While reeling off eight straight wins, the Salt Lake Stingers pitched, hit and defended well.
The combination fueled the second-longest victory streak in team history and allowed Salt Lake to recover from the worst start in the 10-year history of the franchise.
After climbing to within one win of .500, though, success proved fleeting. Sunday at Franklin Covey Field, the Stingers suffered a setback — their worst of the season. They struggled on the mound, at the plate and on the field in a 16-2 loss to New Orleans.
"We just didn't play well today. That's it," Salt Lake manager Mike Brumley said. "We just flat out took a whipping today."
Outfielder Gary Johnson took it a step further.
"We got a butt-whuppin' — an old-fashioned one actually," he said after the Stingers (23-25) were outhit 18-4 and gave up seven doubles. Two errors and 13 earned runs also added up unfavorably.
New Orleans built a 6-0 lead before Salt Lake scored its first run on an RBI single by Trent Durrington in the fifth inning. The visiting Zephyrs pulled comfortably ahead in the third by capitalizing on a pair of miscues and putting four runs on the board.
Henri Stanley's two-run double provided the decisive blow and was sandwiched between RBI drives by Kyle Logan and Raul Chavez. Two more runs crossed in the fourth when Eric Bruntlett singled.
Leading 6-1 after the Stingers initial score, Logan added an RBI single in the sixth to increase the deficit before Barry Wesson's sacrifice fly capped all of Salt Lake's scoring in the bottom of the frame.
By game's end, however, New Orleans got more offensive. Royce Huffman, Jason Alfaro, Colin Porter and Chavez teamed to knock in nine more runs over the seventh and eighth to ensure the Stingers would not continue their march toward the three-year-old team record of 10 straight wins.
Starter Matt Hensley dropped to 3-3 with the loss. He gave up eight hits and seven runs (four earned) in six innings. Relievers Derrick Turnbow and Elio Serrano each struggled through one-inning appearances. Serrano surrendered five earned runs and Turnbow gave up four. Rodrigo Rodriguez was the winner for New Orleans. He was followed by four innings of scoreless relief from Rob Stanifer and Bob Scanlan.
"We just hit the wall and were flat today," Brumley said. "The key will be tomorrow and how we'll bounce back."
BEE LINES: The series concludes tonight at 6:30. Salt Lake RHP John Snyder (3-1, 4.30 ERA) and New Orleans LHP Ron Villone (1-1, 3.07 ERA) are the scheduled starters . . . Taylorsville product John Buck, who is the Zephyrs' starting catcher, had the day off . . . The Stingers open an eight-game road trip Tuesday in Las Vegas . . . Attendance was 5,120.