51s shut out by Chihuahuas, 4-0

After a slow start to his Triple-A career, Robert Gsellman turned in his third straight quality start Sunday.

But for the second straight game, he was a hard-luck loser as the 51s fell 4-0 to El Paso at Cashman Field.

Gsellman gave up two home runs in his start — a two-run shot in the first inning to Hector Sanchez and a solo blast in the sixth to Diego Goris — but got no run support behind him. He lasted six innings and struck out eight in his outing while walking just one.

“He gave up two home runs. He pitched good,” manager Wally Backman said. “He made two bad pitches, he gave up two home runs. That was the scoring.”

The three straight quality starts mark a step in the right direction for Gsellman, one of the Mets’ top pitching prospects, after he gave up at least five runs in each of his first three Triple-A starts.

But while he was keeping the Chihuahuas mostly in check, the offense couldn’t do much against Carlos Pimentel.

In two previous starts against the 51s this season, they scored a combined 11 runs against Pimentel.

“We faced a pitcher that’s not supposed to beat us, that’s for sure,” Backman said.

Pimentel gave up just two hits — both to Eric Campbell — in his six innings pitched.

After his exit, the 51s had their best scoring chance of the night in the eighth inning with runners on first and second with just one out but back-to-back groundouts from Ty Kelly and T.J. Rivera ended the threat.

The loss sent the 51s 8 1/2 games behind first-place El Paso as Las Vegas’ playoff hopes continue to fade.

“If you don’t score runs, you’re not going to win very many ball games and that’s what we did tonight,” Backman said.

Trade deadline approaches

As the trade deadline approaches on Monday and the Mets figure to be buyers, rumors have been swirling around the 51s.

Though the Mets haven’t completed a trade yet, a tweet from Backman had some believing they had.

Before the game, Backman tweeted “Saying goodbye to a player is the toughest part of my job,” seemingly in reference to Matt Reynolds, who will be activated by the Mets if shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera hits the disabled list.

Cabrera left Sunday’s game with a knee injury.

“I talked to (Danny) Muno today, I talked to Darrell Ceciliani that I had today and I talked to Matty (Reynolds). Matty was leaving,” Backman said. “They’re all players that I’ve had very strong relationships with and it’s tough when they leave, even though you want them to go to the big leagues or you want them to get an opportunity to play in the big leagues. I mean that’s what the tweet was all about.”

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