Harmon Killebrew was probably proud of the offensive output the Salt Lake Buzz and Vancouver Canadians displayed Friday night at Franklin Quest Field.
The Hall of Famer and former Minnesota Twins slugger tossed out the first pitch of Friday night's game between the Buzz and Canadians and the two teams spent plenty of time circling the bases, just as Killebrew did during his 22-year, 573-home run major league career.The Buzz scored 17 runs (tying the mark for the most this season) and banged out 19 hits (tops in 1997), including four home runs (the most hit by the Buzz at home this year) and five doubles.
In the end, they trounced the Canadians 17-6 before 8,541 fans. Vancouver, meanwhile, had two homers, two doubles and a triple of their own.
What was manager Phil Roof's explanation for his team's onslaught? The favorable counts faced by Buzz batters, who constantly watched Canadian pitchers (there were six in all) fall behind early in the count by throwing balls instead of strikes. "We took advantage of that tonight," said Roof.
The Buzz inflicted much of the damage in the first inning, scoring six runs all without the benefit of the long ball. They added three more runs in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, and five more in the eighth thanks to home runs.
They wasted little time in jumping all over the Canadians.
Vancouver starter Geoff Edsell surrendered six hits (including three straight doubles) to the first seven batters he faced.
Salt Lake's early explosion was ignited by Buzz outfielder Brent Brede, who belted a one-out, two-RBI double to score Chris Latham and Mitch Simons to give Salt Lake a 3-0 lead. Damian Miller doubled home Brede and Jon Shave duplicated that feat by doubling home Miller.
All told, Edsell threw just two-thirds of an inning and faced eight hitters before getting yanked.
Later, the game resembled a home-run hitting contest. It started when Jeff Ferguson greeted reliever Pete Janicki with a two-run home run to cap a a three-run fifth inning. One frame later, Miller drilled a three-run shot.
The most impressive homer of the evening came off the bat of Vancouver outfielder Michael Wolff, who drilled a prodigious blast that cleared the concession stand in left field in the eighth inning.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Buzz responded with home runs by Shave and shortstop Kevin Baez.
The Buzz entered the game just percentage points behind Vancouver in the Northern Division race. With the win, Salt Lake improved to 13-9 to capture sole possession of second place. The Canadians dropped to 11-9.
The win also gave the Buzz an overall record of 49-49 - the first time they have been at .500 since May 11.
Salt Lake starter Travis Miller improved to 9-5, pitching seven complete innings, giving up just two earned runs. "He came through for us in those seven innings," said Roof. "That's the effort we're looking for in him."
Brede continued his torrid hitting, going 4-for-5 with two RBI. Miller collected three hits with four RBI and Baez added three hits and three RBI.