Bees Bounce Back with Explosive Victory Over Rainiers

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Salt Lake Bees

Bees Bounce Back with Explosive Victory Over Rainiers

August 3, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


The Salt Lake Bees bounced back on Friday night after having their 12-game winning streak snapped the night before, taking home the victory over the Tacoma Rainiers in the fourth game of their series by a final score of 11-6.

After rallying for four runs in the final two innings of Thursday's game to nearly complete an improbable comeback, the Bees kept that momentum rolling into Friday, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the opening frame on the strength of two home runs. The first of these was hit by Keston Hiura, who celebrated his 28th birthday by continuing his red-hot return to Salt Lake and crushing his third longball of the week. The next one came off the bat of the newly acquired Matthew Lugo, who began his Bees career by taking the very first pitch that he saw and crushing it 404 feet out to left-center field for a three-run shot to give his new team a commanding early advantage.

The Rainiers did manage to chip away at this lead, scoring three combined runs between the second and third innings off of Salt Lake starter Johnny Cueto to make it a one-run game, but the Bees answered this run with an even bigger one of their own in the middle innings to put the game out of reach. The team notched a pair in the fifth on an RBI single by Niko Kavadas in his second game since being acquired on Tuesday and a wild pitch, and then they doubled that up one frame later on an RBI groundout by Jack López and another home run by Hiura, this one a three-run bomb to make it 16 dingers in 23 games since joining the Bees on June 11. To cap things off, Charles Leblanc joined in on the homer party in the seventh, smashing the fourth of the day for Salt Lake to make it 11 runs for the visitors on the evening.

On the individual side, the Bees were led by Hiura, who went 2-for-4 at the plate with the pair of home runs and four RBI. Behind him, the newcomers also managed to show out, with Kavadas going 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI and Lugo notching a home run, a double and three RBI in his five at-bats. In total, all nine Salt Lake hitters reached base at least one time, and eight of the nine recorded at least one knock. In the multi-hit category, Hiura, Kavadas and Lugo were joined by López, who went 2-for-6 with a double and an RBI out of the leadoff spot.

The Bees will now try to earn a series victory over the Rainiers in the fifth game of the set on Saturday, with Zach Plesac set to get the start for Salt Lake opposite Tacoma's Michael Mariot for first pitch at 7:05 p.m.

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