Salt Lake Bees: Conger HR powers SL past Rainiers

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake gained the 4-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh as Doug Deeds took advantage of a wild pitch, sliding into home and shifting the momentum.

Seconds later, Hank Conger was deemed game-clinching hero as he knocked one out of the park and sent in two runs to extend the lead, 7-3. The surging in the seventh — which included five runs total — was crucial in the Bees' 7-4 win over the Tacoma Rainiers as they experienced a relatively slow start.

They gave up an early run in the first inning and two more in the fifth — something manager Keith Johnson wasn't too worried about with Jerome Williams on the mound.

"Jerome is a major league pitcher. He didn't let that rattle him too much," he said. "He (Williams) made some pretty good pitches and they put some pretty good at bats, and they were able to push two runs across, but he did a good job of getting out that inning (fifth) without allowing too much more damage."

Conger led in the victory with two hits and the big three-run homer. Doug Deeds, Ryan Langerhans, and Ed Lucas had two hits apiece with Langerhans earning two RBIs, and Lucas rounding the bases twice for two scores.

701 AND COUNTING: Paul McAnulty now has 701 runs batted in for his minor league career with 176 of those RBIs earned in a Salt Lake uniform. He is closing in on Matt Brown for 10th on the franchise's all-time list.

PCL LEADERS: The Bees boast two players currently leading the PCL at their respective positions. First baseman Efren Navarro leads his position with a .966 fielding percentage and just three errors in a league leading 804 total chances. Third baseman Luis Jimenez tops his position at .946 with 12 errors in 221 total chances.

LONG GOES LONG: Matt Long sent sailing a solo home run on Friday and extended his hitting streak to a personal season-high nine games.

ALL-STAR SELECTION: Outfielder Kole Calhoun was selected to be on the PCL team for the Triple-A All-Star Game to be held in Buffalo on July 11.

Calhoun leads the Bees with 10 home runs and 53 runs batted in.

email: jwilde@desnews.com