Bees shake off big loss but stumble vs. Tucson

One day after giving up 28 runs to Tucson, Salt Lake Bees pitcher Joe Saunders cooled off the Sidewinders' bats.

Just not enough to earn a victory.

In a battle of two of the top pitchers in the Pacific Coast League, Tucson's Dustin Nippert was the one to come away with the victory in front of a sellout Pioneer Day crowd of 15,535 fans. The Sidewinders scored a pair of runs on a bloop double to right in eighth inning off Saunders to give them a 3-2 win.

Nippert became the second PCL pitcher to get to 11 wins this season, while Saunders still has a team-leading 10 victories for the Bees.

"It was a bad night," said Bees manager Brian Harper. "The other pitcher pitched good. We didn't hit."

The Bees actually scored first when Mike Eylward singled home Tommy Murphy in the bottom of the first inning. But the Bees wouldn't score again until the bottom of the eighth.

With the game tied 1-1 in the seventh inning, the Bees had a golden opportunity to regain the lead when catcher Jeff Mathis' single was followed by a Casey Smith double, giving the Bees runners at second and third with no outs. But Nippert, who had 11 strikeouts on the night, pitched out of the jam and the score remained tied.

Saunders, whose previous start had been a win for the Los Angeles Angels over the Cleveland Indians, wasn't as fortunate in the eighth inning. A two-out bloop double by Tucson centerfielder Chris Young proved to be the game winner.

Tucson reliever Doug Slaten gave up a run in the eighth, but got out without any more damage being done. Casey Daigle struck out the side in the ninth inning to earn the save for the Sidewinders, who won the final three games of the four-game series. For the game, Sidewinder pitchers had 16 strikeouts.

Salt Lake fell to 59-43 with the loss, but remains in first place in the PCL's Pacific Northern Division, four games ahead of Tacoma with 42 games remaining in the regular season. The Sidewinders, at 65-36, are running away with the Pacific Southern Division, 13 games ahead of the Sacramento River Cats. If both teams remain in first, they will face each other in the first-round of the playoffs.

The Bees now head out on an eight-game road trip to Tennessee. They open a four-game series with the Memphis Redbirds today, followed by a four-game set against the Nashville Sounds.

BEES WAX: Bees veteran Curtis Pride was recalled by the parent Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim following the game. Pride, 37, has more than five years experience in the majors, including two brief stints with the Angels the past two seasons. To make room for Pride on the roster, the Angels sent infielder Kendry Morales back to the Bees. . . . Smith finished the game 1-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to a team season-high 14 games. . . . The Bees are now 16-12 in games decided by one run.

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E-mail: lojo@desnews.com