The Salt Lake Bees salvaged a split of their four-game series against the Reno Aces, the team with the best record in the Pacific Coast League, and the Bees (37-31) also clinched a winning homestand with a 13-5 rout of Reno (42-26) on Friday night in front of an announced 8,249 at Smith's Ballpark. The Bees went 6-5 in the 11-game stretch at home.
Each member of the Bees lineup had at least one hit, while seven players had multi-hit games. Kaleb Cowart and Tony Sanchez each hit home runs for the Bees, and Sanchez and Rey Navarro drove in four runs apiece. Dustin Ackley registered two hits and three RBIs.
Turning Point • The Bees responded after Fister, who had been cruising, gave up a four-run top of the fifth with four runs in the bottom half. They started the bottom half of the inning with three consecutive hits, the third being a two-run double off the top of the wall in left-center field. Sanchez added a two-run homer later in the inning.
Bees MVP • Sanchez went 2 for 4 with a walk, his first home run of the season, four RBIs and a run scored. After batting just .167 in April, he batted .300 in May and .333 in June coming into Friday night. He went 9 for 19 during the homestand.
Quoteworthy • "I was terrible the first two months of the season, but that's baseball," Sanchez said. "Hitting is hard. I just stuck with it, you know, stayed in the cage, worked. I made a couple adjustments that have allowed me to get to a some more pitches that I was missing earlier in the season, and it's paying off for me."
Angle Angle • Fister dominated through the first four innings of his start. He faced one more than the minimum during that stretch and Reno didn't hit a ball in play out of the infield. However, he gave up four runs in the fifth and another in the sixth without recording an out. He left with two men on in the sixth. Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Huston Street joined the Bees as part of a rehab assignment on Friday. He worked a scoreless inning of relief.
History lesson • The Bees celebrated Frank Layden Night on Friday. They gave out 2,000 bobblehead dolls in his likeness. Layden, the former Utah Jazz coach and longtime member of the team's front office, also threw out a ceremonial first pitch prior to the game. Layden won 277 games in as the coach of the Jazz from the 1981-82 season through the early part of the 1988-89 season.
Next • The Bees will head on the road for their next eight games. They'll start in Tacoma on Saturday night at 8:05 p.m (MDT), where Seattle Mariners ace and former Cy Young Award winner Felix Hernandez is scheduled to make a rehab start.