Salt Lake Bees: Quartet of late runs doom team in close loss

SALT LAKE CITY — Daniel Davidson has had an up-and-down season thus far for the Salt Lake Bees. But chances are when the lefty is on the mound, the Bees will win.

Yet that wasn't the case on Tuesday night, as the Bees fell to the Las Vegas 51s, 6-5, at Spring Mobile Ballpark when the Salt Lake bullpen gave up four runs in the ninth inning — all with two outs.

Davidson threw one of his best games, yet was unable to earn his team-high seventh win against just one loss. He gave up just two runs in six innings with five strikeouts and no walks, but it wasn't enough, as Bees pitchers Bobby Cassevah and Rich Thompson gave up four runs in the ninth.

"That's going to happen during the course of a 144-game season," said Bees manager Bobby Mitchell of his team's late collapse. "It was just bad luck in a lot of ways."

The Bees scored the first runs of the night for the second game in a row against the 51s. Hank Conger singled home Cory Aldridge in the second inning to give Salt Lake a 1-0 lead. Then Aldridge pounded a two-run homer in the third, as the Bees took a 3-0 advantage.

Las Vegas scored its only runs of the night off Davidson in the fifth, as Jarrett Hoffpauir blasted a two-run homer. The Bees added a run of their own in their half of the fifth on a run-scoring single by catcher Jeff Mathis and then in the seventh put up an insurance run when Nick Gorneault scored on a wild pitch to take a 5-2 lead.

The Bees were one strike away from victory on several occasions in the ninth, but a Brett Wallace run-scoring single and a bases-clearing double by Jorge Padilla gave Las Vegas the lead. The Bees were unable to score in their half of the ninth, giving Salt Lake perhaps its most frustrating loss of the year.

The Bees and 51s will play the third game of their four-game set tonight at 7 p.m. Salt Lake is scheduled to start Fernando Rodriguez (1-1, 5.93 ERA) against Las Vegas lefty Brad Mills (4-4, 4.67).

BEES WAX: The Los Angeles Angels announced Tuesday that infielder Brandon Wood has completed his rehab assignment with the Bees. In a corresponding move, the Angels optioned right-handed pitcher Rafael Rodriguez to Salt Lake.

e-mail: lojo@desnews.com