The Portland Beavers didn't make it to Salt Lake in time to help the Bees celebrate Pioneer Day on Friday because several players were ill, forcing the scheduled game to be postponed.

After a long, hard bus ride from Reno on Saturday morning, the Beavers were at Spring Mobile Ballpark for Saturday night's game looking plenty healthy.

Instead, it's the Bees who continue to look sick.

Portland downed Salt Lake 8-3, extending the Bees' losing streak to five in front of 14,487 fans. Salt Lake is now just 50-50 on the year 100 games into the season. It's the first time the Bees have been .500 since they were 1-1 two games into the season on April 11.

The Bees are gunning for their fourth straight PCL Pacific North Division title but trail Colorado Springs by five games with 44 remaining.

Not even getting some reinforcements and playing against a tired, depleted Portland team could help the Bees on Saturday. A pair of Triple-A All-Stars returned to the Bees' lineup. Outfielder Terry Evans was sent back down from the parent Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim after a brief stint in which he didn't even get into a game, and infielder Matt Brown was activated from the disabled list. Brown, a USA Olympian and all-star last season, had been out since June 30 with inflammation in his left elbow.

Evans made his presence felt right away, as he blasted a pair of tape-measure home runs for the Bees in the losing cause. Unfortunately for him and the Bees, both came with the bases empty.

That wasn't the case with Portland first baseman Valentino Pascucci.

He, too, hit a pair of homers, but he had teammates on the bases both times. Pascucci finished the game going 3-for-5 with five RBIs. His two-run shot in the third inning gave the Beavers a 5-0 lead, and Salt Lake would never recover.

"Their team showed a lot of character," said Bees manager Bobby Mitchell of the Beavers. "They had to be exhausted, busing in and all that stuff. And then they came out here and completely outplayed us."

Salt Lake will get two chances to end its losing ways today. The Bees and Beavers will play a doubleheader — the regularly scheduled game and the make-up for Friday's postponement — beginning at 2 p.m. Brad Knox (5-5, 5.22 ERA) and Mike MacDonald (5-10, 5.89) are scheduled to pitch for the Bees against Portland's Will Inman (1-4, 6.71) and Brian Lawrence (4-2, 4.00).

BEES WAX: Evans hit his 20th and 21st homers of the year. He also has 20 stolen bases, making him the first 20-20 player in franchise history. ... Bees infielder Luis Figueroa has started his rehab assignment in Tempe, Ariz. Figueroa has been out since he suffered a broken left fibula on April 28. ... Salt Lake is now 0-42 in games where they trail entering the 9th inning.

e-mail: lojo@desnews.com