Salt Lake Bees get blanked for second night in a row

There was plenty of firepower at Spring Mobile Ballpark on Friday night. Military Appreciation Night drew the largest crowd of the year (14,138) and featured a flyover by an Apache helicopter, as well as the Hill Air Force Base Color Guard.

There was even a postgame fireworks show.

What was missing, however, were any contributions from the Salt Lake Bees. They managed just two hits in a 4-0 loss to the Reno Aces.

"We're just not swinging the bats very well," Bees manager Bobby Mitchell said after his squad was shut out for the second consecutive night. "We're not making any adjustments to what the pitcher is doing to us, swinging at pitches out of the zone and not being patient. That adds up to outs."

The back-to-back shutouts are the first Salt Lake has endured since 2005.

"We're not making any adjustments as a team, as individuals, none to what's going on," Mitchell said. "You go through those spells, but you want to see some type of effort to figure it out and make adjustments."

The Bees, he added, have wasted good pitching performances on consecutive nights. The first was a 6-0 setback at Round Rock on Thursday.

Starting pitchers Cesar Valdez of Reno and David Austen had a pretty good battle going early on.

Reno, though, broke a scoreless tie in the third. A two-run double by Alex Romero gave the Aces a 2-0 lead.

It proved to be more than enough for Valdez, who wound up with six strikeouts over eight complete innings.

"He was definitely on his game," said Matt Brown, who had one of Salt Lake's two hits. "He had good command of his pitches and he was throwing them low for strikes in the zone. And when guys do that they're successful."

Both of the Bees' hits were doubles. Brown's came in the second inning and Terry Evans followed with one in the seventh.

"You've just got to tip your hat sometimes," Brown said before addressing the team's recent woes. "That's just the way baseball is. You can't win them all. We are going to go on skids just like everybody else."

Reno doubled its 2-0 lead in the ninth when Ruben Gotay singled in a score and Romero drew a bases-loaded walk.

Salt Lake has now lost eight of its last 11 games.

The series continues today with a doubleheader beginning at 5:05 p.m.

Salt Lake RHP Dan Denham (3-1, 4.02 ERA) and Reno RHP Bryan Augenstein (0-0, 6.00 ERA) are the scheduled starters in the opener. Bees RHP Brad Salmon (1-0, 5.49 ERA) and Aces LHP Travis Blackley (1-3, 5.82 ERA) are slated to start the nightcap.

BEE LINES: Infielder Freddy Sandoval has been placed on the disabled list with a sprained left wrist. ... RHP Rudy Seanez and infielder Jean Segura have been added to the roster from extended spring training.

E-MAIL: dirk@desnews.com