Salt Lake Bees: Bees double up Isotopes
Pitching, rather than overpowering hitting, carried the day as three Salt Lake pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts and allowed just four hits.
Pitcher Kasey Olenberger gave up four hits and two runs while striking out seven on an efficient 101-pitch count in 7 2/3 innings, while setup man Henry Bonilla and closer Jose Arredondo slammed the door on the Isotopes' chances of a comeback.
"This was the best outing I've had so far," said Olenberger, who had previously allowed 15 hits in 20 innings. "I mixed my pitches well, and I really felt comfortable out there tonight."
Olenberger allowed his first hit in the sixth and walked only two in the eighth.
Catcher Ryan Budde started things off for the Bees in the bottom of the third inning with a line drive that bounced off the right-field wall for a triple. Shortstop Gary Patchett then drove in Budde on a sacrifice to put Salt Lake on the board.
Timely hitting gave Olenberger much-needed run support. In the fourth, second baseman Adam Pavkovich hit a solo homer deep to left to extend the lead to 2-0.
Albuquerque tried to make a run at the Bees in the seventh, but it was too little too late. Right-fielder Andrew Beattie hit a solo home run and former Bee Dallas McPherson slammed one straight over the center-field screen to make things interesting at 4-2.
It didn't matter to Mitchell that Olenberger struggled a little and left him there for the rest of the inning. Olenberger struck out one more batter before being pulled in the eighth after his first two walks of the game.
"You can't take a kid out of that kind of situation," Mitchell said. "You've got to let him learn how to get himself out of jam if he's going to make it to the majors, and Kasey did fine out there."
Bonilla as the set-up man ended the eighth with a strikeout, and Arredondo as the closer stuck out the side in the ninth with a big helping of sliders, including one clocked at 94 mph, to put an exclamation point on the victory.
E-mail: nnewman@desnews.com
Recent comments
Nick Newman is a great writer! I was unable to see the game but this...
Debbie | May 10, 2008 at 11:43 a.m.
Very solid article. I was unable to tune into the bees game, bu I...
Brady | May 10, 2008 at 10:03 a.m.
