Salt Lake Bees swing back to winning streak

It's safe to say the Salt Lake Bees, after a rough stretch where runs were hard to come by, have regained their offensive swagger.

For the second game in a row, the Bees roughed up Tacoma Rainiers pitchers on Wednesday night at Franklin Covey Field, this time winning 9-5.

That's coming on the heels of Tuesday's game when the Bees scored 20 runs.

"We went through a little down period a little bit against some tough pitching," said Bees designated hitter Dee Brown. "We got shutout the other day against Tucson, but that's just baseball. We come out a couple of days later and scored 20 runs."

Brown led the way on Wednesday night with four RBIs. He had a pair of doubles along with two sacrifice flies. He wasn't the only Bee to have a solid offensive night, however. Eight of Salt Lake's nine hitters had at least one base hit. Second baseman Sean Rodriguez and third baseman Freddy Sandoval continued their recent torrid pace with five hits between them. Matt Brown, a Triple-A All-Star, was the only hitless Bee, but even he got on base with a walk.

"We're starting to swing the bat better," said Bees manager Bobby Mitchell. "We're getting more confidence swinging the bat, which is good and both Rodriguez and Sandoval are hot."

Rodriguez, who tied a franchise record with eight RBIs on Tuesday night, went 2-for-4 with three runs scored. He's now hitting .339 over the last 14 games. Sandoval, meanwhile, went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. He's hitting .386 the past two weeks.

In addition, the Bees got home runs from the seventh and ninth hitters in their lineup, Adam Pavkovich and Jordan Czarniecki, respectively. In all, the Bees finished with 13 hits.

Salt Lake improved to 56-36 with the victory, while Tacoma fell to 45-48.

Dustin Moseley (5-5) earned the victory for the Bees, giving up three runs on six hits in five innings. Chris Bootcheck, the all-time leader in wins for Salt Lake, made his first appearance of the season for the Bees after being demoted by the parent Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Monday. He pitched one inning of relief, giving up one run.

"Moseley battled through,' said Mitchell. "He tired a little at the end, but he got through that (fifth) inning. ... (Bootcheck) threw well. His command was good, for the most part. He was a little rusty (after coming of the disabled list), but for his first night he pitched well."

Salt Lake jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and never trailed, although the Rainiers hit two homers in the third to cut into the lead. It was the Bees' third straight victory in the series.

The Bees will go for a four-game sweep tonight. Salt Lake is scheduled to start Nick Green (4-4, 5.01 ERA) against Tacoma's Andy Baldwin (6-4, 5.11 ERA).

BEELINES: Pavkovich led off the Bees half of the fifth with a homer, the ninth time this season he's led off an inning with a home run. He currently has the most leadoff homers in the PCL. Pavkovich now has 17 total homers this season, second on the team behind Matt Brown's 18. ... Brown, who will represent the Bees in next week's Triple-A All-Star game in Louisville, will also take part in the Home Run Derby, it was announced Tuesday. ... Attendance on Wednesday night was 6,379.

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