Double Dose of Fresno
After the Bees traveled to Fresno to play the Grizzlies earlier this month, the Bees take a turn hosting the California club at Spring Mobile Ballpark for four games on June 23-26.
Then, for the only occasion in 2009, manager Bobby Mitchell's squad will play a second consecutive series against the same team, this time at Chukchansi Park in Fresno.
First, however, Salt Lake returns home to try and put an end to a season-high five-game losing streak after a sweep at the hands of the Sacramento River Cats.
Sacramento starter Gio Gonzalez struck out 10 Salt Lake batters in game one, and his Bees counterpart, Dan Denham, nearly matched him for six innings before problems ensued and the River Cats won 9-0.
A day later in game two, the River Cats got the better of Bees starter Mike MacDonald right away and led 4-0 after three frames. Salt Lake's Howie Kendrick hit a two-run homer in the top of the fourth to slice the deficit in half, but Aaron Cunningham answered with a two-run shot of his own in the bottom of the fourth to stake Sacramento to a 6-2 advantage in an eventual 10-5 victory.
In the third contest, Salt Lake held a 5-1 lead after three innings, but the host River Cats tallied seven unanswered runs to rally for an 8-5 win.
Sunday featured more of the same for the Bees. Again Salt Lake held a four-run advantage but was unable to hold on in a 5-4 loss after leading for seven-and-a-half innings.
Both the Bees and Grizzlies enter Tuesday's contest losers of seven of 10 games and in second place in the respective divisions. With the season series between the Bees and Grizzlies tied 2-2, something has to give.
After a pair of one-run setbacks to open the four-game series in Fresno on June 6-9, the Bees regrouped to claim games three and four at Chukchansi Park.
MacDonald went six innings and surrendered just one run on three hits with a season-high seven strikeouts in a 5-3 Salt Lake triumph in the third tilt. Matt Brown provided the difference-maker with a two-run double in the first inning.
Terry Evans' sacrifice fly in the ninth inning propelled the Bees to a 4-3 victory in game four, as Brad Salmon and Jeremy Hill backed starting pitcher David Austen with three frames of scoreless relief.
Evans finished the team's first series of 2009 as the lone Bee to hit more than .300 and to play in each of the four games with the Grizzlies. In total, Evans hit .375 with four runs scored, a double, a homerun, four RBI and a 1.014 OPS.
Ryan Budde and Ben Johnson each hit .364 in three games. Budde also scored twice and notched a homerun, two RBI and a 1.053 OPS. Johnson scored once, hit three doubles and recorded a 1.053 OPS as well.
While the Bees hit .266 as a team, Fresno struggled even more, batting .234 as a unit. Joe Borchard (.429 batting average, two doubles, two homeruns and five RBI) and John Bowker (.357 batting average, four runs scored, two homeruns, three RBI) led the Grizzlies for four games. Kevin Frandsen hit .462 with a pair of doubles in three contests.
If the first series is any indication, Salt Lake batters could have a battle against Grizzlies hurlers. The Fresno pitching staff compiled a 4.25 ERA and allowed a mere 38 hits in the initial four-game set.
Games one and two are slated to feature Steve Hammond and Matt Kinney for Fresno. Hammond went 7.0 innings in his first meeting against Salt Lake, allowing three runs on six hits for the win. Kinney logged 6.0 innings the last time he faced the Bees, giving up two runs en route to the Fresno win.
Salt Lake pitcher Brad Knox will try to put his last troublesome start behind him on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. at Spring Mobile Ballpark.