After not getting a decision in his first three starts of the season, Gabriel Ynoa was on a roll, winning his last three. He tried to keep that going Thursday night for Las Vegas (18-15) against El Paso. But allowing a lead off single to El Paso centerfielder Manuel Margot, and being called for a balk moving him to second seemed to signal early trouble. Margot then stole third base. After Ynoa walked first baseman James Loney, right fielder Hunter Renfroe singled to right to drive in Margot. With two out, left fielder Yeison Asencio singled to left, but Ty Kelly came in to make a perfect throw to catcher Nevin Ashley who was waiting for Loney at the plate. That abruptly ended the threat, and the scoring for the majority of the game.
Ynoa proceeded to keep El Paso off the board for the next 7 innings. He had help. Scattering 9 hits Ynoa worked with runners on base in 5 of the 8 innings he pitched. Besides the out at home in the first, a diving catch in left by Kelly helped him retire the side in order in the second. A nice double play turned by third baseman T.J. Rivera, second baseman Dilson Herrera and first baseman Marc Krauss got him out of trouble in the third.
On the offensive side, Ashley led off the bottom of the third with his first home run of the year. Then Ynoa came up and singled to help his own cause, but was stranded. In the bottom of the fourth Krauss doubled to left with one out and then stole second. Right fielder Travis Taijeron walked. Centerfielder Roger Bernadina singled to left to plate Krauss to put the 51s ahead, but Taijeron was thrown out at third. Shortstop Matt Reynolds doubled in Bernadina to put the 51s up by two.
Vegas added two more runs in the sixth on a Taijeron double, another Bernadina single and an RBI ground out by Reynolds. Ashley then singled to drive in Bernadina.
Taijeron hit his fifth homer of the year to lead off the eighth followed by Bernadina’s third single of the game. After a walk to Reynolds, Daniel Muno pinch hit for Ynoa, singling up the middle as the ball bounced off the second base bag. Bernadina scored for the third time.
With Ynoa done for the night, Dario Alvarez came in to pitch the ninth. He retired the first two batters quickly on ground balls. A third ground ball, by pinch-hitter Carlos Asuaje, got under the glove of Herrera. Asuaje scored from first on a long double to center by Margot. But another ground ball to Herrera resulted in the final out of the game, closing out Ynoa’s fourth win in as many starts.
Top Performers:
Ashley was 2-3 with a home run, a walk, a run scored and two RBI. Taijeron was also 2-3 with a home run, two runs scored and an RBI. Bernadina was 3-4 with three runs scored and an RBI. Ynoa went 8 innings, giving up only the one earned run on nine hits, walking two and striking out three. He improved his record to 4-0 with a 1.77 ERA on the season. Box Score
Las Vegas will finish their four-game series with El Paso on Friday at 10:05 ET. Stolmy Pimentel will take the mound.
Personnel Note – RHP Sean Gilmartin was recalled by the Mets to bolster the bullpen as Steven Matz will miss his next start and Logan Verrett will start in his place.
(photos by Jennifer Nieves)
