51s back Chavez’s sturdy start for first win streak

During the 51s' recent road trip, manager Marty Brown held a team meeting to tell his players not to stress too much about their slow start.

"We just didn't put games together early on," he said. "Our starting pitching didn't give us a chance and when they did, we didn't score any runs.

"It was just a matter of time before we started to put things together."

Las Vegas put it all together in a 9-2 victory over Colorado Springs on Sunday at Cashman Field.

Jesse Chavez (2-1) teamed with two relievers on a six-hitter and eight players produced 12 hits for the 51s (6-12), who are on their first winning streak of the season.

Las Vegas outlasted the Sky Sox 9-8 in 10 innings Saturday night in the opener of its eight-game homestand.

"We're starting to play as a team," Chavez said. "Last night we didn't give up and ended up coming out with the win, and today it carried over - whereas before we'd score eight, then score one the next day."

Chavez (2-1) held Colorado Springs (10-8) to a run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings, with seven strikeouts and one walk, to lower his ERA to 3.32.

"We feel comfortable with Jesse out there. He's very aggressive," Brown said. "When we do score, he takes the challenge and tries to shut people down and make sure we win that inning."

A right-hander from Fontana, Calif., the 28-year-old Chavez appeared in 143 games in relief in the majors the last four years for Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Kansas City.

He was the closer for Triple-A Omaha last season, compiling 16 saves and a 3.75 ERA with 54 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings.

"I just had the mentality of going in and blowing it out," Chavez said of pitching out of the bullpen. "Now I'm able to use all my pitches."

Chavez has allowed eight runs on 16 hits in four starts, with 25 strikeouts and six walks. On Sunday he threw 90 pitches - 64 for strikes - but wasn't pleased with his accuracy.

"I threw a lot of strikes, but they weren't good strikes for me," he said. "I wasn't down in the zone as much as I had been the last couple of starts."

Andrew Carpenter allowed a run on three hits in 1 1/3 innings before Bobby Korecky closed out the win with two perfect innings.

Las Vegas scored four runs in the fifth - three with two outs - to take a 6-1 lead. Travis Snider hit a RBI double to extend his season-long hitting streak to 16 games and David Cooper followed with a two-run double.

Snider, who launched his fourth home run among his three hits Saturday, is second in the Pacific Coast League in batting with a .431 average and leads in RBIs with 22.

First baseman Yan Gomes went 2-for-4 to raise his average to .361 and right fielder Moises Sierra (.302) singled to extend his hitting streak to nine games.

Ruben Gotay had two hits and two RBIs, Adeiny Hechavarria added two RBIs and Anthony Gose and Mike McCoy each supplied two hits and a stolen base.

"Our younger players are starting to get more comfortable in the league," Brown said. "It takes a little bit of time."

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.