The Salt Lake Bees grounded into four double plays, as they fell 3-1 to the Albuquerque Isotopes on Friday night.
The Bees fell behind in the first inning on three consecutive singles that gave Albuquerque a 1-0 lead, and the Isotopes added two more runs in the second to take a 3-0 advantage.
Salt Lake had several opportunities to score, but could not cash in, as the Bees went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. With a runner at first and one out in thethird, Eric Young, Jr. bounced into a double play to end the inning. The Bees had runners at first and second and one out in the fourth, but Rey Navarro’s ground ball was turned into another double play. Salt Lake had runners at first and third with one out in the fifth, but Dustin Ackley grounded into the third double play of the night.
The Bees did break through in the seventh, as David Fletcher walked and went to second on a wild pitch.After Nolan Fontana drew a base on balls, he and Fletcher executed a double steal with Fletcher scoring later on a wild pitch. Two walks later, Salt Lake had the bases loaded with one out,but Young bounced into another double play.
Salt Lake starter Daniel Wright (6-10) took the loss. He went seven innings and allowed all three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and one walk. Wright finished his outing on a strong note, as he retired the last 18 batters he faced.
The Bees managed six hits, and their division lead shrunk to just one-half game over El Paso with the Chihuahuas getting rained out at home on Friday night.