51s dominate at Salt Lake in night of firsts

Zach Lutz and Brandon Nimmo each hit his first home run of the season to help right-hander Seth Lugo win his first Triple-A start as the 51s breezed to a 9-3 win over the Salt Lake Bees in a Pacific Coast League game Wednesday in Salt Lake City.

Lugo, 25, who went 6-5 with a 3.55 ERA in 18 starts with Double-A Binghamton, held the Bees (44-68) to two earned runs on five hits and two walks and struck out three in five innings.

Lutz, in his 17th game back with Las Vegas after playing a season-plus in Japan and Korea, led off the fifth with a home run. He also doubled, drove in two runs and scored twice.

The 22-year-old Nimmo, rated the New York Mets' No. 3 prospect before the season by Baseball America, finished 3-for-4 with a leadoff homer in the sixth, upping his batting average to .321 in his ninth game with the 51s (63-49).

Wilfredo Tovar paced Las Vegas' 17-hit attack with a double, three singles, two RBIs and two runs. Matt Reynolds had three hits, including an RBI single in the 51s' four-run first inning, which was capped by Brooks Conrad's two-run single.

Nate Smith (0-1) made his first Salt Lake start after going 8-4 with a 2.48 ERA in 17 starts at Double-A Arkansas. The 23-year-old left-hander endured a rocky first inning, allowing five hits and two walks, but settled down to go five innings with five strikeouts.

Cody Satterwhite struck out five in two hitless, scoreless innings of relief for Las Vegas.

Ryan Jackson went 2-for-4 with an RBI single for the Bees, who totaled six singles. UNLV product Efren Navarro had an RBI single for Salt Lake.