Kyle McGowin
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (June 16, 2016) – The Bees dropped a slugfest in the series finale to the Tacoma Rainiers by a score of 12-7. In a game that totaled 30 hits and 19 runs, Tacoma’s two four-run innings were enough to clinch the victory. After going one and seven against the Rainiers in the Pacific Northwest, the Bees rallied at home to split the series at two games apiece. The two teams will meet again July 22-25 in Salt Lake City.
“This is one of the best group around that I have seen at this level in a long time,” said acting manager Ty Boykin of the Bees roster. Boykin is stepping in as manager for the remainder of the Bees homestand as everyday Salt Lake skipper Keith Johnson is away from the team.
Kyle McGowin (3-3) took the loss this afternoon after allowing seven earned runs on nine hits over four and a third innings. Offensively, Juan Graterol, Ryan Jackson, Sherman Johnson and Ji-Man Choi turned in multi-hit games for the Bees and combined for five of the seven RBI’s. The Bees offense attempted a comeback trailing 4-0 in the fourth by scoring two runs in the bottom of the inning, but the Rainiers responded with another four runs in the fifth to make it 8-2. The gap was closed to 8-4 as the two teams entered the seventh, but again Tacoma was able to pull away with a four run inning. Salt Lake would get another three runs in the bottom half of the seventh, but couldn’t close the game in the final two frames. The Bees will stay in town to take on the Las Vegas 51’s tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. to begin a four-game series, the first series of the year against the division rivals.