Dilson Herrera homers twice, drives in five in 51s’ 15-6 win

Dilson Herrera had a chance at the cycle in his final at-bat Tuesday.

Instead, he launched his second home run of the game.

Herrera, making his first start at second base in a week after dealing with a sore lower back, led the 51s’ charge Tuesday in a 15-6 Pacific Coast League victory over the El Paso Chihuahuas in El Paso, Texas.

Herrera went 4-for-6 with five RBIs, four runs and his first two homers of the season.

So, it seems safe to assume Herrera’s back feels OK and even safer to assume the 51s are happy to have him back.

“He really at the top of the order, he can really make the team go,” manager Wally Backman said. “He’s got a lot of energy, and when you’ve got a top of the order that did what he did today, which I’ve seen him do before, it takes a lot of pressure off guys.”

Herrera helped spark the 51s from the outset, singling to lead off the game and scoring the team’s first run.

Las Vegas led 6-1 in the fifth, but the Chihuahuas crept within 6-4 in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer and an RBI single after center fielder Brandon Nimmo misplayed a triple.

“The only inning that they scored more than one run was that fifth inning. We had to get five outs in that inning,” Backman said.

Backman said Nimmo played mostly right field in his brief time in Las Vegas a season ago, and that he’s seen Nimmo improve in center, despite the misplays.

“He misread a couple of balls today, which guys are going to misread balls,” Backman said. “The one thing about Brandon is he works as hard as anybody, so he’ll overcome the few mistakes that he’s made out there in the outfield.”

The 51s overcame it, too, breaking away with nine runs in the final three innings after the Chihuahuas got as close as 6-5 in the sixth.

Herrera did most of his damage in the later innings, tripling in the seventh inning and homering in both the eighth and ninth.

“When your leadoff hitter does what he (did) today, everybody just relaxes,” Backman said. “Travis (Taijeron) was relaxed. (Gavin) Cecchini was relaxed. Nimmo was relaxed. (T.J.) Rivera was relaxed. They all just relaxed, and that takes a lot of pressure off the rest of the lineup.”

Taijeron and Cecchini had three hits apiece, and Nimmo and Rivera added two each. Taijeron and Rivera also homered as the 51s won for the seventh time in eight games.

“The hitting was very, very good today,” Backman said. “(Herrera’s) not going to have games like he (had) every day, but last year when he played, he really got the ball rolling for us in games he won. He was a huge factor in today’s game.”

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