Las Vegas 8, Tacoma 6
Zach Lutz hit a game-ending three-run home run Tuesday for the Las Vegas 51s, helping them score four runs — all with two outs — in their last at-bat for an 8-6 victory against visiting Tacoma.
In the top half of the ninth, the 51s were one strike away from winning the game, but Tacoma’s Brad Miller belted a two-out, bases-clearing triple to give the Rainiers a 6-4 advantage.
The initial two Las Vegas batters of the ninth recorded outs before Andrew Brown and Ike Davis drew consecutive walks to start the Las Vegas rally. Wilmer Flores singled to score Brown and trim the Las Vegas deficit to 6-5 and Lutz followed with his fifth home run of the season to cap a wild ninth inning that saw the teams combine for seven runs.
Collin McHugh was the scheduled starter for this game, but only lasted four innings in his first appearance after his recent demotion.
The 51s scored twice in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly from Francisco Pena and an RBI groundout from Brandon Hicks for a 4-3 lead.
Relievers Sean Henn and Justin Hampson each pitched two scoreless innings in relief to hold the lead, but Robert Carson surrendered two walks and two hits in the ninth as Tacoma plated three runs. Carson was charged with a blown save, even though he was hurt severely by Brandon Hicks‘ throwing error in the ninth.
Earlier in the game, Pena hit a solo home run in the second inning for Las Vegas in finishing 2-for-3, and Wilmer Flores went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Meanwhile Ike Davis, playing in his first game after being dropped to Triple-A Sunday, was hitless in three at-bats with a pair of strikeouts. He did draw two walks.
The series continues at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday.
Key Stats
Mike Baxter: 2-for-4, 1 3B, 1 BB, 1 R
Ike Davis: 0-for-3, 2 BB, 1 R
Wilmer Flores: 3-for-5, 1 RBI, 2 R
Zach Lutz: 2-for-5, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
Francisco Pena: 2-for-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R
Collin McHugh: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 HR, 4 BB, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 K
Sean Henn: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K
Justin Hampson: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K
Robert Carson: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 R, 0 ER, 1 K
Gonzalez Germen: 0.1 IP, 1 K
(Team Report)
Satish – Great job!
Thanks for all the hard work and effort you put into your daily reports. My brother, tlagee, lived together in the upper east side in the ’80’s during the days of Doc and Darryl, and we used to get our minor league info from the Sporting News, two weeks stale!
Now we get daily reports of our minor league games that are more up-to-date than the major league reporting we got way back when.
Thanks again!
Not sure where Pena’s power is coming from, much less his batting average. This is the best he’s hit at any level, EVER. d’Arnaud-Pena in 2014 might be the best backstop combination we’ve had in a really long time. Oh and Wilmer Flores is a monster!! See what I did there?? I can’t wait until he’s up in July.
P.S. If they trade him, I’ll fire Sandy myself. Don’t think I have the power, ask Steve Phillips.
Thank you for the kind words.
It’s the pleasure of the entire MMN Staff to bring top notch coverage. 😀
He sat at our table at the Welcome Back Dinner in Binghamton and spoke confidently about his belief he would be a much better hitter this season. He did a lot of weight work and batting work in the off-season.