SALT LAKE CITY — In the bottom of the seventh inning Sunday afternoon at Smith’s Ballpark, Salt Lake Bees infielder Sherman Johnson recorded an RBI single, scoring teammate Eric Young Jr.
That gave the Bees an 8-7 lead, one they seemed all but assured of defending.
Rather than being the game-winning run, the score would be the last the Bees plated in the game, which came back to haunt them.
Led by Austin Dean, Eric Campbell and Scott Van Slyke, who each had at least an RBI (Dean finished with three runs batted in, while Van Slyke had two) the visiting New Orleans Baby Cakes scored four late-inning runs, one in the top of the ninth to tie the game and three more in the top of the 10th to defeat the Bees 11-8.
Bees reliever Akeel Morris, who earned a blown save, was largely responsible for the collapse, as he gave up three runs in one and a third innings pitched.
THE 100: Thanks to a pair of Jabari Blash blasts, as well one by Rymer Liriano, the Bees have officially hit the 100 homer mark for the season, becoming the first minor league franchise this season to do so. Blash has and continues to lead the way with 18 homers, while Liriano is second with 13.
This year's Bees are now just two homers behind the season total for 2017 and more than 30 ahead of the total for the 2016 season.
PROSPECT WATCH: The Bees currently boast five Los Angeles Angels prospects who rate among the 20 best prospects in the organization, per Minor League Ball, including David Fletcher, Matt Thaiss, Taylor Ward, Jaime Barria and Osmer Morales.
Barria and Morales were off Sunday — the pitching duo combined for seven strong innings Thursday night against the Round Rock Express — but Fletcher, Thaiss and Ward were each in the lineup.
The trio went a combined 6 for 15 at the plate, scoring two of the Bees' runs.
Ward was the standout as he recorded three hits, including a double, and scored twice.
The Dayton, Ohio, native is batting .364 and has 12 hits, eight RBIs, a homer and three doubles in eight games played with Salt Lake.
“Changing positions and being in Triple-A already, the game is a little fast for him, but he is starting to swing the bat a little better, get some better passes up there and is doing a really good job controlling the strike zone,” Bees manager Keith Johnson said. “Taylor had an injury before he got here that kind of set him back a little bit, but he has all the ability to make a quick transition to Triple-A.”
Such a transition is understandable, if not altogether expected.
“He was a first-round draft pick for a reason,” Johnson said. “You need a few breaks to go your way, to build up a few at-bats, so it’s a little too early to make an assessment on that just yet, but I see no reason why he can’t be a contributor for us going forward.”
FOUNDING FATHER: After 55 days on the disabled list, thanks to a left foot fracture, Bees outfielder Ben Revere made his return to the lineup. The major league veteran — Revere has appeared in 857 games in the majors, including 419 in the American League and 438 in the National League — understandably struggled in his first action in almost two months, going 1 for 5 at the plate.
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BEELINES
****Baby Cakes —**** 11
Bees — 8
In short: Bees reliever Akeel Morris gave up three runs in the top of the 10th and Salt Lake failed to plate a run in the final three innings of the game.
Record: 38-26
Up next: New Orleans RHP Tyler Cloyd (0-1, 6.55) at Salt Lake LHP Jose Suarez (0-2, 4.85), Monday, 7:05 p.m.