Salt Lake Bees: Loux loosens up to pitch Bees past Sox

The game didn't get off to an auspicious start for Salt Lake Bees pitcher Shane Loux on Wednesday night at Spring Mobile Ballpark.

The second pitch of the night was blasted to the gap in left-center for a triple by Colorado Springs' Eric Young Jr. Loux then walked the second Sky Sox hitter he faced.

But from that point on, Loux pitched like he did a year ago, when he earned the Pacific Coast League's Pitcher of the Year honor with the Bees. He went seven innings, giving up just three hits and a single run to lead the Bees to a 6-1 victory in the opener of a five-game series pitting the top two teams in the PCL's Pacific North Division.

"I felt pretty good," said Loux, who has been hampered by a shoulder injury sustained pitching for the parent Los Angeles Angels. "It's been a real hassle to try to get loose through this whole process. I've never dealt with shoulder problems before, so I didn't know what to expect, so it's been a real learning experience. But once I got loose today, I felt good and was able to locate my fastball — which is a good thing against a team that can hit like they do."

Loux will travel back to Anaheim today to see if and when he will be re-activated by the Angels.

Offensively, the Bees only got seven hits on the night, but they made the most of them. Colorado Springs starter Greg Smith walked the first two batters he faced. After Brad Coon and Nate Sutton executed a double steal, Coon scored Salt Lake's first run on a sacrifice fly by Sean Rodriguez.

Brandon Wood then blasted a two-run homer over the right-field fence, giving the Bees a 3-1 lead at the end of the first inning with only a single hit. It was Wood's second home run in as many nights.

Sutton hit a triple and scored on a throwing error in the third inning to give the Bees a 4-1 advantage. Wood and Bobby Wilson added run-scoring singles in the eighth inning to give Salt Lake a pair of insurance runs.

The Bees are 45-42 and trail the Sky Sox by 4 1/2 games.

"I told the team that it's not a do-or-die series, but it is the most important series of the year so far," said Bees manager Bobby Mitchell. "We're down to 50-something games left, so we want to play these guys tough and pick up some ground if we can. Getting the first win is good, but we've got a lot of work to do."