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SALT LAKE CITY — Ask any professional baseball player — no one enjoys playing doubleheaders.
A rain-out Tuesday forced the Salt Lake Bees and Memphis Redbirds to play two games on Wednesday, and the teams split the doubleheader as Memphis beat the Bees in game one, 3-2, and Salt Lake beat Memphis in extra innings, 9-8, in a pair of Pacific Coast League games at Smith’s Ballpark.
Salt Lake took a 2-0 lead in game one, with center fielder Brennan Boesch hitting a solo home run to right field in the second inning and Roberto Lopez hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning. With two outs in the top of the seventh, Memphis first baseman Xavier Scruggs hit a solo home run to get the Redbirds on the board.
Then, Ed Easley doubled to center field, forcing Bees manager Keith Johnson to change pitchers. However, Yoslan Herrera did little better than Joel Pineiro, as Pete Kozma hit a two-run homer to give Memphis the victory in the first game.
Herrera took the blown save, and also was handed the loss in game one. Memphis pitcher Zach Petrick earned the win, throwing six innings of two-run ball.
Salt Lake's Brennan Boesch hit three home runs in the double header.
In game two, Salt Lake shortstop Tommy Field hit a two-run home run in the first inning, part of a four-run first for the Bees. Boesch homered in the second inning, scoring Grant Green. Also, Field scored earlier in the inning on a balk, as Salt Lake took a 7-1 lead.
However, the Redbirds scored five runs in the fourth to cut the Salt Lake margin to 7-6. In the bottom half of the inning, though, Boesch hit a deep home run to right field, re-establishing the Salt Lake lead.
In the sixth inning, Memphis scored two runs to tie the game at 8-8. As the extra innings dragged on, Bees outfielder Efren Navarro ended the long day in the ninth as a single to right field scored Grant Green.
Bees pitcher Jeremy Berg earned the victory, while Memphis pitcher Jorge Rondon took the loss.
