Sacramento's Carlos Gonzalez, one of the Oakland A's top prospects, hit a pop up in foul territory that should have been caught, but the ball glanced off the mitt of Bees third baseman Freddy Sandoval. Then, on the same at bat, Gonzalez drove the ball to center and Bees outfielder Brad Coon was under it for what looked like a routine out. Instead, Coon dropped the ball, allowing a run to score in the process.

Salt Lake wasn't the only team that struggled fielding the ball on Friday night, however. The River Cats committed three errors of their own. But the Bees didn't have nearly the success hitting the long ball as the River Cats. Wilson, who went 3-for-3 with a walk, was the one bright spot as far as power is concerned, hitting a solo homer for Salt Lake. But it wasn't nearly enough.

The Bees actually cut the gap to 6-3 in the sixth inning after RBI singles by Dee Brown and Adam Morrissey and they had the bases loaded and just one out. But shortstop Gary Patchett grounded into a double play and the threat was over.

Four runs in the top of the seventh by the River Cats — which included two home runs — put the game out of reach. Sacramento's Donnie Murphy hit a pair of homers, while Denorfia, Gonzalez and Justin Knoedler ripped one each.

Salt Lake will now send Nick Adenhart (9-13, 5.76 ERA) to the mound to face Sacramento's Vincen Mazzaro (3-3, 6.15) in tonight's do-or-die Game 4.

"We need a good pitching performance," said Mitchell. "That's the bottom line."

BEELINES: Despite the loss, Salt Lake is now 12-7 in home playoff games in franchise history, compared to 10-22 on the road. ... Salt Lake hasn't had a great deal of success in playoff series since triple-A returned to town in 1994. The Buzz/Stingers/Bees are 3-8 with no PCL titles. But they have never been swept in any of their 12 playoff series. ... The River Cats now have 13 home runs in the three games of the series. ... The Iowa Cubs beat the Oklahoma Redhawks in the other PCL playoff game on Friday to take a 2-1 lead in that series.

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E-mail: lojo@desnews.com