Rainiers Roll Past Bees in Series Opener, 10-1
July 2, 2025 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release
TACOMA, WASH. - The Salt Lake Bees dropped their sixth straight series opener and remained winless against Tacoma this season, falling 10-1 Tuesday night at Cheney Stadium. A five-run third inning proved to be too much as Salt Lake dropped to 16-29 on the road and 32-49 overall.
Tacoma Rainiers 10, Salt Lake Bees 1
WP: Jhonathan Díaz (4 - 5)
LP: Jake Eder (2 - 6)
Game Summary
Salt Lake nearly struck first after Kyren Paris reached on a fielding error in the top of the first, stole second, and moved to third on a flyout. But the Bees couldn't cash him in. Tacoma responded with a bunt single from Samad Taylor and a sacrifice fly by Tyler Locklear to take an early 1-0 lead.
After a pair of quiet innings, the Rainiers broke the game open in the third. They rattled off six hits in the frame, including RBI singles from Rhylan Thomas and Locklear before Leo Rivas crushed a three-run homer to right field, giving Tacoma a commanding 6-0 advantage.
Salt Lake got on the board in the fourth when Paris singled, moved into scoring position on a groundout, and came home on a Matthew Lugo RBI single.
The Rainiers kept their foot on the gas, as Jack López followed with a two-run homer in the bottom half to stretch the lead to 8-1.
Jake Eder's night ended after four innings, giving up a season-high 12 hits and eight earned runs without recording a strikeout.
Tacoma added single runs in the fifth and eighth to push the lead to 10-1, while the Bees' offense remained quiet down the stretch.
Carter Kieboom doubled to lead off the ninth and advanced to third on a balk, but Salt Lake couldn't mount a late rally. Three straight outs ended the game with Kieboom stranded, finishing off Tuesday night's contest 10-1 in favor of Tacoma.
Game Notes
The Bees dropped their sixth straight series opener and fell to 0-7 against Tacoma this season with a 10-1 loss on Tuesday night. Salt Lake has now allowed double-digit runs for a league-high 21st time and dropped to 16-29 on the road and 32-49 overall, going just 3-18 over their last 21 road games.
Offensively, the Bees were limited to a single run for the sixth time this season and fell to 1-31 when scoring three or fewer. Salt Lake managed just five hits or fewer for the 11th time and moved to 11-37 when being out-hit.
Kyren Paris was a bright spot, collecting his third consecutive multi-hit game and scoring his third run in the last two games. Paris is batting .368 over his last five games with a double, triple, homer, and three RBI.
Matthew Lugo extended his hit streak to five games with an RBI single, his fourth straight game with a run driven in. Since June 17, Lugo is hitting .327 with a .928 OPS, collecting hits in 12 of 13 games with 13 runs scored and nine RBI.
Carter Kieboom recorded Salt Lake's lone extra-base hit with a ninth-inning double--his 10th of the season and first since June 14 in Las Vegas. Kieboom has hit safely in six of his last seven games and is posting his highest Triple-A batting average through 57 games since hitting .330 with Fresno in 2019.
Sebastián Rivero added a seventh-inning single, marking his 32nd game with a hit in 40 appearances. He also notched his first RBI since June 7 against Round Rock.
Niko Kavadas reached base after being hit by a pitch, extending his on-base total to 48 times in 52 games. He's drawn 44 walks and been hit six times over that stretch while hitting .235 and scoring 36 runs.
On the mound, Jake Eder lasted just four innings, his shortest start since May 31 and taking his fourth straight loss. After allowing a run in the first inning for the second consecutive start, Eder gave up a five-run third as Tacoma pulled away. He surrendered a season-high 12 hits and eight earned runs without recording a strikeout, his first outing without a strikeout since August 20, 2023, with Charlotte against Memphis.
Up Next
Salt Lake and Tacoma will face off for game two at Cheney Stadium on Wednesday night as Victor Mederos (5-3, 3.72) and Casey Lawrence (1-2, 5.28) face off on the mound as first pitch is slated for 8:05 p.m. MST.
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