George Klassen Sparkles as Dirty Sodas Blank Aviators

SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - The Utah Dirty Sodas bounced back on Dirty Soda Wednesday with their fourth shutout of the season, defeating Las Vegas 4-0 in a contest that matched the year's fastest nine-inning game at just two hours and 15 minutes. George Klassen spun a dazzling seven innings while striking out a career-high nine batters.

Dirty Sodas 4, Las Vegas 0

WP: George Klassen (4-6)

LP: Luis Morales (0-3)

Key Performers

George Klassen: W, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, BB, 9 K

Nelson Rada: 2-4, R

Ben Gobbel: 1-4, R, HR, 3 RBI

Ryan Nicholson: 1-3, 2B, RBI, K

Game Summary

The Dirty Sodas starter George Klassen required only four batters to navigate the opening frame. In the bottom half, Utah jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to a two-out blast from Ben Gobbel. His second home run of the year drove in both a leadoff single and a walk to give the Dirty Sodas the early advantage.

Following a stretch of scoreless play from both clubs, the bottom of the seventh inning saw a breakthrough. George Klassen dominated the middle frames, fanning five in a row and retiring 15 consecutive hitters.

The Utah offense reignited when Bryce Teodosio drew a lead-off walk, followed shortly by Ryan Nicholson, who doubled for the third time this season to drive in Teodosio and extend the lead to four.

Kaleb Ort took the mound for the Dirty Sodas in the eighth, maintaining the shutout with another scoreless frame. After Utah was retired in order in the bottom half, the right-hander returned to post a 1-2-3 ninth of his own. Ort's clean finish secured Utah’s fourth shutout victory of the year and their second in just three games.

Game Notes

• Salt Lake used just two pitchers to get the shutout, their fourth of the campaign and second at home. George Klassen and Kaleb Ort combined to stifle the Las Vegas lineup. It’s the first time since September 20, 2025 that the Bees used just two pitchers to finish a nine-inning game. Joel Hurtado and Dylan Phillips were the last two hurlers to complete the feat.

• Tonight’s Wednesday home victory snapped a three-game losing streak on the day of the week in South Jordan. The Bees won as the Utah Dirty Sodas for the first time since May 21 vs. Tacoma.

• Bees starter George Klassen achieved a milestone in the second inning, recording his 60th strikeout at the Triple-A level. In a dominant performance, the right-hander etched a new career high with nine strikeouts and at one stage retired 15 consecutive batters, including five straight Aviators by the punchout. Klassen pitched seven full innings, marking his longest outing since September 10 of last season with Rocket City, while allowing only three hits and a single walk. His electric start was the longest by a Bee starter in 2026 and best since Brett Kerry went seven strong innings on September 18, 2025 at Las Vegas. Klassen’s outing counts for his fourth quality start of the season and third straight.

• Klassen’s quality start was the ninth of the season by a Bees arm and seventh at home. Salt Lake is 6-3 in games with a quality start tossed, with all six victories coming inside The Ballpark at America First Square.

• The Bees played clean baseball for the second straight night and have yet to commit a miscue in the series. It has been 24 innings since Salt Lake has made an error, dating back to Sunday, June 28 at Albuquerque.

• All-Star Futures Game Selection Nelson Rada opened the bottom of the first inning by lining a single to the opposite field. The knock matched his season-best hitting streak of seven games and simultaneously pushed his on-base streak to seven games. It’s the third time he’s reached seven straight games with a hit. He has at least one hit in all eight contests in Dirty Soda Wednesday’s with five multi-hit efforts.

• Salt Lake’s second batter of the game, Yolmer Sánchez, reached first on his 34th walk of the season. On the free pass, the veteran pushes his on base streak to 12 games, sitting just four games shy of his season long 16.

• Ben Gobbel crushed his second homer of the season to start the game’s scoring in the bottom of the first. With two outs, tonight’s designated hitter unloaded on a slider over the left field wall, scoring the two runners on base and giving the Bees a 3-0 lead after one. Gobbel extended his hit streak to nine games as well as ensuring he reached in every game as a Bee in 2026 (18 total). Across three levels of play this season, the infielder holds a 23-game on-base streak, dating back to May 30.

• By getting hit by a pitch during his opening trip to the plate, Arol Vera extended his on-base streak to two games, matching his season high. This marks the third occasion the infielder has recorded a two-game streak at the Triple-A level in 2026.

• Jeimer Candelario extended his on-base streak to four games with a free pass in his second at-bat. He finished with multiple walks for the fifth game this season.

• To lead off the sixth inning, Christian Moore snapped his 0-for-7 skid since coming back down to Salt Lake from the Angels with a single to shortstop that he beat out. It was his 66th hit at Triple-A this season.

• Ryan Nicholson’s first home extra-base hit as a Bee scored Salt Lake’s fourth run. The first baseman crushed a double off the centerfield wall to extend his hit and on-base streak to four games. It was his third two-bagger of the season.

• Bryce Teodosio extended his on-base streak to a season-best seven games by drawing a walk to open the seventh inning.

• Kaleb Ort has not yielded a run in seven straight appearances, dating back to June 14. The right hander finished the shutout tonight with two perfect innings and three strikeouts. Ort’s streak is up to 7.1 consecutive innings and hitters are batting .120 off him during this stretch. Tonight’s two-inning outing is Ort’s longest appearance of the season and longest since July 25, 2025 with the Houston Astros (a 2.0 IP showing against the Athletics).

Up Next

Salt Lake is back in action from South Jordan on Thirsty Thursday as they’re set to battle the Aviators at 6:35 p.m. MDT from The Ballpark at America First Square.