his third three-RBI performance of the season and first since April 12 against Reno. Lugo extended his hitting streak to nine games, batting .421/.450/.632 over that span. His 16 hits since June 26 rank second in the Pacific Coast League, trailing only Zac Veen of Albuquerque.

Korey Holland extended his hitting streak to four games, going 3-for-5 with a run scored. It marked his second three-hit game of the season, the first coming on May 24 against Omaha. Holland has hit safely in six of eight games against Tacoma this year.

Mitchell Daly returned to the Salt Lake lineup for the first time since May 17 after stints with Double-A Rocket City and Low-A Inland Empire. He didn't miss a beat, collecting three hits for the second time this season with the Bees-his last coming on April 27 against Oklahoma City.

Out of the bullpen, Jared Southard made his sixth relief appearance since joining Salt Lake on June 17, tossing two hitless innings for his sixth consecutive scoreless outing. He struck out three for the second straight appearance against Tacoma.

Up Next

Salt Lake and Tacoma will cap off the series with a Sunday matinee starting at 12:05 p.m. MST at The Ballpark at America First Square as Jake Eder (2-6, 5.46) and Jhonathan Diaz (4-5, 4.48) will match up for the second time on the mound this week.

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