July guy Brown adds homer

Matt Brown says he's out there just trying to have fun.

It seems like he doesn't have to try very hard — not with the way he's been swinging the lumber. Brown hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning, his 16th of the year, en route to a 5-2 Bees victory over the Iowa Cubs at Franklin Covey.

The shot was the 10th this month for Brown, tying him with two others in the PCL for the most home runs in July.

"I'm just going out there every day and trying to have fun, put good swings on good pitches to hit," said Brown.

Brown smacked the three-run blast in the fourth inning with the Bees trailing 2-0. It was the second homer in as many nights for Brown as he helped propel Salt Lake to its second straight victory after a seven-game losing skid.

"He's got a lot of power," said Bees manager Brian Harper. "When he gets a good pitch and stays on the ball, the ball goes really far."

Not to be overlooked was the pitching performance given by Salt Lake's Henry Bonilla. He pitched seven innings of five-hit ball and only allowed two runs while striking out five. Bonilla, who's had an up-and-down year, may have just pitched the best game to date.

"I can't say enough about the pitching," said Harper. "Bonilla pitched a great game."

Bonilla wasn't the only one. Salt Lake's bullpen didn't allow a hit in the eighth or ninth innings respectively. Matt Wilhite was unscathed in the eighth, while Jason Bulger mowed down the Cubs' line-up in the ninth with some nasty sliders. He struck out two of the three batters he faced. But still it was Bonilla's show.

"I think that might have been his best start of the year," said Harper.

The Bees added some insurance runs in the eighth on RBI singles by Gary Patchett and Casey Smith. The most important thing for Salt Lake was staying on the winning track after a long losing streak and sub-par performance thus far since the all-star break.

"That's always a concern,"said Harper about the habit of relaxing after a win in which the team scored 13 runs. "The concern is, the next day you're going to relax. That's why the start by Bonilla was huge."

The Bees will host Iowa for three more games before heading to the road for a four-game set against Albuquerque.

BEE LINES: Attendance was 9,377 ... The Bees and Iowa have split the last three season series. The last time one of the teams to win the series was 2003, when Salt Lake took three of four from the Cubs. ... The game was televised on KJZZ-14.

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E-mail: nstorey@desnews.com