Pitching carries 51s for a change in victory at Iowa
The story of the 51s all season has been get good enough pitching and let the offense carry the load.
They flipped the script in their second-half opener Thursday night, edging the Iowa Cubs in a 3-2 pitching duel at Principal Park in Des Moines.
“The offense was good enough tonight because the pitching was good,” Las Vegas manager Wally Backman said. “It’s a good mixture of stuff if the pitching can stay consistent.”
Darin Gorski vs. Rob Zastryzny. Not exactly a showdown of blue-chip prospects, but both did their jobs well enough to win in the hitting-rich Pacific Coast League. Gorski did just better than his Iowa counterpart, enough to eke out the victory, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing two runs. Zastryzny pitched five and allowed three.
Gorski (3-1) even aided his cause, singling to lead off the fifth inning and scoring on a two-run double by Eric Campbell.
“We needed help, and his record shows for it,” Backman said. “He’s kept us in games and given us a chance to win. That’s what we really needed.”
Campbell’s double extended the 51s’ lead from when he scored on a Kevin Plawecki single in the second inning. Campbell finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs, a run and a walk.
In the fourth inning, Gorski got a break from a greedy Iowa speedster John Andreoli. After Andreoli stole his 22nd base of the season by swiping second, he was joined on the base paths after an infield single. After a flyout, Andreoli tried to steal third with two men out, but Plawecki gunned him down. It was the catcher’s seventh caught stealing of the season, and it ended a scoring chance for Iowa.
Chasen Bradford came up big in the eighth inning to help preserve the win. A one-out single and a stolen base by Iowa’s Juan Perez put the tying run on second, one base hit from a tie game.
Bradford battled with the next two hitters, making Andreoli flail and miss at the ninth pitch of the at-bat and striking out Matt Murton to end the Cubs’ threat. He struck out three in 1 1/3 innings.
“Probably the most consistent guy we have down in the bullpen we’ve had all year,” Backman said. “Everybody went out there and really did their jobs.”
The ninth was a breeze for Las Vegas (47-43). Jim Henderson, making his first appearance on a rehab assignment from the New York Mets, pitched a perfect ninth, striking out one and improving the 51s’ road record to 25-20. They are 22-23 at home.
Up next
Who: Las Vegas 51s at Iowa Cubs
When: 5:08 p.m. Friday
Where: Principal Park
Starters: Sean Gilmartin
Next five
Saturday: Las Vegas at Iowa, 5
Sunday: Las Vegas at Iowa,
Monday: Las Vegas at Omaha,
Tuesday: Las Vegas at Omaha, 10:05 a.m.
Wednesday: Las Vegas at Omaha, 5:05 p.m.
Key stat
• Las Vegas and Iowa sent a combined five players to the Triple-A All-Star Game: Travis Taijeron, T.J. Rivera and Gabriel Ynoa of the 51s and Armando Rivera and Dan Vogelbach from the Cubs. All except Ynoa are expected to play in the four-game series.
• In the 51s’ 45th road game, they wore their road gray jerseys for just the 13th time this season. They were 6-6 in the previous 12 games.
Justin Emerson can be reached at jemerson@reviewjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @J15Emerson
