Salt Lake Bees beat Sacramento River Cats for sixth straight win

Not even a game-day call-up of the scheduled starting pitcher can derail the red-hot Salt Lake Bees these days.

Right-hander Billy Buckner was supposed to pitch Friday night's PCL game against Sacramento at Spring Mobile Ballpark.

Buckner was summoned by the parent Los Angeles Angels, however, and Bees manager Keith Johnson was forced to improvise.

It worked.

Tommy Field homered and five Salt Lake pitchers scattered six hits, leading the Bees to a 5-2 victory over the River Cats.

The win was Salt Lake's sixth straight and 12th in the past 15 games.

Asked about juggling his pitchers, Johnson shrugged and said, "It's just part of our thing here. But obviously our bullpen did a great job tonight, picking up those nine innings."

After the River Cats took a 1-0 lead in the first, the Bees countered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Andrew Romine led off with a walk and went to third on Matt Long's single. Kole Calhoun followed with an RBI single. Efren Navarro then walked before Long scored on a fielder's choice by Luis Rodriguez.

With one out, Field made it 3-1 with an RBI single, but Sacramento starter Sonny Gray avoided more damage by striking out Trent Oeltjen and Luke Carlin.

"Our hitters did a good job of putting up an early three-spot against a really good pitcher," Johnson said.

In the bottom of the fourth, Field led off with his second solo home in two nights to give Salt Lake a 4-1 lead.

"Right now I'm trying to keep it simple with a basic approach," Field said. "Stay inside the ball and let things come to me."

After Sacramento scored in the fifth to make it a two-run game, Romine walked with two out in the seventh. He scored from first on a hit-and-run single by Long, bumping Salt Lake's lead to 5-2.

"That's just a guy playing the right way," Johnson said. "... He was running hard and the guy wasn't being aggressive going after the ball so we rolled the dice and got a huge run. The credit there goes to Romine for running hard on the bases."

Owlz 14, Chukars 10 • Eric Aguilera hit a three-run homer in the first inning, and the Owlz (1-1) ripped 18 hits in their win over host Idaho Falls.

Rockies 6, Raptors 3 • In Grand Junction, Colo., the host Rockies scored four runs (three earned) in five innings off Raptors starter Francisco Villa on the way to the win. —

Highlights

O Tommy Field homers, singles and drives in two runs as Salt Lake rolls to a 5-2 victory over Sacramento.

• The Bees sweep a four-game series from the River Cats and extend their winning streak to six straight.