This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake Bees manager Keith Johnson sat on the sofa in his clubhouse and put his hands behind his head. He looked relaxed. He let out a smile and calmly explained how the many explosive bats in his lineup lend to scoring a lot of runs.
This is what can happen when you dominate offensively.
For the second consecutive night, the Bees were lethal at the plate, defeating Sacramento 13-4 at Smith's Field on Friday night. And for as impressive as Salt Lake was in Thursday night's win, the Bees were arguably better in the second game of their opening series of the season.
Salt Lake once trailed 4-0. The Bees then scored 13 straight. Salt Lake looked as if it would struggle for nine innings. Instead, the Bees broke out against the River Cats and ran away with their second straight win.
"We have a lot of bats in the lineup," Salt Lake center fielder Matt Long said. "We have a lot of guys that can hit the ball. We got good at bats, we hit in scoring position and we hit with runners on base. We made their pitchers work and we were just patient at the plate."
In blowing past Sacramento, the Bees scored four runs each in the fifth and sixth innings. They scored three in the bottom of the eighth inning and scored twice in the third. Salt Lake came up with 13 hits, and defensively didn't commit an error.
The Bees were versatile as well. Long and Brennan Boesch each knocked in multiple runs with triples. Former Utah star C.J. Cron cleared the bases with a double, scoring three runs. Salt Lake went 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position, and the Bees were aggressive on the base paths in stealing twice.
Salt Lake starter Jo Alvarez didn't have his best stuff, but lasted 4 2⁄3 and didn't surrender a run after the first two innings.
That was big — Alvarez lasting into the fifth inning. It prevented Johnson from having to dip deep into his bullpen.
"He showed a lot of guts out there tonight," Johnson said. "He battled and he was competitive. We have two more games remaining in the series, and we didn't want our bullpen to be stretched out on Saturday and Sunday."
The Bees move to 2-0 on the young season, and have scored a combined 21 runs in doing so. Grant Green and Roberto Lopez each went 3-for-4 against the River Cats and scored two runs.
Twitter: @tjonessltrib —
Bees 13, River Cats 4
O The Bees move to 2-0 on the season.
• After trailing 4-0, Salt Lake scores 13 consecutive runs.
• Former Utah star C.J. Cron has three RBIs on the night.