Chris Nelson went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs Saturday night, leading the Salt Lake Bees to a 5-0 victory of Tacoma at Spring Mobile Ballpark.
The win was Salt Lake's 14th in the last 20 games. It improved the Bees' record to 49-41 and moved them within three games of first-place Tacoma in the Pacific Northern Division of the PCL.
Following a two-hour rain delay at the start of the game, Salt Lake left-hander Dustin Richardson scattered three hits over six scoreless innings to get the win. He improved his record to 2-0.
After the Bees got the strong start Richardson, they finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth inning against Tacoma pitcher Brandon Maurer.
With two out, Kole Calhoun drew a walk. He stole second before Maurer also walked Efren Navarro and Luis Rodriguez to load the bases.
It was the first time a Bees' baserunner had reached third base and Nelson made Maurer pay for his wildness when he dropped a 2-2 pitch into a short center field. His single scored Calhoun and Navarro, giving Salt Lake a 2-0 lead.
In the seventh, the Bees broke the game open.
Trent Oeltjen opened with a walk. He stole second and scored easily on John Hester's long double to straight-away center.
Tacoma reliever Jonathan Arias replaced Maurer at that point, but Salt Lake's Matt Long greeted him with a run-scoring triple to right center.
After Tommy Field walked and Andrew Romine struck out, the Bees extended their lead to 5-0 when Long scored on a wild pitch.