Bees Win Fifth Straight Game in Series Opener Against Chihuahuas
The Salt Lake Bees defeated the El Paso Chihuahuas for their first meeting of the season on Tuesday night, grabbing the first of six games at Smith’s Ballpark by a score of 4-1. The Bees have now won five consecutive games, marking their longest win streak of the season. The
The Salt Lake Bees defeated the El Paso Chihuahuas for their first meeting of the season on Tuesday night, grabbing the first of six games at Smith’s Ballpark by a score of 4-1. The Bees have now won five consecutive games, marking their longest win streak of the season.
The series opener featured the exhilarating return of Mike Trout to Salt Lake City, who made his first appearance in the black and yellow since April 26, 2012. During the 2012 season, the New Jersey native played in 20 games with the Bees and later climbed his way back up to the Los Angeles Angels, claiming the AL MVP three times and being named an All-Star 11 times. The outfielder held a place in Tuesday’s lineup through the first two innings and made one at-bat before exiting with left knee soreness and is considered day-to-day.
Both starting pitchers were locked in through the early innings of the game, each putting up three scoreless frames. Salt Lake’s Chase Silseth has strung together two of his best starts of the season, totaling 4.1 innings while allowing just a solo home run in the fourth inning after firing 3.2 scoreless innings against the River Cats on July 14. Carl Edwards Jr. (L, 0-1), got the nod for the Chihuahuas and started strong before the Bees tied the game in the fourth inning and tacked on two more runs in the fifth to grab the lead and the home club never gave it back.
Leaking into the middle innings, the scoring got underway in the top of the fourth inning as Tirso Ornelas lifted a solo home run to center field, his 14th of the season. The Bees threatened quickly in the home half as Michael Stefanic drew a leadoff walk before Jason Martin punched a single into the right-center field gap, advancing Stefanic to third while being thrown out at second base. Jordyn Adams followed it up with a groundout to second base, plating Stefanic and tying the game. Salt Lake used the momentum that it generated in the previous inning with a two-run fifth after Jack Lopez lined a leadoff single before Elliot Soto doubled and Cole Tucker walked to load the bases. Bryce Teodosio came to the plate and lined out sharply to shortstop, handing the bat over to Stefanic, who sent a single into left field, scoring Lopez and Soto to give the Bees a 3-1 edge. The Bees finished off the scoring after Martin singled and Adams lined a triple to left-center field, giving Salt Lake its fourth run.
The Bees bullpen was lights out as four arms contributed shutout performances to earn the win. Luis Ledo (W, 1-1) was the first reliver out of the bullpen and put together a hit-less outing prior to Amir Garrett adding 1.2 innings, Tayron Guerrero firing an inning, and Bryan Shaw slamming the door in the ninth to rack up his fifth save of the season while sending 13,880 fans home happy.
The Bees and the Chihuahuas will continue their six-game series tomorrow evening at Smith’s Ballpark with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m., as postgame fireworks are on the docket as well. Wednesday’s game marks Utah’s annual Pioneer Day, which celebrates the settlement of pioneers into the Salt Lake valley in 1847. On the bump for the Bees, southpaw Reid Detmers will make the start while right-hander Gabe Mosser is slated to pitch for the Chihuahuas.