Salt Lake Bees fans and fireworks enthusiasts had to wait out a 29-minute delay Monday due to a power surge at Smith's Ballpark. The home team, set for a late-night flight out of Utah to Memphis, left on a losing note as Albuquerque took an 8-4 victory to close a four-game Pacific Coast League series.
Several units in each of the stadium's light banks went out and then all of the standards were shut down and restarted in the top of the eighth. By that time, in front of 13,177 fans, the Bees had already had their own power problems.
The Isotopes, behind the pitching of starter Matt Flemer, scored single runs in the second, third and fifth innings — and two more in the seventh — to build a four-run advantage. Salt Lake then loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the seventh but was unable to tally a run in that frame.
Turning Point • A deficit of two doubled in the Albuquerque seventh when Dustin Garneau popped a homer to left and Cristhian Adames followed with a double. Adames eventually scored on a Raimel Tapia single up the middle for a 5-1 lead for the visitors.
Bees MVP • Salt Lake catcher Carlos Perez roped a ball just inside the left-field line, getting a double to lead off the second. It was the Bees' only hit over the first five innings and Perez ultimately got a second two-bagger in the eighth. As for Perez's defensive ability ...
Flashing Leather • Perez threw out four Isotopes runners through the course of the ball game. It started when he threw behind Albuquerque's Noel Cuevas in the third, picking him off at second base. Perez then threw out consecutive runners in the fourth and tossed out Ryan McMahon trying to steal second in the sixth.
Hidden Hero • Jefrey Marte hit a pair of run-scoring doubles. His two-bagger in the sixth scored Salt Lake's first run to make the score 3-1. Marte's double in the ninth scored both Rey Navarro and David Fletcher, but the Bees were down by six runs at that juncture.
Angel Angle • Don't be surprised to see infielder Kaleb Cowart show up soon in a Los Angeles uniform. Cowart left in the seventh inning of Sunday's game, without injury, and did not play on Monday. Lack of productivity also is not an issue. Cowart's 3-for-4 day at the plate Sunday capped a three-game stretch where he was 9 for 12 overall with six RBIs — including a grand slam in the opener of the Albuquerque series and a walk-off homer in the second game.
What's next • It's a Tennessee two-step road trip for the Bees as Salt Lake plays the opener of a four-game set with Memphis on Tuesday, with Daniel Wright (4-6, 7.60) set to start for Salt Lake and Luke Weaver (9-1, 1.91) going for the Redbirds. Later in the week, the Bees head to Nashville for another four-game series.