The Helena Brewers escaped the rain, but couldn't get away from the hot bats of the Billings Mustangs Saturday night.

Despite pounding out 11 hits, the Brewers fell to Billings 7-2. Helena was unable to capitalize on its opportunities, letting two big rallies slip away.

The Mustangs collected 13 hits, six of them for extra bases, and got good pitching throughout the game. Reliever Mace Thurman pitched three strong innings, allowing two hits while striking out six.

Mike Konstanty doubled twice for the Mustangs and drove in two. Tony Brown tripled and added two RBI of his own.

Both teams committed two errors, though Billings was able to make the most of the Brewers' mistakes.

The Mustangs scored twice each in the second and third innings and then had their biggest frame in the fifth. Billings roped four extra-base hits to start the inning, eventually scoring three.

Helena, meanwhile, couldn't put hits together when it counted.

The Brewers scored one in the second to cut the Billings lead in half and again in the fifth, but the Mustangs coasted for the next four innings.

Erik Komatsu hit his seventh home run of the year, a solo shot that led off the fifth inning.

"There were situations where we didn't capitalize," said Helena coach Rene Gonzales. "We also had a couple guys beat us when we didn't want that to happen. We've done that quite a lot lately."

Helena starter Brandon Richie took the loss, but Gonzales said he wasn't worried.

"Richie was okay; he had to battle," he said. "He was pitching from behind. Things don't go well when you do that."

Gonzales said he planned to work with the Helena offense starting today. "We need to work on changing our approach at the plate and get better at-bats," he said.

Billings' Junior Martinez and Mike Bohana came on in the eighth and ninth, respectively, to hold the Helena offense at bay.

Helena stranded 12 batters in the loss.

The Brewers face the Mustangs again today at 4:05 p.m. in the second game of a four-game series. After that, they travel to Utah to face Orem and Ogden, two of the better teams in the Pioneer League South.

"We haven't faced them," said Gonzales. "I think Orem is the better team in that division."

Reporter Jason Scott: 447-4070 or irsports@helenair.com