Buzz 6, Spikes 1
Early and often. So describes Salt Lake's scoring in its series with Omaha.For the third consecutive night, the Buzz made quick work of the league-leading Golden Spikes. Wednesday's 6-1 victory at Franklin Covey Field extended Salt Lake's winning streak to six games. It also added four runs to a lopsided statistic. Over three meetings, Salt Lake has outscored Omaha 17-2 in the first two innings.
"It's huge when you get a three or four run lead after two innings. It's a lot easier for a pitcher," said Buzz starter Rob Radlosky, who improved to 6-2 after allowing two hits over seven innings. "We're swinging the bat well and the pitching has been excellent, too."
The latest early scoring outburst featured a run on an error in the first and RBI singles by Midre Cummings and Eddie Williams in the second.
Cummings drove in one run, while Williams brought home two as Salt Lake built a 4-0 advantage.
The Buzz lead swelled to five runs when Cummings tripled in another score with two outs in the fourth. Salt Lake made it 6-0 an inning later when Brian Richardson added an RBI single. It was more than enough to support Radlosky. The right-hander took a one-hitter into the sixth inning. That's when Omaha got its second hit and scored its lone run. Jeremy Carr tripled and eventually scored on a groundout to end a string of seven scoreless innings by the Golden Spikes.
Credit Buzz pitching. After languishing near the bottom of the PCL in terms of team ERA, Salt Lake's staff has moved upward during a current run of 10 consecutive non-losing series. The Buzz entered Wednesday's game with a combined ERA of 4.86.
"We're opening up the games with scoring and the pitchers have been doing their jobs," said Buzz manager Phil Roof. "How about Radlosky tonight.
That's some of the best offspeed pitching I've seen in a while."
Salt Lake received additional good news when Fresno lost at Iowa. At 51-43 overall, the Buzz now lead the PCL South Division by three games.
Though pleased, Roof isn't getting too excited. After all, he explains, there's still 48 games left to play. His hope is that the Buzz will simply maintain their focus and continue to play aggressive.
"It's a nice run, but we're not looking ahead to Sept. 6. They are focused in," said Roof. "The way the boys are playing I expect this to keep going on."
The series finale is Thursday at 7 p.m. Salt Lake LHP Gary Rath (3-4, 3.51 ERA) and Omaha LHP Glendon Rusch (2-6, 4.39 ERA) are the scheduled starters.
BEE LINES: The attendance was 6,925 . . . LHP Mark Redman (8-6, 4.38 ERA) has been called up to the parent Minnesota Twins . . . Infielder Jeff Ferguson, who broke his nose when struck by a pitch Monday, was placed on the disabled list. He'll be replaced on the Buzz roster by utilityman Steve Huls of Class AA New Britain . . . Twins RHP Mike Lincoln will be activated Thursday. He joins Salt Lake after going 3-10 with a 6.84 ERA at Minnesota.