Bees end frustrating season with frustrating loss

The Salt Lake Bees have played admirably to end the 2009 season. Although, the quest for a fourth straight division title came up short, largely in part to the amount of players called up to the "Bigs" — there was still hope to conclude the year with a four game sweep of the PCL's best team, unfortunately that dream also came up short with a 10-4 Labor Day loss to Sacramento.

The River Cats must have had some animosity built up inside from the previous three contests — as they stormed out with a furious surge to begin the game. On the very first pitch, Sacramento's Chris Denorfia took a Mike MacDonald fastball to deep center field for an early 1-0 lead.

Salt Lake, like they've done all series, made a quick retaliation when Nate Sutton pounded an RBI triple. The following batter in the lineup, Chris Pettit, would then add another run on a fielder's choice single.

At the start of the second inning — it looked as if it was an instant replay — when Chris Carter drilled a first pitch fastball to the exact same spot to tie the game at 2-2.

During the inning, a scary moment took place when a fan was hit in the face off a hard hit foul ball, forcing a short delay. With the help of the Sacramento players and nearby fans, she was escorted out of the stands and looked to be OK.

Just when the game looked to be turning into a barn burner, the Bees would squander a few opportunities in the bottom of the second — and that's when the chaos would erupt. In the top of the third, Aaron Cunningham got things started for the 'Cats with an RBI single. The ensuing batter, Travis Buck, then slammed a base clearing triple to the warning track to take a 6-2 lead.

After a scoreless fourth for the Bees – the madness continued. Third baseman Brett Wallace stepped to the plate, and for the third time in the game – took the first pitch in the inning to center field. Matt Carson would immediately follow the trend for back to back jacks and officially putting the game out of reach.

"We finished really strong," said Bee's manager Bobby Mitchell, "We showed a lot of character. It's hard to sweep a team like that, and we just ran into some home runs. They did a good job so you have to give them credit."

The game wrapped up the season with the Bees finishing with a 72-71 record and third in North Division behind Colorado Springs and Tacoma.

e-mail: tphibbs@desnews.com