For the 10,000 children on hand for "Safety and Prevention Kids Day," Tuesday morning's game at Spring Mobile Ballpark was a nice alternative to sitting in a classroom.

"It's a fun time," said Salt Lake Bees manager Bobby Mitchell. "That's a ton of noise ... no, that's a ton of kids that are having a great time, so that's real good. And I like that."

What he didn't like, however, was the outcome.

Iowa defeated Salt Lake, 3-2, to salvage a split in the four-game series. The Cubs won the last two meetings.

"It's the little things the last couple of games that we haven't done right that have kind of cost us," Mitchell said.

A lack of timely hits proved costly in the finale.

Iowa built a 3-1 advantage over the first six innings. The Cubs scored on a double from Jason Dubois in the first, a single by Doug Deeds in the third and on a Matt Matulia groundout in the sixth.

The Bees, meanwhile, were limited to an RBI single by Freddy Sandoval in the bottom of the first.

That changed, however, in the seventh when they added another score on a groundout by Chris Pettit to make it 3-2.

The deficit, though, proved to be too much to overcome.

"We squandered some scoring opportunities," Mitchell said. "We struck out too much in certain situations and our defense is kind of falling apart a little bit."

Iowa starter Jeff Samardzija (1-0) picked up the win after recording six strikeouts and allowing only four hits over five complete innings.

"He had a good change-up going," said Mitchell, who acknowledged that it kept the Bees off-balance.

Iowa relievers Vince Perkins, Jeff Stevens and Blake Parker also kept Salt Lake's batters in check. The Bees were just 2-of-11 with runners in scoring position.

By game's end, Salt Lake struck out nine times and stranded eight baserunners.

The Bees are off today, but return to action Thursday at Albuquerque. They'll also visit Round Rock on their upcoming eight-game road swing.

Salt Lake RHP Brad Knox (2-1, 5.13 ERA) and Albuquerque RHP Giancarlo Alvarado (2-3, 2.97 ERA) are the scheduled starters for the opener.

E-MAIL: dirk@desnews.com