Salt Lake Bees: Pavkovich's home runs keep the Bees buzzing

He is a versatile defender who can play any number of positions — in fact, he's Salt Lake's emergency catcher. He's got a solid bat and has a good average.

Monday night, in front of 9,021 fans at Franklin Covey Field, Pavkovich added power hitting to his resume with a pair of monstrous homers and five RBIs to lead the Bees to a 10-7 win over Sacramento.

"It's awesome," Salt Lake manager Bobby Mitchell said. "He pretty much carried us offensively."

Playing right field, Pavkovich's offensive outburst pushed his season homer total to 12 — a career high — while also giving him 41 RBIs in a season which is not yet half over.

And Monday those figures were sorely needed.

"Some days we're going to come out and pound the ball," Pavkovich said. "Other days we won't. It's good that we were able to pound it when we needed to."

After the River Cats took a brief lead in the second, the Bees got a homer from Brandon Wood to even the score and set the stage for a wild night on the base paths.

Salt Lake broke the game open in the third when Pavkovich belted a towering home run to left that landed well beyond the scores of people on blankets enjoying family night at the ballpark. The three-run blast capped a five-run inning and gave the Bees a 6-1 lead.

But that lead didn't last long as the River Cats went to work on Salt Lake starter Dustin Moseley.

Sacramento made the game tight in the top of the seventh when Jesus Guzman chopped a ground ball up the middle with the bases loaded. The infield hit and throwing error brought home two runs, and Brooks Conrad stroked a double in the next at bat and the River Cats were suddenly trailing only 7-4, sending Moseley to the showers.

Salt Lake's Jeff Kennard took over on the mound, but Sacramento's hot bats didn't let up.

Landon Powell sent a rocket to the right field fence for another double — scoring two more runs — and the Bees were fortunate to get out of the inning holding a 7-6 advantage.

Pavkovich answered Sacramento's rally with his second home run of the game — this time a soaring shot over the left-field gap with Wood on base — to push Salt Lake's cushion back to three runs.

The key to Pavkovich's surge in offensive production, he said, is a byproduct of getting consistent playing time.

"Getting the at bats, finding a swing I'm comfortable with and staying consistent with it," he said. "This year, I've been able to stay consistent."

The Bees, in turn, are the beneficiaries of that power.

BEELINES: Jason Bulger pitched a perfect ninth to pick up his eighth save for the Bees ... Shortstop Brandon Wood was a double away from hitting for the cycle ... Salt Lake wraps up the series tonight when Nick Green faces Dallas Braden on the mound ... Salt Lake starts a 10-game road trip on Thursday at Tacoma, Wash.

E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com

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