Salt Lake Bees end homestand in loss to Beavers

All things considered, Salt Lake Bees manager Bobby Mitchell was pleased with how his team fared in a four-game series against the Portland Beavers.

Although it ended with a 7-4 setback Tuesday at Spring Mobile Ballpark, the Bees wound up winning the series.

Any time we take three-out-of-four we're happy," Mitchell said. "Especially against this caliber of team."

Salt Lake took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by Freddy Sandoval.

It didn't last long, however.

Portland scored four runs over the next three innings to erase the deficit and pull ahead. The barrage began when Josh Alley drew a bases-loaded walk in the second and Kyle Blanks added a two-out solo homer in the third.

Leading 2-1, the Beavers doubled their run total in the fourth on sacrifice flies by Craig Stansberry and Alley.

It wasn't enough, though, to put the game out of reach. The Bees managed to even things up in the bottom of the inning.

An RBI groundout by Bobby Wilson opened the outburst and was followed by a run-scoring single from Luis Figueroa and a sacrifice fly from Reggie Willits.

The 4-4 deadlock lasted until the sixth. That's when Portland's two-out heroics kicked into high gear. The Beavers reclaimed the lead on run-scoring hits by Max Venable (double) and Emil Brown (single).

An inning later, Stansberry added an RBI double with two outs to increase Portland's lead back to three runs.

And this time it stayed that way. Neither team scored again down the stretch.

"We had a couple of chances," Mitchell said after the teams combined for 24 hits in a game that took nearly 3 1/2 hours to complete. "We just didn't bring it and capitalize with a big hit."

The Bees are off today. They return to action Thursday in Las Vegas.

GAME NOTES: Second baseman Luis Figueroa left the game with a leg injury . . . The attendance was 3,261 . . . Designated hitter Scott Pettit finished with a game-high four hits.

E-MAIL: dirk@desnews.com