Bees Explode Offensively in Fourth of July Win Over Rainiers
The Salt Lake Bees emerged victorious in their Fourth of July contest against the Tacoma Rainiers on Thursday evening, returning home with their second win in a row by a final score of 10-7. Long before the fireworks went off in the sky above Smith’s Ballpark, the Bees gave the
The Salt Lake Bees emerged victorious in their Fourth of July contest against the Tacoma Rainiers on Thursday evening, returning home with their second win in a row by a final score of 10-7.
Long before the fireworks went off in the sky above Smith’s Ballpark, the Bees gave the sellout crowd of 14,437 in attendance a show of their own at the plate, starting in the game’s very first inning. The first four hitters in Salt Lake’s lineup all got in the hit column to kick things off, a stretch that culminated with an RBI single by Michael Stefanic and a two-RBI double by Charles Leblanc to cut the team’s early deficit down to one. The bats continued to keep up the pressure after this, plating two more in the second on a double down the left field line by Stefanic and three in the third on another two-RBI two bagger by Bryce Teodosio and a run-scoring groundout from D’Shawn Knowles to take full control of the game.
Fireworks started early at Smith's Ballpark! 🎆
— Salt Lake Bees (@SaltLakeBees) July 5, 2024
Marisnick 1B -> Soto 1B -> Stefanic RBI 1B -> Leblanc 2-RBI 2B = 3-run first inning! pic.twitter.com/4DhNnMgxHs
From here, the remainder of Salt Lake’s offense came via the longball, with the team mashing one apiece in the sixth and seventh innings to further increase its advantage. The first of these came off the bat of Teodosio, who notched his second extra-base hit and third RBI of the game on a 430-foot blast out to left field. Following his lead was Leblanc, with the Bees first baseman wrapping one just around the foul pole in right for his seventh dinger of the year to make it double digits in the run column for the Bees.
Teo touches 'em all❗️
— Salt Lake Bees (@SaltLakeBees) July 5, 2024
Bryce Teodosio mashes his fifth home run of the season and we're back up by three! pic.twitter.com/GDfGsmY3lD
On the mound, Salt Lake got another excellent effort from its bullpen, with the unit holding the Rainiers to just one run over the final four innings of the game after starter Zach Plesac’s departure. First into the game was reigning PCL Pitcher of the Week Ryan Miller, who continued his excellent stretch of games by spinning another pair of scoreless innings with two strikeouts against just one hit. Adam Kolarek worked himself into a jam in the eighth after this that brought the tying run to the plate, but Bryan Shaw ended up picking the lefty up, limiting the damage to just one run while getting the final two outs of the frame. Shaw ended up finishing the job after this as well, pitching a clean ninth to record his fourth save of the season and secure the victory for Salt Lake.
The Bees will now try to take the lead in the six-game series against the Rainiers on Friday night, with José Suarez set to make his first start of the year in Salt Lake starting at 6:35 p.m.