Salt Lake Bees: Pitchers power Bees past 51s

SALT LAKE CITY — For the second night in a row, the Salt Lake Bees got a strong starting pitching performance at Spring Mobile Ballpark on Tuesday.

But this time the Bees were able to hold on for an 8-5 victory over the Las Vegas 51s.

Salt Lake lefty Daniel Davidson picked up his second win of the season — both against Las Vegas — in giving up just two runs on five hits in 62?3 innings. The Bees improved to 5-8 with the win, while the 51s fell to 8-5.

"That was a great start by Davidson," said Bees manager Bobby Mitchell. "He pitched really well. He threw strikes and mixed his pitches well and we needed the innings because we're a little short in our bullpen."

The Bees also had a strong game from the plate, pounding 13 hits — including three home runs. Shortstop Gary Patchett led the way with a pair of hits, including a two-run homer, and three RBIs.

"I hit the ball pretty good tonight," said Patchett. "I'm just trying to get back into a groove. I got off to a slow start personally and I'm trying to start feeling good again at the plate and I'm trying to put together some good at bats."

The Bees, as a team, are off to an unusually slow start. Patchett, however, feels it's only a matter of time before Salt Lake gets back on track.

"We're a lot better club (than we've shown)," said Patchett. "We're going to put together some wins, no doubt, and we're going to again be fighting for a division title."

The Bees actually fell behind by two runs early in the game before taking control in the middle innings. Mark Trumbo got Salt Lake on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run and the Bees tied the score later in the same inning on an RBI single by Patchett.

Salt Lake added four more runs in the sixth inning with Patchett getting the big hit, a two-run home run to left. A pair of fielding errors by the 51s aided Salt Lake's cause in scoring the final two runs of the inning.

Terry Evans continued his torrid hitting pace since returning to the team last week after starting the season with the parent Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Evans went 4-for-4 on the night and scored a pair of runs while increasing his batting average to .571.

Salt Lake designated hitter Cory Aldridge completed the Salt Lake scoring with a two-run homer to center field in the eighth inning to give the Bees an 8-2 lead. Las Vegas scored three runs in the ninth, but it wasn't enough.

BEESWAX: Bees infielder Robb Quinlan was recalled by the Angels on Tuesday to take the place of catcher Jeff Mathis, who suffered a broken wrist in Monday night's game and has been put on the disabled list. There was no word at press time who would take Quinlan's place on the Bees roster. ... Peter Bourjos' and Aldridge's hitting streaks are still alive. Bourjos, the Bees' centerfielder, has hit safely in 10 straight games. Aldridge, meanwhile, also has a 10-game streak for the Bees and 11 overall in the PCL dating back to last season when he was with Omaha.

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