After clinching their division championship on Thursday night in a 14-5 laugher, Las Vegas had to battle to take the last two games of the four-game series against New Orleans.

Friday night, Noah Syndergaard struggled in the first inning, giving up five runs on five hits including three doubles. Syndergaard then settled down, throwing four scoreless, striking out the side in the fifth, before giving up one more run in the sixth.  He finished with six innings, six runs (five earned) on eight hits, walking one and striking out eight.

The 51s began to battle back in the third when one-out singles by Cesar Puello and Matt Reynolds led to two runs, aided by an errant throw from Zephyrs right fielder Brian Bogusevic and a stolen base by Reynolds. Puello scored on the error and then Reynolds came home on a ground out by Josh Satin.

After scoring a single run in the fourth, Vegas took the lead with a three-run fifth. Syndergaard helped himself by leading off with a single to left. After a walk to Puello, Reynolds singled to load the bases. Syndergaard scored and the remaining runners moved up on a sacrifice fly to right by Satin for his second RBI. With two out, catcher Kevin Plawecki walked to load the bases again. Puello and Reynolds then scored on a single by Cory Vaughn.

Zack Thornton entered the game to pitch the seventh inning after the Zephyrs scored one to tie it up in the sixth. In the bottom of the inning, Brandon Allen gave the 51s the lead again with an RBI groundout when he pinch hit for Vaughn. Thornton began the eighth by hitting New Orleans second baseman Josh Rodriguez. After getting a ground out from Bogusevic, Thornton was relieved by Jack Leathersich who pitched to one batter, striking him out. Chase Bradford came on to finish the inning, but gave up consecutive hits to Austin Wates and Zack Cox as the Zephyrs tied the game again at 7-7.

The battle of the bullpens continued, as each team was held scoreless for their next three turns at bat, and the game went into extra innings. The 51s threatened in both the ninth and tenth, loading the bases each time. In the ninth, Reynolds drew a walk and went to third on a single by Satin. First baseman Taylor Teagarden was walked intentionally. Plawecki flied out to right. Then Brandon Allen scorched a liner which was caught by Zephyrs first baseman Justin Bour. Pinch hitter Bobby Abreu grounded out to third to end the threat.

Second baseman Daniel Muno and pinch hitter Andrew Brown led of the tenth with back to back singles. Puello failed to advance the runners, popping up a bunt to third which was caught in foul territory. Reynolds was then hit by a pitch to load the bases yet again. Satin popped up an infield fly to shortstop for the second out, then Teagarden hit a hard liner to second which was caught by Rodriguez.

Two innings of scoreless relief from Ryan Reid allowed Las Vegas another chance to win in the bottom of the eleventh. New Orleans pitcher Bryan Evans walked Plawecki and Allen to start the inning. Pinch hitter Allan Dykstra came up and moved the runners over on his fly ball out to left. Muno finally put an end to the contest by singling to center, scoring Plawecki for the walk-off win. The final score was 8-7.

Reynolds was 4 for 4 with two runs scored. Muno was 3 for 6, including the game-wining hit.

After the four hour long game on Friday night, the two teams were back at it Saturday evening. Las Vegas starter John Lannan did not give up five runs in one inning.  Instead he had a consistently rocky outing, giving up runs in each inning he pitched. Though the 51s answered with runs of their own in the first four innings, Lannan left behind by one after giving up a two-run home run to Bogusevic with no one out in the fifth. He worked a total of four innings, giving up eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits, walking one and striking out four, before he was relieved by Giancarlo Alvarado.

Alvarado pitched two and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief, striking out three in the fifth, and five total. Leathersich followed in the seventh, again striking out the only batter he faced. Gonzalez Germen followed with two shutout innings of his own.

Zephyrs starter Anthony DeSclafani was also ineffective. With one out in the bottom of the first, DeSclafani hit Reynolds with a pitch. He was the first of three batters he would hit in his short two and two-thirds inning outing. Abreu, who started in right, singled Reynolds to third and he scored on a groundout by Teagarden, tying the game for the time being.

Allen was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the second. Anthony Seratelli singled Allen to third, but Lannan failed to advance the runners, bunting into a force at second. Muno was then hit by a pitch, and after a strikeout of Reynolds, all three runners, Allen, Lannan and Muno, were plated by an Abreu double to right putting the 51s ahead 4-2.

Lannan allowed the Zephyrs to tie it in the third, but then became a key part of the offense in the bottom of the inning.  With two out, Allen appeared to be hit by a pitch for the second time, but instead worked a walk.  Seratelli singled Allen to third and then Lannan launched a booming triple to center field driving in two to give Las Vegas another temporary lead.

The Zephyrs tied the game yet again in the fourth. But in the bottom of the inning, New Orleans reliever Steve Ames issued a one out walk to Abreu, who scored on a double by Teagarden.

Two more Zephyrs runs closed the book on Lannan in the fifth, but thanks to the solid work of the bullpen, the 51s came back to tie the game 8-8 in the bottom of the sixth on a home run by Teagarden, his 13th.

Germen got into trouble in the top of the ninth allowing a single, making a throwing error, and then walking a batter to load the bases with two out. Fortunately, Germen was able to extract himself by striking out pinch hitter Kyle Skipworth.

Allen led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk. Seratelli failed to advance him, popping up a bunt attempt. But with one out, Vaughn pinch hit for German, and negated the need for a second straight extra inning game by homering to left center field, winning it in walk-off fashion by a final score of 10-8.

Abreu and Teagarden each had two hits and three RBI. Allen was 1 for 2 with two walks and scored three runs. Germen earned the win.

After being shut out in the first game of the series, Las Vegas scored a total of 32 runs on 38 hits over the last three games, despite leaving an astounding 62 runners on base.

The 51s begin a four game series with the Round Rock Express on Sunday, closing out the final homestand of the season. Then they will play four in Albuquerque to wrap up the 2014 regular season. They will return home to begin the first playoff series on September 3rd, against either the Sacramento Rivercats or the Reno Aces.

Additional Highlight:

After Friday night’s game,  51s President/COO Don Logan announced four awards for the 2014 season:

Community Service Award, chosen by the 51s front office, went to Brandon Allen;

Most Valuable Pitcher, chosen by the coaching staff, was Right-hander Logan Verrett;

Most Valuable Player, chosen by the coaching staff, was Andrew Brown;

and the Mayor’s Trophy, voted on by the fans, went to Matt den Dekker, who is currently with the New York Mets.