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SALT LAKE CITY — Some birthday celebrations are bigger than others.
Bumble, the beloved mascot for the Salt Lake Bees, celebrated his eighth birthday Friday as the Bees took on the El Paso Chihuahuas in the second game of a five-game Pacific Coast League series.
The franchise pulled out every stop in paying tribute to the longtime mascot as Bumble was joined by his fellow mascots from around the state, including the Jazz Bear, Utah’s Swoop and BYU’s Cosmo the Cougar. In fact, Bumble was so overcome with emotion from the celebration that he was unable to comment on the evening.
Amidst all of the celebration, the Bees fell to the Chihuahuas 6-5 at Smith’s Ballpark in Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake opened the game with an offensive charge, scoring three runs in the first inning. Third baseman Ryan Wheeler hit his first home run as a Bee, hitting a three-run home run to right field.
Bees mascot Bumble celebrated his eighth birthday at Friday's game.
However, El Paso scored two runs in the second, one run in the fourth, and three runs in the fifth to take a 6-3 lead.
The Bees countered in the sixth inning as right fielder Brennan Boesch hit a solo home run to straight-away center field to make the score 6-4. Then, with runners on second and third, shortstop Shawn O’Malley flew out to center field, ending Salt Lake’s scoring threat.
Salt Lake tried to muster a rally in the ninth inning as center fielder Tony Campana scored on a fielder’s choice. But a Boesch strikeout ended the game, and the Bees’ hopes of a comeback.
Salt Lake pitcher Jarrett Grube took the loss for the Bees, pitching six innings while surrendering six earned runs. El Paso pitcher Matt Wisler earned the win, also pitching six innings, but surrendering only four runs.
Bees manager Keith Johnson said Grube's occasional lack of control cost him.
“Jarrett got himself into some deep counts and for the most part just had a couple bad innings where he wasn’t able to minimize the damage,” said Johnson. “Other than that, I thought he threw the ball OK. He went out and got that sixth inning for us and then our bullpen came out and did a good job.”
The Bees and Chihuahuas play the third game of the series Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Left-hander Randy Wolf is scheduled to throw for Salt Lake, while fellow lefty Jason Lane will pitch for El Paso.
