Salt Lake holds off Reno comeback bid, wins 6-3 behind three homers

Salt Lake did the one thing Reno could not afford: it cashed in early and built a cushion that held up. The Bees scored four times before the Aces had a chance to settle in, then rode three home runs and a steady bullpen finish to a 6-3 victory Saturday at Greater Nevada Field.

Christian Moore opened the scoring with an RBI single, José Siri followed with a two-run homer and Niko Kavadas added a solo shot as Salt Lake jumped to a 4-0 lead through three innings. Omar Martínez later joined the power parade with a solo homer in the fifth, giving the Bees three long balls on the night and their first road win of the 2026 season. The win also snapped Salt Lake’s five-game losing streak.

That early punch changed the shape of the game for Reno, which spent the rest of the night chasing instead of dictating. Dylan Ray took the loss after giving up four runs on six hits in four innings, though he also struck out a season-high seven. He kept the damage from turning into a rout, but the Bees had already done enough to force the Aces into comeback mode.

Reno’s offense did answer. Ivan Melendez launched his first home run of the season in the fourth, extending the club’s homer streak to five straight games. Then LuJames Groover delivered the best swing of the Aces’ rally, lining a bases-loaded two-run single in the fifth to pull Reno within reach. Groover finished with 11 RBI in the series and 16 on the season, a team-leading total, and he has driven in at least one run in all four games of the set. That run of production has become the kind of streak that keeps a lineup relevant, even when the final score goes the other way.

But Reno never found the hit that flipped the game. The Aces collected 10 hits spread across five different hitters, enough to keep pressure on Salt Lake, not enough to bury the early hole. Brett Kerry held Reno scoreless through three innings for the Bees, and Samy Natera Jr., Nick Sandlin and Tayler Saucedo combined for four shutout frames out of the bullpen. The clubs were set to meet again Sunday at 4:05 p.m. PT, with Reno still carrying the bigger question: how many productive nights can this offense waste before the standings start asking for answers?