Things didn't turn out so rosy for the pink-clad Salt Lake Bees. They came up short in their bid to sweep a four-game series with the Omaha Royals, dropping a 9-8 decision Friday night at Spring Mobile Ballpark.

"We battled. We never quit and kept coming back," said Bees manager Bobby Mitchell, whose team wore pink jerseys in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness. "We had a couple of chances."

Things, however, just didn't come together as they did Thursday night when Matt Brown's walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth lifted Salt Lake to victory.

"This is a tough team to sweep really because they swing the bats well," Mitchell said. "Falling behind 8-1 didn't help."

Omaha jumped out to the big lead over the first 3 1/2 innings. The Royals scored three times in the first, off an RBI single by Brayan Pena and a two-run homer from Kila Ka'aihue.

Salt Lake responded with a solo homer by Freddy Sandoval in the bottom of the inning, but it failed to ignite a momentum shift.

The Royals prevented such a swing by scoring five runs over the third and fourth innings to take an even more commanding lead. Pena did most of the damage during the outburst with an RBI double and a two-run groundout. A two-out single by J.R. House and a sacrifice fly by Irving Falu accounted for the other scores.

Trailing by seven, Salt Lake began to erase the deficit in the bottom of the fourth when Sean Rodriguez belted a three-run homer.

The comeback continued in the fifth when Chris Pettit drove in a run and Brandon Wood later added a mammoth three-run homer to even the score at 8-8.

It stayed that way until the seventh. That's when Omaha regained the lead on a sac fly by Cory Aldridge. Ka'aihue, who led off with a walk, scored the game-winning run. He had advanced to third on a single by House and a bunt by Travis Metcalf.

"I was proud of the guys coming back and actually the relief pitching was pretty good, too," Mitchell said.

Salt Lake used five relievers in the game after starter Dan Denham was chased after three innings.

The Bees continue their homestand with a four-game series against the Iowa Cubs. Salt Lake RHP Sean O'Sullivan (2-1, 6.65 ERA) and Iowa RHP Greg Reinhard (1-0, 0.40 ERA) are the scheduled starters in tonight's opener.

GAME NOTES: Kearns High alum Brandon Duckworth was the starting pitcher for Omaha. He scattered six hits over five complete innings and did not factor into the decision. ... Friday's attendance was 8,147. ... Pettit and Wood each had two hits to lead Salt Lake.

E-MAIL: dirk@desnews.com