Timely hits ruin Salt Lake Bees' night

SALT LAKE CITY — Some slick pitching and timely hitting was the difference at Spring Mobile Ballpark on Friday night.

Unfortunately, for the 12,498 fans there to cheer on the Bees, it was the visiting team that delivered in a 4-1 Iowa victory.

The setback was the fifth straight for the Bees (57-70), who have suffered lately through some close losses.

"If we were getting blown out, it would be different, but for the most part we're not beating ourselves," Salt Lake manager Keith Johnson said. "I'm confident about how we are approaching things."

Cubs starting pitcher Chris Rusin was solid, working seven innings while giving up a single run on six hits and striking out four.

Iowa (59-68) utilized a Ryan Flaherty line-drive single that scored D.J. LeMahieu, who had previously lined a single to center field in the fourth inning to get the Cubs on the scoreboard.

In the fifth inning, the Bees tied things up when Jeremy Moore lined a ground-rule double to left-center field. Cole Armstrong then singled to score Moore.

But in the seventh, Marwin Gonzalez plated another Iowa run, driving in Matt Spencer on a single up the middle.

The Cubs added a couple insurance runs in the ninth inning, the first coming on an Alexi Amarista error. Playing in centerfield, Amarista booted Brett Jackson's single, allowing Chris Robinson to score.

"Alexi is not an experienced centerfielder, but the more he plays there, the better he'll get," Johnson said.

Two batters later, Jackson scored on Lou Montanez's single to right field.

For the most part, Johnson was positive after the game, giving kudos to his relief pitchers.

"I thought our bullpen did a great job tonight. We were just unable to put up many runs," he said. "They have put in a lot of work the last few games."

Other than giving up the last two runs in the final inning, Salt Lake relievers Jason Bulger and Ryan Brasier combined for four innings of work and gave up a run on just three hits.

Bees starter Barrett Browning lasted four innings, surrendering just one run on five hits while striking out three.

Both Moore and Amarista went 2-for-4, while Iowa's Montanez was 3-for-4 and teammate LeMahieu was 3-for-5.