Bees Late Game Rally Not Enough

A late rally fell just short as the Salt Lake Bees dropped a 9-7 decision to the Albuquerque Isotopes on Friday night at Smith’s Ballpark.

Albuquerque jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings, but Salt Lake would tie it back up thanks to a Michael Stefanic two-run homer, a Jo Adell RBI single and a Scott Schebler two-run home run. The Isotopes broke the tie in the sixth on a Rio Ruiz RBI single and added two more in the seventh on former-Bee Jose Briceno’s two-run homer. Preston Palmeiro hit a solo homer to bring the Bees back within two in the bottom of the seventh. Trailing 9-6 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Bees scored one and brought the winning run to the plate but could not complete the comeback. The Bees are now 0-17 this year when trailing after seven innings and a perfect 13-0 when leading after seven.

Matt Thaiss collected his 10th extra base hit in the last five games with a third inning double. Stefanic led Bees batters with two hits, including the home run. Salt Lake made three errors in the game, snapping a streak of three straight errorless games.

Salt Lake and Albuquerque will meet for game three of the series on Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.