OGDEN — A slow start doomed the Raptors again Wednesday as they fell to the Idaho Falls Chukars for the second night in a row by a score of 5-3.
The Chukars took a five-run lead and held on to stay in first place in the Pioneer League South Division.
The night before, Idaho Falls took a 6-1 lead after four innings.
"We seem to get off to slow starts, chip away, come close and fall short," Raptors manager Lance Parrish said.
He said if his team could play good defense, then it wouldn't find itself playing from behind so often.
"We've made so many errors it's almost a crime," Parrish said.
Ogden starter Jesus Castillo came into the game leading the league in ERA, but was out-dueled by Idaho Falls starter Tyler Chambliss.
Castillo lasted only three innings and gave up three runs on five hits while walking four batters. Chambliss also gave up three runs on five hits, but did it over six innings.
Castillo retired the first two batters in the first inning, but then allowed the next five Chukars to reach base.
"Jesus kind of lost his concentration," Parrish said. "He thought the umpire was squeezing (the strike zone) and it caught up to him."
Parrish said Castillo is also frustrated because even though he had been pitching so well, his record was 0-2 going into Wednesday's game.
"It doesn't matter what his record is," he said. "If he pitches well, people will notice."
With two men on base with no outs in the eighth, the Raptors had a chance to tie the game or even take the lead. But Ogden squandered the opportunity when the next three batters struck out.
The Raptors didn't get on the scoreboard until the fifth. Josh Bell and Tommy Giles led off the inning with a single and a double and then both of them scored when the Chukar second baseman mishandled a ground ball from Justin Fuller, cutting the Ogden deficit to 5-2.
Ryan Rogowski scored on a Jesus Soto groundout in the sixth to give the Raptors their third run.
Idaho Falls built its five-run lead over the first five innings. Leading 2-0 in the third inning, Joe Dickerson scored from second on a throwing error by the Raptor second baseman, making the score 3-0.
Then in the fifth, Idaho Falls' Kurt Mertins and Brett Bigler each hit RBI singles to make the score 5-0.
Also on Wednesday, Juan Rivera and Joe Jones were called up to the AA Columbus Catfish. Parrish said the Raptors will get two new players Thursday, named Javy Guerra and Carlos Santana.
E-mail: bhinton@desnews.com