Salt Lake Bees end skid, down River Cats

SALT LAKE CITY — A 100-degree evening warmed up the Salt Lake Bees' bats Friday evening at Spring Mobile Park, where Salt Lake rapped out 10 hits and broke out of a slump by beating the Sacramento River Cats 5-3.

Coming into the game, the Bees had lost seven of their last eight games, but they jumped on the River Cats in the first inning when leadoff hitter Peter Bourjos slapped a ground-ball single up the middle for a base hit. He took off on the next pitch and stole second. Two groundouts later the Bees had manufactured a run to take a 1-0 lead.

"We just wanted to be aggressive," said Bees manager Bobby Mitchell, noting the River Cats' fastballer, Tyson Ross, had an especially high leg kick that helped give Bourjos an opening.

Ross' fastball hit 96 mph on a couple of pitches, but the Bees knocked him around for three more runs in the second inning, with the culminating blow coming on a ground-rule double over the center-field wall by Luis Figueroa. In the fifth inning, Figueroa smashed a home run over the right-field fence, scattering the picnic crowd.

"It was a 2-0 fastball," said Figueroa of the drive that gave him his third RBI of the game.

"We just have to keep battling and keep swinging," said Figueroa.

Trevor Bell got the win for Salt Lake, going six innings while allowing two runs on five hits. He gave up one earned run and struck out four in raising his record to 2-0.

In the fourth inning, Bell took a smash to his forearm off the bat of the River Cats' Michael Taylor. He was examined and allowed to throw a couple of pitches, and he elected to remain in the game.

Reliever Rafael Rodriguez got the save in the ninth inning.

GAME NOTES: Salt Lake raised its record to 44-48, while Sacramento fell to 51-42. The series resumes tonight at 6 at Spring Mobile Park.

e-mail: wjewkes@desnews.com