51s’ rally falls short in loss to River Cats

The 51s had managed just three hits after eight innings against the Sacramento River Cats on Tuesday night at Cashman Field.

And then they showed some punch.

The 51s strung together four straight hits with two outs to score three runs, but it was too little too late as they fell to the River Cats 5-4.

If not for a rough top half of the ninth from reliever Dario Alvarez and an error by center fielder Brandon Nimmo, they might have pulled out a victory.

Alvarez came in with the 51s down 3-1 in the ninth and couldn’t find the strike zone. He fell behind batters, walking two, and gave up two hits, one an RBI single to Grant Green.

“When you look at the facts in the end, Alvarez coming in and pitching the ninth down 3-1, if he just has a clean inning for us facing that part of the order, he probably should’ve, but he just didn’t throw strikes,” Las Vegas manager Wally Backman said.

One run was earned, but a second run scored after the ball got past Nimmo.

“When you’re ball one, ball two, ball three to every hitter, unfortunately as a position player, it’s easy to get on your heels, and I don’t know that Brandon did that,” Backman said. “It was just a clean base hit, and he just came up, he lifted his glove up too quick. Those things happen.”

The error loomed large given the final score, but with the way the game had gone, it didn’t even seem like it would be a factor.

Las Vegas struggled to get anything going against River Cats starter Ty Blach. The 51s had faced him three times last season, and each time, they tagged him for at least four runs and a loss.

But this time around, they couldn’t replicate that. Blach limited the 51s to a run on three hits in six innings while striking out seven.

“He got better. He kept the ball down tonight. Usually last year we’d always try to see the ball up against him and really try to drive the ball to right-center,” Backman said. “He was able to throw strikes inside. … Last year when he came inside, he always came inside for a ball.”

The 51s fell behind in the third inning after starter Sean Gilmartin surrendered a two-out RBI double to Ryan Lollis.

Gilmartin said he felt good and thought the pitch to Lollis was the only mistake he made.

“Not having pitched in, I think it was 11 days, it’s always tough,” Gilmartin said. “You don’t really know how it’s going to go.”

Gilmartin was supposed to throw 65 to 70 pitches and ended up throwing 74. He gave up one run while walking two and striking out four in 3 2/3 innings.

After the double, the 51s tied the score when Nimmo hit a sinking liner that went for a double, though it likely should have been caught.

But after that, all they managed off Blach were two more hits, and both runners were wiped off the basepaths almost immediately.

After a Ty Kelly single in the fifth inning, Blach picked him off. And after second baseman Matt Reynolds singled to right in the sixth, he was thrown out trying to take an extra base.

But though they couldn’t make much out of their opportunities throughout the game, they wound up bringing the winning run to the plate.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win,” Backman said. “For a team to be able to come back like that, I think shows character.”

Betsy Helfand can be reached at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @BetsyHelfand