Salt Lake Drops Series Finale to Tacoma

The Salt Lake Bees fell to the Tacoma Rainiers in the series finale on Saturday evening at Smith’s Ballpark by a final score of 8-4 for their first series loss in the second half of the season.

Reid Detmers (L, 2-3) made his fifth start with the Bees on Saturday night and his first of July baseball. The southpaw worked out of an early threat in the first inning after allowing a two-out triple and didn’t allow a run until the third inning, allowing three runs to cross in the frame. The Rainiers attacked Detmers again in the sixth inning, crossing a pair and forcing the lefty to exit once the inning concluded. Detmers finished with a final line of six innings, six hits, five earned runs, with six punchouts and two walks. Luis Ledo, Guillo Zuñiga, and Adam Kolarek all entered out of the bullpen with Kolarek allowing the only relief run. On the other side of the diamond, Blas Castano (W, 2-0) made the start for Tacoma and earned his second win of the season. The Rainiers used four arms out of the bullpen, all preventing Salt Lake to score in relief.

The Bees got the scoring started early in the game as Michael Stefanic drove home Jake Marisnick with a one-out RBI single after Marisnick led off the inning with a single while advancing to second a throwing error. Bryce Teodosio tacked on another run with a two-out RBI single through the middle of the infield, scoring Stefanic and stretching Salt Lake’s lead, 2-0. Tacoma responded in the third inning after Nick Solak started the inning with a single before Michael Papierski doubled home Solak and scored himself on a Jonatan Clase RBI single, tying the game at two runs apiece. Later in the inning, Clase stole second and third base for his 25^th and 26^th stolen bases of the season before scoring on a wild pitch and putting the Rainiers in front. The Bees quickly tied the game in the home half of the third as Elliot Soto led off with a single and advanced to second on a balk, setting up Charles Leblanc to level the game with a one-out double. Salt Lake kept its foot on the gas with Teodosio lining a single into left field, scoring Leblanc and putting the Bees back on top, 4-3. Tacoma seized the lead back in the sixth inning and never gave it back as Cade Marlowe and Tyler Locklear reached to start the inning before a fielder’s choice placed runners on the corners, allowing Leo Rivas to ground out to third while plating Marlowe. In the ensuing at-bat, Spencer Packard roped a double into right field, giving Tacoma a 5-4 edge. The Rainiers added another pair of runs in the seventh inning after a walk and a single scored as back-to-back errors by Stefanic extended Tacoma’s lead to three runs. The final run of the game was scored in the top of the ninth as Jason Vosler lined a two-out single into right field, scoring Luis Urias and putting the game out of reach.

The Bees will take a couple of days off before welcoming the Sacramento River Cats to Salt Lake for a six-game series at Smith’s Ballpark, rounding out a nine-game homestand. The Bees are 6-3 against the River Cats this season after opening the season in Sacramento and taking one game in the three-game series before hosting Sacramento in early May, winning five of the six games. The series will begin on Tuesday with first pitch on the docket for 6:35 p.m. for Smith’s Family Night.