Gabriel Ynoa pitches 51s to shutout of Salt Lake
51s manager Wally Backman expected a bounce-back effort from starting pitcher Gabriel Ynoa on Saturday.
The Las Vegas right-hander was even better than his skipper hoped.
Coming off his worst outing of the season, Ynoa threw seven shutout innings in an 8-0 win over Salt Lake at Smith’s Ballpark in Salt Lake City.
Ynoa, who allowed 11 runs (10 earned) on 14 hits in five innings against Reno on Monday, cruised Saturday. He allowed four hits and three walks en route to picking up his team-high eighth win and lowering his ERA to 3.45.
“I expected he would bounce back,” Backman said. “He’s a competitor.”
The seven innings matched Ynoa’s second-longest outing this season, and it was his second scoreless effort. Ynoa held Sacramento without a run for 6 1/3 innings April 21.
The Bees had eight left-handed hitters in their lineup Saturday. Coming into the game, lefties were hitting .338 against Ynoa this season.
“What was most impressive was that he did it against a lineup with eight left-handed hitters,” Backman said. “It was huge. It was outstanding. It showed he can get left-handers out.”
Ynoa also benefited from having Travis d’Arnaud behind the plate. D’Arnaud, on the New York Mets’ disabled list, is on a rehab assignment and expected to rejoin the Mets on Tuesday.
“I think it helped,” Backman said. “Travis is a big league guy, and he really helped Ynoa’s confidence.”
Josh Smoker and Chasen Bradford each tossed a shutout inning in relief to complete the 51s’ third shutout of the season.
Las Vegas (35-33) broke a scoreless tie with a six-run fifth inning. Nevin Ashley’s double drove in Gavin Cecchini with the first run, and Danny Muno added a two-run single. Eric Campbell’s three-run homer capped the inning.
Campbell added an RBI triple in a two-run seventh inning for Las Vegas. He finished 2-for-5 with four RBIs.
“Campbell had a big night,” Backman said. “That three-run homer really gave us some distance.”
Cecchini was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI as the bottom four in the Las Vegas order — Cecchini, Travis Taijeron, Ashley and Muno — combined to go 8-for-17 with four runs and four RBIs.
Contact reporter Bartt Davis at bdavis@reviewjournal.com.
