Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

Salt Lake Drops Friday Contest to Las Vegas

August 9, 2024

The Salt Lake Bees were defeated by the Las Vegas Aviators in the fourth game of their series on Friday evening, falling 2-1 after running cold at the plate once again. After a rain delay pushed the start of Friday’s game back by a half hour, the Bees handed the

The Salt Lake Bees were defeated by the Las Vegas Aviators in the fourth game of their series on Friday evening, falling 2-1 after running cold at the plate once again.

After a rain delay pushed the start of Friday’s game back by a half hour, the Bees handed the ball to former No. 9 overall pick Sam Bachman in what was his first start at the Triple-A level, and the 24-year-old impressed in his debut at Smith’s Ballpark. Bachman made it through four complete innings on just 42 pitches during his outing, allowing one hit and a lone unearned run pushed across in the third while striking out two and walking one. After the righty’s day was done, the Bees bullpen followed in his footsteps, holding the Aviators to just one run over the final five innings of the game and none after Max Muncy jumped on Adam Kolarek for a solo shot in the fifth. The backend arms were especially impressive, with the trio of Ryan Zeferjahn, Guillo Zuñiga and Tayron Guerrero pitching four scoreless frames while punching out five Las Vegas hitters.

Unfortunately for Bachman, however, he was saddled with a tough-luck loss for his efforts, as the Bees offense managed to push across just one run on the night despite out-hitting their opponents six to four. The big trouble for the Salt Lake bats was figuring out Las Vegas starter J.T. Ginn, who held the team off the scoreboard entirely during his six innings of work while surrendering five hits and a walk and striking out five. The Bees did start to rally in the eighth, scoring their only run of the night when Zach Humphreys scored from third on a wild pitch with one out, but they could not extend things further than this after going down in order in the game’s final frame.

The Bees will now try to bounce back and pick up their second win of the series on Saturday night, with Reid Detmers getting the assignment opposite Brady Basso for first pitch at 6:35 p.m.