Bees Skid Hits Four as Sugar Land Takes Series

SUGAR LAND, Texas - The Salt Lake Bees dropped their fourth straight game and were held to three runs or fewer for the third consecutive contest, falling 7–3 on Saturday night despite a two-hit, two-RBI effort from Matthew Lugo.

Sugar Land Space Cowboys 7, Salt Lake Bees 3

WP: AJ Blubaugh (5 - 8)

LP: Shaun Anderson (1 - 7)

Game Summary

Salt Lake threatened early by loading the bases in the first inning after a one-out walk to Scott Kingery and a single by Matthew Lugo. Following a flyout by Chad Stevens, Yolmer Sánchez extended the inning by drawing the second walk of the inning off Sugar Land starter AJ Blubaugh. But Blubaugh escaped the jam unscathed, striking out Tucker Flint to end the frame.

The Space Cowboys returned the favor in the bottom half, loading the bases of their own. After back-to-back one-out walks and a two-out single by Jesús Bastidas, Omar Narváez came through with a single through the right side and past the diving glove of Sánchez at second, driving in the game’s first run. Shaun Anderson, despite a 36-pitch inning, limited the damage by striking out the next batter and stranding all three runners.

After back-to-back three-up, three-down innings from the Salt Lake offense, Sugar Land capitalized in the bottom of the fourth. Jesús Bastidas was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, and Omar Narváez followed with a two-run homer to right, extending the Space Cowboys’ lead to 3-0. Narváez was responsible for all three of Sugar Land’s RBIs to that point.

Sugar Land broke the game open in the fifth, loading the bases once again before Jesús Bastidas delivered a bases-clearing double. Bryan Lavastida followed with a two-out RBI single to right, capping off a four-run inning and stretching the Space Cowboys’ lead to 7-0.

Salt Lake snapped its 24.2-inning scoreless drought in the seventh when Matthew Lugo lined a two-run single to right, putting the Bees on the board with his second hit of the night. However, the rally was cut short as Chad Stevens flew out to end the inning, leaving two runners stranded.

The Bees added one more run in the eighth thanks to a throwing error by Space Cowboys pitcher Luis Contreras on a ball hit by Mitchell Daly, allowing Tucker Flint to score.

Salt Lake stranded a runner in six of the final seven innings, including two in the fourth after a pair of leadoff walks came up empty. The Bees went down in order in the ninth, sealing the series for Sugar Land and handing Salt Lake its fourth straight loss.

Game Notes

• Salt Lake dropped its fourth straight game, marking the fourth time this season the team has lost four or more in a row, falling to 36–58 overall.
• The Bees snapped a 24.2-inning scoreless drought with a pair of runs in the seventh and finished with three total on the night, dropping to 2–36 when scoring three runs or fewer and 13–44 when being outhit by their opponent.
• Road struggles continued for Salt Lake, which fell to 16–33 away from home and 6–23 over its last 29 road games. The series loss drops the Bees to 2–8–8 in series play overall and 1–4–4 on the road, with their lone road series win coming at Albuquerque from April 29 to May 4.
• Matthew Lugo accounted for two of Salt Lake’s six hits, recording his 19th multi-hit game of the season and his fifth in 14 games during July. Lugo drove in two of the Bees three runs, collecting all of the team’s RBIs on the night, and now has 12 multi-RBI games this year—ranking third on the team behind Niko Kavadas (16) and Chad Stevens (13). Lugo has hit safely in 26 of his last 29 games dating back to June 13, batting .328 over that stretch with four of his eight home runs coming during that span.
• Niko Kavadas went 1-for-4 with a run scored, tying Chad Stevens for the team lead with 53 runs this season. He also drew a walk for the third time in his last four games, bringing his season total to 64, a new Triple-A career high. Kavadas now ranks second in all of Triple-A in walks, trailing only Oklahoma City’s Alex Freeland (67).
• Shaun Anderson made his 13th start of the season, going 4.1 innings and marking his seventh consecutive outing of five innings or fewer since last pitching six full frames on May 2 against Albuquerque. After facing seven batters in a 35-pitch first inning, Anderson settled in to face the minimum over the next two innings, aided by a pair of double plays, bringing his team-leading total to nine. He ultimately allowed six runs on four hits, his third straight start surrendering six or more runs, while striking out three.

Up Next

Salt Lake and Sugar Land will face off for the series finale on Sunday evening as Jack Kochanowicz will make his first start for Salt Lake facing off against Miguel Ullola (4-2, 3.80) with first pitch slated for 5:35 p.m. MST at Constellation Field.