SALT LAKE BEES
Bees Walk-Off After Trailing Five Times In Saturday Night Thriller
SALT LAKE CITY – The Salt Lake Bees win their fourth straight game with an improbable 11th inning walk off victory against the Tacoma Rainiers.
The Bees hosted the Rainiers in the fifth of a six game series at Smith’s Ballpark on Saturday, May 7.
Tacoma started the scoring in the second inning with a Zach Green solo home run. In the bottom half of the frame, Bees catcher Matt Thaiss led off with his third home run of the season to tie the score.
Tie ballgame courtesy of @Matt_Thaiss! pic.twitter.com/gTPsiq54hY
— Salt Lake Bees (@SaltLakeBees) May 8, 2022
After the two teams traded three runs in the third and fourth innings, Tacoma used five base-hits, including four extra base hits to score four runs and take an 8-4 lead and sucking the life out of a lively Smith’s Ballpark crowd on one of the first great weather days of the season.
Still trailing 8-4 in the seventh inning, three straight singles loaded the bases in front of Luis Rengifo. Batting .323 entering the game, Rengifo launched a home run just to the left of the center field batter’s eye that scored Kean Wong, Orlando Martinez and Magnueris Sierra and tied the game at eight.
SLAM LAKE CITY pic.twitter.com/7hSbhyJsBh
— Salt Lake Bees (@SaltLakeBees) May 8, 2022
Two batters later, fresh off of his return to Salt Lake, Jo Adell lifted a big fly to straightaway center that put the Bees in front 9-8.
Reliever Jose Marte entered for the save chance in the ninth but gave up a lead off home run to Donovan Walton that evened the score at nine and would eventually send the game to extra innings.
In extras, Tacoma took their fifth lead of the game when Steven Souza Jr. blasted a 3-0 delivery from Marte over the right-centerfield fence to give the Rainiers a 12-9 advantage.
.@Brendon_BDavis gives us life with a game-tying blast in the 10th inning! pic.twitter.com/CYcC8uauNp
— Salt Lake Bees (@SaltLakeBees) May 8, 2022
With the Bees trailing 12-10 in the bottom of the tenth following a Jo Adell leadoff double, Brendon Davis continued to heat up at the plate as he jumped on an off-speed pitch from Yohan Ramirez and crushed a 2-run game tying home run to left-center.
With all the momentum on their side, Salt Lake used a double-play to retire the ghost runner in the top half of the eleventh before Erick Mejia lined out to Davis in right to end the inning.
In the bottom half of the frame, Kean Wong began the inning on second base and advanced to third when Sierra singled to right, bringing Rengifo to the plate. With runners at the corners, Rengifo tapped into a fielders choice in front of the plate that first baseman Zach Green threw away at third in an attempt to nail the lead runner. The overthrow allowed Wong to score the winning run and gave Salt Lake their third walk-off win of the season including the second walk-off win via an error.
Drive home safely and we'll see you tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/X3fDxzpmeh
— Salt Lake Bees (@SaltLakeBees) May 8, 2022
With the victory, Salt Lake wins their fourth straight for the first time since August 13-16 0f 2021; they sit three games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2018 season.
The Bees and Rainiers finish the series with a Mother’s Day Sunday afternoon matinee with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. (MST). All Bees games can be heard on The Zone Sports Network and tickets for the Bees can be purchased at slbees.com.
