PCL baseball: Bees lose to Las Vegas; Cron returning from L.A.

The Bees have struggled to close out winnable games this season.

It happened again Saturday night, when Las Vegas rallied for a 6-2 victory at Smith's Ballpark.

Behind a superb outing by starter Justin Thomas, the Bees took a 2-0 lead into the eighth inning.

But the 51s used a two-out, three-run homer by Andrew Brown to take the lead.

Las Vegas added three more runs in the ninth and handed Salt Lake its third loss in four games despite Brennan Boesch's two-run homer in the first.

Bees manager Keith Johnson used four pitchers in relief of Thomas in the final two innings, but they allowed six runs, four hits and five walks.

"It's extremely frustrating," Johnson said. "… [Thomas] did a great job. He competed his behind off and left himself in position to get a win. We just weren't able to do it — again."

Meanwhile, the fallout from the blockbuster trade between the Los Angeles Angels and San Diego that featured All-Star closer Huston Street continued Saturday.

The Padres sent Street and minor league pitcher Trevor Gott to the Angels for four prospects, including Salt Lake second baseman Taylor Lindsey.

The Padres also received pitcher Elliott Morris, pitcher R.J. Alvarez and shortstop Jose Rondon in the deal, which triggered two more personnel moves prior to the Bees' loss to Las Vegas.

First, L.A. made room for Street on its 40-man roster by designating Salt Lake infielder Ian Stewart for assignment.

To clear a spot on the 25-man major league roster, the Angels also sent first baseman C.J. Cron back to the Bees.

Cron, of course, is the former University of Utah star who started the season in Salt Lake.

In 28 games with the Bees, he hit .319. Nineteen of his 36 hits went for extra bases, including 12 doubles and six home runs.

Cron was called up on May 3 and, in 53 games with the Angels, he hit .269 with nine homers and 27 RBIs.

Over his last 23 games, however, Cron is hitting only .238. He went 0 for 6 in a 16-inning win over Seattle on Friday night — just before the Street trade was made official.

Cron's timetable for rejoining the Bees is not known.

The Bees and 51s complete their four-game series Sunday at 1:05 p.m. Reno arrives in Salt Lake for a four-game series starting Monday night.

luhm@sltrib.com

Twitter: @sluhm —

Storylines

R Las Vegas rallies from a two-run deficit in the eighth inning to defeat Salt Lake.

• Brennan Boesch supplies most of the Bees' offense with a two-run homer in the first.

• The parent Los Angeles Angels announce C.J. Cron is being sent back to Salt Lake. —

PCL standings

American North

W L Pct. GB Iowa 54 46 .540 —

Omaha 51 48 .515 2½

Oklahoma City 51 51 .500 4

Colorado Springs 42 57 .424 11½

American South

W L Pct. GB Nashville 53 48 .525 —

New Orleans 52 48 .520 ½

Memphis 49 49 .500 2½

Round Rock 48 50 .490 3½

Pacific North

W L Pct. GB Sacramento 57 42 .576 —

Reno 52 48 .520 5½

Tacoma 48 50 .490 8½

Fresno 48 52 .480 9½

Pacific South Division

W L Pct. GB Las Vegas 58 43 .574 —

El Paso 49 51 .490 8½

Albuquerque 45 55 .450 12½

Salt Lake 41 60 .406 17

saturday's Games

Memphis 1, Colorado Springs 0, 1st game

Iowa 5, Round Rock 4

Nashville 7, Oklahoma City 3

New Orleans 9, Omaha 5

Memphis 2, Colorado Springs 0, 2nd game

Las Vegas 6, Salt Lake 2

Sacramento at Albuquerque, Late.

El Paso at Fresno, Late.

Tacoma at Reno, Late

sunday's Games

Las Vegas at Salt Lake, 1:05 p.m.

New Orleans at Omaha, 1:05 p.m.

Colorado Springs at Memphis, 5:05 p.m.

Nashville at Oklahoma City, 5:05 p.m.

Iowa at Round Rock, 6:05 p.m.

Sacramento at Albuquerque, 6:05 p.m.

El Paso at Fresno, 7:05 p.m.

Tacoma at Reno, 7:05 p.m. —

51s 6,Bees 2

Salt Lake AB R H BI BB K AVG

Campana CF

4 0 0 0 0 0 .300

Shuck LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 .324

Jimenez 3B 3 1 1 0 1 0 .283

Boesch RF 4 1 1 2 0 0 .315

Field 2B 4 0 0 0 0 1 .290

O'Malley SS 3 0 1 0 0 0 .335

Lopez 1B 3 0 1 0 0 0 .279

Martinez C 3 0 1 0 0 0 .264

Albitz DH 3 0 0 0 0 0 .308

Totals 31 2 5 2 1 1 .290

HR: Boesch (14, 1st inning off Verrett, 1 on, 2 out).

TB: O'Malley; Boesch 4; Martinez, L; Jimenez, L; Lopez, R.

RBI: Boesch 2 (54)

Las Vegas AB R H BI BB K AVG

den Dekker CF 3 2 0 0 2 0 .311

Reynolds SS 5 0 3 1 0 0 .344

Flores 3B 4 1 1 1 1 1 .325

Brown 1B 5 1 1 4 0 2 .303

Satin DH 3 0 2 0 2 1 .320

Muno 2B 4 0 0 0 1 3 .263

Vaughn RF 3 0 0 0 1 0 .252

Centeno C 3 1 1 0 1 0 .284

Seratelli LF 3 1 0 0 1 1 .254

Totals 33 6 8 6 9 8 .284

2B: Satin (17, Thomas, J). HR: Brown, A (16, 8th inning off Newby, 2 on, 2 out). TB: Satin 3; Centeno; Brown, A 4; Flores, W; Reynolds, M 3. RBI: Brown, A 4 (49), Reynolds, M (12), Flores, W (54).

Salt Lake 200 000 000 — 2 5 1

Las Vegas 000 000 033 — 6 8 0

Salt Lake IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Thomas 6 2⁄3 4 0 0 4 6 5.99

Richardson 2⁄3 0 1 0 1 0 6.88

Newby L, 0-2 1⁄3 2 2 0 0 1 2.70

Kohn 2⁄3 0 3 3 3 1 4.24

Lerew 2⁄3 2 0 0 1 1 6.45

Totals 9.0 8 6 3 9 8 5.95

Las Vegas IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Verrett (W, 8-2) 7 4 2 2 1 1 4.58

Thornton 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.43

Church 1 1 0 0 0 0 3.67

Totals 9 5 2 2 1 1 4.703

T: 2:56. Att: 10,767.