Salt Lake Bees fall short in rally, settle for another split

It's been a while since the Salt Lake Bees have won a series.

And after Tuesday night's 7-6 loss to the Tacoma Rainiers, it'll be a while longer.

The outcome resulted in a 2-2 split, extending Salt Lake's streak of losing and/or tied series to five.

The Bees haven't gotten the best of an opponent since taking two of three games from Colorado Springs in mid-June.

At times, anyway, the drought appeared to be in peril in the latest outing at Spring Mobile Ballpark.

Trailing 1-0 after Brad Nelson's RBI single in the first, Salt Lake evened things up in the bottom of the inning after back-to-back doubles by Terry Evans and Sean Rodriguez.

Another productive two-base hit followed in the fourth. Brandon Wood doubled before scoring on a single from Adam Pavkovich.

Salt Lake's 2-1 lead, though, would eventually succumb to the long ball.

Tacoma hit a pair of homers to take control of the game.

The first blast came in the sixth, when Jeff Clement's two-run shot put the Rainiers ahead. The second homer — a solo effort by Bryan LaHair — followed an inning later.

Tacoma added a little more thunder in the ninth, when Jerry Owens had an RBI triple and Clement added a two-run double.

The Bees countered with a solo homer from Wood in the bottom of the inning to open a rally that kept folks in their seats until the very end.

After loading the bases with one out, Salt Lake scored twice on a Tacoma fielding error and added a run on a sacrifice fly by Nate Sutton.

The comeback bid fell short, however, when Sean Rodriguez struck out with runners on first and third to end the game.

Salt Lake continues its longest homestand of the season with a five-game series against Colorado Springs. Bees RHP Shane Loux (0-2, 6.30 ERA) and Sky Sox LHP Greg Smith (1-0, 1.93 ERA) are the scheduled starters in the opener.

It's a pivotal series just prior to the Triple-A All-Star break.

Division-leading Colorado Springs (49-36) holds a 5 1/2-game lead over second-place Salt Lake (44-42).

"We've got a big series coming up," Evans said earlier in the week. "If we can finish strong right here before the break, we can put ourselves in a good position."

BEES WAX: Tuesday's attendance was 4,813 ... Catcher Chris Rosenbaum has been promoted to the Bees from Single-A Rancho Cucamonga ... Two former Salt Lake players — Torii Hunter of the Angels and Francisco Rodriguez of the Mets — have been selected to play in Tuesday's Major League All-Star Game in St. Louis.

E-MAIL: dirk@desnews.com