Rafael Ortega Shines in Bees Loss

SALT LAKE CITY (August 19, 2016) - The Salt Lake Bees ended their penultimate homestand with a 5-3 loss to the New Orleans Zephyrs. The Bees, playing as the Buzz for throwback night, jumped out an early lead with a Daniel Nava run scoring single in the first inning. New Orleans would tie it back up in the second and it would remain tied until the fifth when Nava again collected a RBI single. Juan Graterol would add to the lead with a solo home run in the sixth for the Buzz. The Zephyrs tied it again in the seventh and then went onto score the winning runs with a pair of infield RBIs in the ninth inning.

The top of the Salt Lake lineup led the way for the offense as Rafael Ortega finished four-for-five with two runs scored, finishing a home run away from the cycle. Nava collected a 3-for-5 night with a pair of RBIs to push his Bees average to .429 on the season. The Buzz had a chance to tie it back up in the ninth as Angel Rosa reached base on an error to bring up Ortega who narrowly missed a game tying home run and had to settle for a double. Nava saw six pitches in the final at-bat, but could not collect a game tying hit.

The Bees take to the road for a nine day trip with stops in El Paso and Las Vegas starting tomorrow. The team will return home to Smith's Ballpark for the final homestand of the season on Monday, Aug. 29.