This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

El Paso scored six runs in the first inning, five of them unearned as Salt Lake committed two errors, and the Chihuahuas downed the Bees 9-5 on Friday night. After Kaleb Cowart homered to center in the top of the first to put Salt Lake in front, the Bees defense fell apart in the bottom of the first. Franchy Cordero reached on an infield single. A fielding error by second baseman Rey Navarro and a throwing error by pitcher Luis Diaz loaded the bases with no outs. Ryan Schimpf and Jabari Blash followed with RBI singles and after a sacrifice fly by former Bee Nick Buss, Diego Goris belted a three-run homer to cap off the inning.

Diaz (3-6) took the loss, going five innings and allowing seven runs, two earned, on nine hits with five strikeouts and no walks. Jefry Marte hit a two-run homer in the eighth to pull Salt Lake to within four, but that was as close as they would get. Cowart led the Bees with two hits and one run batted in. His first-inning home run gave Cowart a homer in each of his last three games. Ramon Flores would deliver an RBI single in the ninth inning to extend his hitting streak to a Bees season-high 16 games, while Shane Robinson doubled in the ninth to stretch his hitting streak to nine games. With the loss and Albuquerque's 6-4 win over Las Vegas, the Bees now lead the Pacific Southern Division by 51/2 games over the Isotopes and seven games over the Chihuahuas.