A two-run lead didn't hold in the first game of Wednesday's double header. Maybe a six-run lead would in the second?
Apparently not.
The Bees gave up a commanding lead in the second of its two games, but eventually did prevail in extra innings as Efren Navarro launched a right-field walkoff single for a 9-8 win after only the hardiest fans remained at Smith's Ballpark.
Six hours of baseball ended with Grant Green touching the plate for the winning run and Bees teammates cheerfully chasing Navarro back to the dugout.
Outfielder Brennan Boesch's bat racked up mileage as the slugger notched three homers in the two games, doubling his number of homers in June, giving him 11 for the year.
But the big story was how Bees struggled to hold on to leads in each game. After squandering a strong defensive start in the final inning of the opening game for a 3-2 loss, the team had even more trouble in the closer, going to extra innings after once leading 7-1.
A brisk start got the Bees rolling early in the second contest, as the team racked up seven runs in the first two innings. Tommy Field cracked a two-run homer before Luis Jimenez and Roberto Lopez each batted in runs in the first. Field scored again on a balk before Boesch hit his second homer of the day to boost the Bees lead to six runs.
But a five-run fourth inning wiped most of the edge out. The Redbirds beat up on starter Jarrett Grube, with five hits and two walks in the frame.
Boesch added another homer in the bottom of the fourth, but Michael Kohn surrendered the lead in the sixth as Kozma scored on a Stephen Piscotty single.
The first game was a heartbreaker for Salt Lake, as Pete Kozma hit his first home run since April for a seventh-inning two-run shot off reliever Yosian Herrera that proved to be the game winner, 3-2. It was one of two home runs the Bees surrendered in the seventh, the first a solo dinger from Xavier Scruggs.
The loss spoiled a strong start by Joel Pineiro, who held the Redbirds scoreless for six innings before finally cracking in the seventh.
The go-ahead homer was the only hit Herrera gave up his third of an inning.
Storylines
O The Bees lose the first game of a double header, squandering a 2-0 lead.
• Brennan Boesch hits three homers in the double header, two in the late game.