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In making a fabulous catch Monday night, Salt Lake's Tyson Auer plays tag with the right field wall and loses. He's hurt enough to miss the remainder of the game and the next one as well.
Down by 14 in the ninth, Reggie Willits and Cole Armstrong, still on their toes, take advantage of a Sacramento throwing error and score. There's no coming back from such a deficit, though, and the Bees eventually lose that game by 11, tying the largest margin of the season.
Trailing by three runs in the seventh Tuesday, the Bees (41-56), against type, rallied for a 5-3 victory against Sacramento (56-40) at Spring Mobile Ballpark.
"It's tough, especially from a fans perspective," Salt Lake manager Keith Johnson said. "Every opportunity we have to win we try to make the right moves to win. I guarantee you our guys are going out every night with the intent to win."
Despite the victory, Salt Lake has lost 9 of 11 and is anchored firmly in the PCL's Pacific Northern Division basement. Johnson stresses that his team continues to play with character and pride. But there are, he says, variables.
"There's a reason why our game is so hard," Johnson said. "There are so many variables. You can do everything perfectly, but there are so many variables."
Two of those variables are power and pitching. Coming into Tuesday, Salt Lake and Oklahoma City have hit the fewest home runs in the PCL (66), while the Bees and Iowa have given up the most (115).
These teams have last place in common. Salt Lake owns the league's best defense, but you can't catch homers. The Bees allow more runs than they score. It's a formula for losing.
To be sure, there have been individual successes. Andrew Romine and Alexi Amarista have played for the parent club L.A. Angels. First baseman Efren Navarro and third baseman Jeff Baisley have built a solid resume, even if not for the Angels.
"The lack of wins have been combination of things," said Johnson. "I still feel like we're going out there and competing."
Voyagers 9, Owlz 2 • In Great Falls, Mont., the Voyagers scored three runs in the third inning and four in the fourth against Orem while cranking out 14 hits in Pioneer League action Tuesday.
Raptors 13, Mustangs 5 • In Billings, Mont., Alexis Aguilar was 4-for-6 with six RBIs and a home run, and Charlie Mirabal went 4-for-6 with three RBIs for Ogden.
Salt Lake 5, Sacramento 3
R Salt Lake ties the score with a three-run homer by Paul McAnulty in the seventh inning.
• The Bees push two runs across in the eighth, one in a controversial umpire's call and another by a squeeze play.
• Salt Lake shortstop Andrew Romine's nifty glove work saves two possible runs.