Chris Walker, Salt Lake's No. 9 hitter, ripped a two-run double in the seventh and then scored on a single by Brad Coon. But that was after the River Cats already had a 5-0 advantage. It proved to be too little, too late.

Sacramento scored three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth off Bees reliever Henry Bonilla. Wes Bankston started it off with an RBI double and then was driven home by Conrad's second homer of the game and third of the series to provide the final five-run margin.

The Bees will try to regain the series lead tonight when they start Shane Loux, the PCL pitcher of the year, in Game 3. Loux, who went 12-6 with a 3.98 ERA for the Bees, is actually making a rehab start since he is currently on the roster of the parent Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He is on the disabled list due to recent oral surgery. Since he is pitching his way back into shape, however, he'll be on about a 60-pitch count. The River Cats are scheduled to start Chris Gissell (7-3, 3.43 ERA).

BEELINES: Wednesday night's 13-10 slugfest took three hours and thirty-two minutes, making it the longest nine-inning playoff game in Salt Lake history. The previous record was 3:23 against Colorado Springs in 1995. By contrast, Game 2 was nearly an hour shorter, clocking in at 2:33 ... Infielder Peter Bourjos was promoted to the Bees on Thursday from class-A Rancho Cucamonga. In 121 games this season, Bourjos hit .295 with 29 doubles, 10 triples, nine homers and 50 stolen bases ... The 19 hits pounded by the Bees was a franchise record in a playoff game. Their four homers tied a franchise mark ... In the other PCL playoff series, the Oklahoma Redhawks downed the Iowa Cubs to even it up at 1-1 ... Attendance at Thursday's game was 11, 188.

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E-mail: lojo@desnews.com