Granier's Gem Wasted

BURLINGTON, Iowa - The Burlington Bees (67-70, 35-33) wasted a special start by Drew Granier and lost 4-to-2 to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (76-61, 32-36) on Saturday. The Bees have lost four consecutive games and are only 3-7 in the last ten games.

Despite a three-run top of the first, Drew Granier looked masterful in his final start of the regular season. The right-hander came into the game leading the league with 155 strikeouts and saved his best performance for last.

Granier recorded a punch out for eight of the first nine outs he forced. By the fourth inning he had ten strikeouts, which was one less than his career high of 11 - a mark he set on July 9 in Beloit. Well Granier had to wait through the fifth before he matched his career high when he struck out the first batter of the sixth inning. He went on to strikeout Chadwin Stang for a new career best with 12 strikeouts.

The 2012 campaign was a banner season for Granier; the right-hander had an eye popping 167 strikeouts in 162.2 innings that show he was one of the best pitchers in the league. Unfortunately the All-Star right-hander didn't receive much run support.

Granier (11-10) took his tenth loss of the season after he allowed four earned runs and ten hits. He didn't walk one batter and allowed four earned runs for only the second time in his last 12 starts. The offense scored only seven runs in the 40 innings Granier has pitched in his last seven starts.

The Bees went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position with the only hit coming off of Addison's Russell's bat in the third. With two outs and two men in scoring position, Russell shot a ground ball through the middle of the infield to get the Bees on the board. Russell came into the game hitting .600 with runners in scoring position and two outs and increased his RBI total to eight in just 14 games.

Both Russell and Sam Roberts went 2-for-4 in the loss. The only other batter in the Bees' lineup to enjoy a multi-hit game was Max Muncy, who went 3-for-4 with a double.

The Bees will play a double header on Monday, which is the final day of the regular season. Blake Hassebrock (2-1) will get the ball in game one at 2 p.m. CT. A.J. Cole (6-3) will take the hill in game two. The Bees can make the playoffs if the club wins one game or if the Kane County Cougars lose either Sunday or Monday. The Cougars own the tiebreaker with the Bees.

For more information on Bees baseball call (319) 754-5705 or visit www.gobees.com.