Seventh-inning rally not enough to lift 51s

Matt Palmer pitched five hitless innings Thursday night to lead the Salt Lake Bees to a 7-5 victory over the 51s in a Pacific Coast League game in Salt Lake City.

Las Vegas (1-6) totaled six hits, and all came in two innings, the fourth and seventh, when the 51s scored all of their runs.

Ryan Budde's leadoff home run and Sean Rodriguez's two-run double highlighted the Bees' four-run third inning. Rodriguez led off the bottom of the fifth with a homer to give Salt Lake (5-2) a 6-2 lead.

Scott Campbell led off the fourth with the 51s' first hit, a single, and came home one batter later on Randy Ruiz's third homer of the season.

Las Vegas didn't have another hit until the seventh, when Jason Lane led off with a single. Brett Harper, the next batter, homered. And, after a pitching change, Russ Adams greeted Bees reliever Francisco Rodriguez with a solo shot to pull the 51s within 6-5.

But Salt Lake tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh with Terry Evans' two-out RBI single, and Bees closer Jeremy Hill followed with two perfect innings.

Palmer (1-1) earned the win, giving up four runs on four hits and one walk in six-plus innings. He struck out three.

Dirk Hayhurst (0-1) started for the 51s and took the loss, giving up four runs on five hits and one walk in 2 2/3 innings.

Sean Rodriguez, Budde and Abel Nieves each had two of Salt Lake's nine hits.