The Albuquerque Isotopes enjoyed their recent visit to Salt Lake City so much they decided to prolongue their stay Friday night.
And who can blame them?
Franklin Covey Field — not to mention Stingers' pitching — was quite accommodating to the visitors.
During their four days in Utah, the Isotopes belted out 58 hits, scored 42 runs and won three games, including an 11-10 extra-inning victory Friday.
Despite yet another offensive explosion by the Isotopes, the slumping Stingers seemed to have a rare notch in the win column secured late in this one.
But holding a one-run lead with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, Salt Lake couldn't wrap it up against Albuquerque's seventh and eighth batters. Albuquerque's Chris Aguila followed Chris Ashby's two-out single with a clutch double to tie the game.
Designated hitter Larry Sutton then belted a game-winning home run in the 10th to give the Isotopes their third consecutive win over the Stingers.
"They hurt us when we didn't make good pitches," said Stingers manager Mike Brumley.
Not to rub salt in the hurting Stingers' wounds, but that hurt happened quite often this series. On Friday night alone, Albuquerque racked up 18 hits. Six batters had multiple hits, including four for Aguila (a triple, two doubles and three RBIs) and three apiece for Ashby and Jason Wood.
Which is why Brumley isn't too disappointed the Isotopes were headed to the airport after the game.
"No question about it," he said. "They are really swinging the bats good. They have been the whole month." The thing that helped Brumley look at this loss — which dropped the Stingers record to 16-18 — was how they rallied to take the lead in the first place.
The Isotopes jumped out to a 9-3 lead midway through the contest before Salt Lake's bats came alive in the bottom of the fifth.
Brian Gordon started the six-run inning — matching the Isotopes' third-frame output — with an RBI single. Adam Riggs then knocked in his fourth run of the game followed by a two-run single by Gary Johnson and RBI at-bats for Derrick Gibson and Tom Gregario.
Gordon then gave the Stingers the 10-9 lead in the sixth with a solo shot.
"We went after that game to come back like that," Brumley said. "I thought it was a good, solid game. We played hard."
Aside from the ninth inning slip-up, the Stingers hurt their chances by freezing up at the plate in the final innings. After Gordon's homer, Salt Lake didn't have a hit until a wasted double by Jake Thrower in the 10th.
Salt Lake will host Colorado Springs in a four-game series beginning tonight at 6:30. The game will be preceded by a special ceremony at 6 p.m. to honor Jackie Robinson.
E-mail: jody@desnews.com