Bees mount ninth inning charge in loss

Burlington, IA (June 16, 2010) - A ten-run deficit in the ninth inning is virtually always unconquerable, but for a few fleeting moments on Wednesday night, the Bees made it seem possible in a 12-7 loss to the Peoria Chiefs at Community Field.

Thanks in part to a three-run homer from Rene Oriental, the Bees plated five in the ninth inning to trim the final deficit to five. The Bees opened the inning with five consecutive baserunners, including singles from Joey Lewis and Carlo Testa, the Oriental blast, and walks to Jose Bonilla and Deivy Batista to chase Peoria closer Jordan Latham from the game. Frank Batista entered and quelled the rally with a pair of strikeouts after a hit and a sacrifice fly.

Prior to the outburst, the Chiefs led by as many as ten after scoring two in each of the final three innings. Five pitchers appeared for Burlington, and all of them allowed at least one run. Starter Nick Wooley (L, 2-5) was pulled after three innings after he ceded five earned runs on four hits, two walks, and two hit batsmen.

In the early going, the Bees were unable to solve Peoria starter Trey McNutt (W, 6-0), who struck out a career-high ten batters in five shutout innings, during which he allowed one hit and one walk.

Gerard Hall, Batista, and Oriental each had multi-hit games to lead the Bees attack.

After a day off on Thursday, the Bees take the field on Friday for a doubleheader in Cedar Rapids. The twin bill gets underway at 5:30, and you can join Nick Devlin on News Radio 1490 KBUR for the Casebine Community Credit Union Pregame Show starting at 5:10.