On the verge of dropping below .500 for the first time all season, the Salt Lake Stingers responded Tuesday night.
In the first game of an eight-game homestand, the Stinger offense came alive and the pitchers hung tough in an 8-5 victory over Albuquerque before a small crowd at Franklin Covey Field. The Stingers improved to 16-15 on the season, while the Isotopes dropped to 17-16.
"They gave a great effort tonight," Stingers manager Mike Brumley said. "We got some key hits from some guys who were off to slow starts."
Except for the fourth inning, when Albuquerque erupted for four runs, the Stinger pitchers shut down the Isotopes. Mike Brunet, who came up from Arkansas late last month, picked up his first triple-A victory, and three Salt Lake relievers kept the Istopes at bay.
"It felt good except for that rocky inning," Brunet said. "The team came out and picked up some runs, and it turned out to be a W, which is what we needed."
A two-run homer by Brian Gordon put the Stingers up 2-0 in the second, before the Isotopes took the lead with four runs in the top of the fourth. Albuquerque's Larry Sutton, who was named Batter of the Week in the Pacific Coast League, cleared the bases with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly.
However in the bottom of the inning, the Stingers answered with four runs of their own as Gordon knocked in another run, and then Barry Wesson doubled home two runs. Billy Boyer got his first RBI as a Stinger with a sacrifice fly to right to make it 6-4.
In the seventh, the Isotopes threatened with two singles to open the inning. But first baseman Alex Pelaez made a terrific play on an attempted sacrifice bunt by Wilson Valdez, scooping the ball up and throwing out Chris Aguila at the plate.
"That was huge. You don't see any plays better than that one," Brumley said. "It was a big pickup for that inning."
Joel Peralta struck out the side in the eighth, and Matt Hensley pitched the ninth and gave up a run. Wesson, the center fielder, made a great over-the-shoulder catch in the ninth to prevent a rally.
GAME NOTES: The series continues today at 6:30 p.m. with Salt Lake's Jason Middlebrook (2-1) scheduled to pitch against Albuquerque's Kevin Olsen (1-3) . . . Attendance was a franchise-low 2,809 . . . Two Stinger players made their Franklin Covey debuts Tuesday night. Casey Smith was called up from Arkansas earlier in the day and started at shortstop and went 0 for 4. Boyer, who started at second base, was added to the roster last week from extended spring training with no professional experience above rookie level . . . Pitcher Steve Andrade was put on the disabled list Tuesday . . . Last year after 31 games, the Stingers were 12-19.
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