It's been a waiting game for the Salt Lake Bees. The players have been waiting to hit the way they know they can. For most of the second half of June, that hasn't been the case. And their woes at the plate continued against the Fresno Grizzlies as the Bees lost to Fresno 5-2 at Spring Mobile BallPark on Thursday.

"Hitting is very contagious," said Terry Evans, who went 1-for-3, had an RBI and scored a run. "No one is hitting the way they want. When we start going, it will spread throughout the team."

If the Bees (39-35) want to contend for their fourth consecutive PCL Pacific Norther Division title, they can't afford to wait any longer. Salt Lake has lost seven of its last eight games.

"It's frustrating for us as a staff. Being on both sides, it's frustrating not to be able to perform ourselves," Salt Lake manager Bobby Mitchell said. "We're not scoring any runs. We're giving away too many at-bats."

The Grizzlies pulled away in the seventh inning. Fresno got doubles from Ryan Rohlinger and Eugenio Velez. Both scored in the inning. Velez, who is batting around .250, played a big role in the Grizzlies' win, going 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Heading into the ninth inning, the Grizzlies had a comfortable 5-1 lead.

But Salt Lake had a chance when Ryan Budde stepped to the plate. Howard Kendrick had already scored with the help of a sacrifice fly by Terry Evans. Down by three runs, Brandon Wood and Bobby Wilson were on base. But Fresno closer Geno Espineli struck out Budde to preserve the win.

"We'll come out of [this slump]," Mitchell said. "It's just a matter of when. We just hope it's sooner rather than later."

mthach@sltrib.com

Pioneer League

Owlz 6, Raptors 4 » At Orem, the home team rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning for the win. Raddy Sierra hit a two-run homer in the win.