Salt Lake Bees: Bell makes splash in Bees debut

Salt Lake starter Trevor Bell felt comfortable as soon as he took the field.

The right-hander from North Hollywood, Calif., appreciated the promotional sign that rested on the outfield berm underneath the scoreboard at Spring Mobile Ballpark. It was a replica of the famous "Hollywood" sign.

"It definitely kind of put a little bit of home there for me," said Bell, who made quite a splash in his Triple-A debut.

The former first-round draft pick threw a complete game, two-hit shutout to lift Salt Lake to a 1-0 victory over Colorado Springs.

"It was just a pleasure to watch," said Bees manager Bobby Mitchell, who noted that Bell had control of all of his pitches and good command.

"It was outstanding," he added. "I was really impressed."

Bell acknowledged it was fun.

"I was just trying to throw strikes," he said. "... That's all I was trying to do and it just happened that all three pitches were working tonight."

Bell, who was 4-3 with a 2.23 earned run average at Double-A Arkansas before getting promoted, credited catcher Bobby Wilson for helping him mix his fastball, slider and change-up.

Colorado Springs' lone hit in the first eight innings was a leadoff single by Matt Morton in the second.

It took a while, however, for the Bees to capitalize on the situation. They didn't score until the bottom of the seventh when Matt Brown scored on a sacrifice bunt by Adam Pavkovich. Brown reached on a walk, advanced to second on a sac bunt by Bobby Wilson and made it to third on a wild pitch from reliever Scott Munter.

The 1-0 lead held firm, even though the Sky Sox did make things interesting in the ninth. Christian Colonel led off with a single, but was thrown out in a double play when Sal Fasano popped up to the catcher in fair territory. The game ended with a groundout.

Including Monday's 8-5 win, Bees pitchers have thrown 13 straight shutout innings against the Sky Sox.

The victories have given Salt Lake a 1 1/2-game lead over Colorado Springs in the standings.

BEE LINES: The series concludes tonight at 7:05. Salt Lake RHP Brad Knox (4-3, 5.14 ERA) and Colorado Springs RHP Alan Johnson (6-2, 5.86 ERA) are the scheduled starters. ... Tuesday's attendance was 5,527. ... Former Utah Jazz broadcaster Hot Rod Hundley attended the game and provided radio color commentary for Steve Klauke in the fourth and fifth innings.

E-MAIL: dirk@desnews.com