By Michael Bingham
SALT LAKE CITY-Strong pitching and some timely hitting was key in helping the Stingers defeat the Albuquerque Isotopes 8-5 at Franklin Covey Field Tuesday night to avoid dipping below .500 for the first time this season.
“It was very important to score early,” right fielder Brian Gordon said. “We put ourselves in the mindset, ”We”re at .500, we”re starting at zero. We”re turning over a brand new leaf.””
The Stingers struck first in the second inning when Gordon hit a two-run home run deep over the left-field wall. With the Stingers struggling to produce runs and lacking in power, the Gordon home run came at the perfect moment.
Gordon, who has been mired in a season-long slump, broke out with three hits and three RBI.
“I really felt good tonight,” Gordon said. “In the last couple of series, I”ve felt something coming.”
Stingers starting pitcher Mike Brunet was cruising until the fourth when he had some control issues, walking one and surrendering three hits and four runs. The Stingers found themselves trailing 4-2.
“Bruno got a little wild there, but command-wise he was right around the plate,” head coach Mike Brumley said. “They”ve got some good, patient hitters and they”re going to make you throw some strikes.”
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Salt Lake answered with an offensive display of their own. After consecutive walks and an infield single by Wil Nieves, centerfielder Barry Wesson drove a 3-2 curveball into the left-field gap, scoring two. Wesson has been unstoppable with the bases loaded, batting an impressive 4-for-4 with nine RBI when the bases are juiced. Salt Lake scored four in the fourth to retake the lead 6-4.
“It was great to see our offense respond and take an early lead,” Brumley said. “We gave up a big inning, but we answered and that kept the momentum a little bit on our side.”
Although their offense came through with some timely hitting, Salt Lake”s pitching staff stepped up and dominated the Isotopes, striking out nine batters while allowing only one run in the final five innings. Stingers pitchers Brunet, Dusty Bergman, Joel Peralta and Matt Hensley combined for 11 strikeouts.
The Stingers began the year 11-2. Since then, they have been riddled by inconsistency, losing 13 of their last 17 contests. Their offense has been severely handicapped by its ability to score runs. During a doubleheader on Sunday against Tacoma, the Stingers were swept while managing only one run on five hits. Although these past few weeks have been grim, the Stingers aren”t prepared to panic just yet.
“You know it”s nice to be home,” Brumley said. “It seems like we”ve had to fight our way back to .500 even though we”ve been above it the whole time We just need to keep pushing and stay positive as a team and hope that the guys that have gotten off to a real slow start will start gelling. We have to go out there everyday and see what we”ve got inside.”
A franchise-low 2,804 were in attendance at the game.
