The pressure was on the Salt Lake Buzz Saturday night.
They couldn't have asked for a better winning scenario; the June death march of 11-17 and a five-game slide ended with a victory July 1 at Calgary; they were hosting the cellar-dwelling Vancouver Canadians (27-52), a team struggling worse than them; and they were expecting a sellout crowd for the Independence Day fireworks.All they had to do was win - and they did, 7-6, at Franklin Quest Field.
"When you get a crowd like tonight you've got to win," Salt Lake manager Phil Roof said. "It wasn't pretty, but the way we're going we'll take it."
Brian Buchanan went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs, and Corey Koskie had a pair of hits and an RBI to lead the Buzz to their second straight victory.
Salt Lake took the early 1-0 lead on Buchanan's solo homer in the second inning, only to lose it in the top of the third when Bret Hemphill solo homered and Steve Scarscone singled in a another run to give the struggling Canadians the 2-1 lead.
Salt Lake, a cellar dweller itself at 37-40, took advantage of two wild pitches by Vancouver starter Trevor Wilson and two fielding errors to score three runs in the bottom of the third.
Salt Lake's David Ortiz did have an RBI single in the inning.
After the Canadians tied the score at 4-all, the Buzz, on another and RBI double by Koskie and another wild pitch, led by two at 6-4. The Canadians fought back again and tied the score at 6-6 in the top of the seventh on a Jason Herrick RBI single and a Salt Lake error.
The Buzz had a chance to break the game open in the seventh as they loaded the bases with one out. With one run already across on a Buchanan RBI single, Marc Lewis flew out and Mike Moriarty struck out to end the potential rally.
The Canadians, however, had a pair of runners on, but a strikeout-throw out double play ended their threat.
Carlos Garcia was a sparkling 4-for-5 with two RBIs to lead Vancouver.
The two clubs continue the series today with a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. at Franklin Quest Field. Lefty Benj Sampson (4-4, 6.19) battles former Buzz lefty Rich Robertson (6-7, 3.58) in the opener, and righties Doug Linton (0-1, 10.57) battles Mike Butcher (1-2, 4.85).
BEE LINES: Saturday's attendance of 15,898 is Salt Lake's second largest . . . Esteban Beltre is 0-for-his last 12, counting an 0-9 on the just completed road trip . . . Of the 17 strikeouts Saturday, 15 of them were called strikes.