Bees continue skid, lose double-header

Contrary to what the standings say, there really is a pennant race in the Pacific Coast League's North Division. So what if co-leaders Colorado Springs and Salt Lake had combined to lose 12 straight games entering last night's contests.

The Bees, in fact, used a rain-out Wednesday to slide into a tie with the Sky Sox, who fell to Iowa and extended their losing skid to seven games.

On Thursday, Mother Nature didn't help them out.

Salt Lake dropped both ends of a doubleheader with Omaha at Franklin Covey Field — losing the first game, 4-2 and the nightcap, 7-3.

The setbacks extended the Bees' losing streak to seven games and knocked them to the .500 mark for the first time this season. Colorado Springs, meanwhile, defeated Iowa to take a 1 1/2-game lead in the division.

"It's frustrating because we think we are the better team and we're just not playing good right now," said Salt Lake manager Brian Harper, whose squad visits Colorado Springs for a five-game series Aug. 22-26. "The race is on. We've got to make some adjustments. I've told our guys individually they've got to make adjustments.

"Individuals make the team," he continued. "Each guy has to be responsible for his job and his situation, including myself."

The Bees took a 2-0 lead in the opener when Mike Eylward hit an RBI double and Curtis Pride added a run-scoring single in the fourth.

An inning later, Omaha pulled even on extra-base hits by Richard Lewis (double) and Joey Gathright (triple).

The remaining scores in the seven-inning game were driven in by Royals shortstop Mike Aviles. He led off the sixth with a solo homer and added an RBI single in the seventh.

Salt Lake starter Kasey Olenberger (8-5) took the loss after scattering eight hits and four earned runs in 6 1/3 innings.

In the second game, the Bees also jumped out to an early advantage. A two-out RBI single from Terry Evans put Salt Lake on top in the third inning.

Omaha quickly retaliated. The Royals took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth when Aviles and Justin Huber drove in runs off of Bees starter Pedro Liriano.

Salt Lake evened things up in the fifth when Bobby Wilson scored on a single from Adam Pavkovich.

The tie proved to be short-lived, though, as Omaha pulled away in the sixth with three runs. Shane Costa got things started by reaching on an error and later scoring on a wild pitch by reliever Jason Bulger. Paul Phillips later added a two-run double to make it 5-2.