This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Keith Johnson emphatically denied any panic on the part of the Salt Lake Bees.
Paul McAnulty spoke of the need to "grind through it," and talked about staying true to the length of a baseball season, one that will present as many downs as ups.
Still, it's hard to not be a little concerned with the Bees, as they are mired in what could be their worst slump of the season.
Salt Lake suffered a lopsided 9-0 defeat to the Las Vegas 51s on Saturday night at Spring Mobile Ballpark, a loss in which the Bees generated four hits, never threatened to score and generally looked disheveled. It's the fourth consecutive loss for Salt Lake, with each one becoming more and more difficult to take.
And Saturday marked the crescendo of those defeats.
"The good thing is that we don't have time to feel sorry for ourselves," Johnson said. "The games don't stop coming in baseball. We have a game tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. So we will have plenty of time to get things in order."
Against the 51s, Salt Lake fell victim to a great performance by Scott Richmond, who moved his personal record to 4-3, went eight mostly spectacular innings, struck out four and allowed just three hits.
Richmond kept the Bees off-balance at the plate. He spotted his pitches perfectly, and as a result, Salt Lake didn't have a single baserunner from the second inning through the ninth.
"He was good, and we ran into a hot pitcher," McAnulty said. "Those things happen. A lot of balls, I thought we hit right on the nose. But their centerfielder made some great plays to take those away. We're right there, this is something that we just have to get through. Even with the four losses, we're still just a game out of first place, so it's definitely not time to panic at all."
Las Vegas scored in the first, came in with three in the fourth inning and scored five times in its final two at-bats. Anthony Gose went 2-of-4, scored a pair of runs, and recorded six put-outs in centerfield, many of them coming on acrobatic catches. Chris Woodward came up with three hits for the 51s, and Las Vegas pounded out 15 hits in total.
"The guys are playing hard," Johnson said. "This is just one of those stretches you have to find a way to work through. It's a long season, so we will have plenty of more chances."
Storylines Bees get shut out
R The Bees surrender 15 hits.
• Salt Lake starter Eric Hurley drops to 4-4 on the season.
• The Bees lose their fourth consecutive game. —
Bees schedule
P Sunday, vs. Las Vegas, 1:05 p.m.
• Monday, vs. Las Vegas, 6:35 p.m.