Big innings doom Ogden — again

OGDEN — For the second straight night, big innings doomed the Ogden Raptors against Idaho Falls. In losing 9-7 to the Chukars on Saturday night in front of 4,377 fans, two bad innings cost the Raptors victory.

After Idaho Falls scored four runs to erase a 2-0 deficit in the fourth inning, the Chukars added three more runs in the sixth to take control of the game.

Ogden's big-inning struggles came just one night after Ogden starter Javier Garcia failed to retire a batter in Ogden's forgettable 8-5 loss to Idaho Falls. In that game, Garcia allowed six runs facing seven batters.

"It's hard to keep them (Idaho Falls) tied down," Ogden manager Chad Barbary said. "You'd like to stay away from the big inning ... but you can't plan for those things. It is frustrating."

Paced by Dan Batz's two-run home run in the eight inning, the Raptors closed the gap to 9-7, but Chad Blackwell closed the door on the Raptors in the final two innings while earning the save.

Ogden starter Blake Johnson managed to avoid serious trouble until the fourth inning. In relinquishing the Raptor's two-run lead, Johnson gave up four hits and a walk. Idaho Falls' Russell Brown hit a three-run homer over the left-field fence to put the Chukars up 4-2.

Johnson gave up seven hits and four runs over five innings. Cory Wade, Johnson's replacement, got into the same trouble as his starter in the seventh inning.

Ogden had tied the score at 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth, only to see that lead slip away in the next frame, thanks to another big inning.

Matt Ferrara's triple scored two runs for Idaho Falls in the seventh. Ferrara scored himself after Felipe DelRosario singled to right.

With Saturday's win, Idaho Falls moved 2 1/2 games ahead of Ogden in the Pioneer League standings; both teams trail Provo. Ogden and Idaho Falls will fight with Casper for the second-half playoff spot because Provo already qualified as the first-half winner.

"There are still a lot of games left," Barbary said. "We've got to worry about what we're doing."

Ogden will have Sunday off before traveling to Billings for a four-game series starting Monday. Barbary said his team will use the off day to rebound from the defeat.

"It would've been a whole lot easier going up there with a win," Barbary said.

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E-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com