Early Leads Go By the Wayside As Bees Triumph

Bees 5 (15-19), Isotopes 4 (11-24) – Smith’s Ballpark | Salt Lake City, UT

AT THE DISH: Chris Owings started in center field in his first game on rehab assignment from Colorado and went 1-for-3 with a first-inning double … Leadoff hitter Rio Ruiz went 2-for-5 with an RBI double, his fourth multi-hit performance in five contests … Chris Rabago and Ruiz had back-to-back run-scoring doubles in the fourth to give the Topes a brief 4-3 advantage … Albuquerque’s other two tallies crossed the plate in the second when Jo Adell couldn’t come up with a flare in shallow center field.

TOEING THE RUBBER: Ian Clarkin made his fourth start of the season (seventh overall appearance) and took the loss as he surrendered four hits, five earned runs and three walks in three-plus innings … Salt Lake scored the eventual game-winning runs on a two-run single by Luis Rengifo off Jesus Tinoco in the fourth, but the men on base were Clarkin’s responsibility … Antonio Santos and Joe Harvey each spun a scoreless frame.

TOPES TIDBITS: There were no home runs hit Monday night, snapping a streak of six consecutive games with a long ball for Albuquerque and ending a stretch where the Isotopes pitching staff served at least one up for the prior nine contests … Greg Bird came off the bench with a double in the eighth inning, the fifth pinch-hit of the season for the Topes, four of them being two-baggers … The Isotopes have kept MiLB home run leader Jo Adell (15) in the yard over the first five games of this series, although his two-run triple in the third inning Monday was a big blow in that frame.

ON DECK: Albuquerque will conclude the first leg of this 12-game road trip Tuesday night, with a 6:35 PM MT first pitch from Smith’s Ballpark. The pitching matchup is a rematch of the series opener, as right-hander José Mujica (0-5, 9.00) will start for the Isotopes against fellow righty Jake Faria (3-1, 5.12) for the host Bees.