51s slam way past River Cats

Sidelined with a stomach flu for the first eight innings Sunday, 51s slugger Brian Dopirak found the perfect remedy in the ninth -- a game-winning grand slam that lifted Las Vegas to a wild 14-11 win over the Sacramento River Cats at Cashman Field.

"I was just trying to hit the ball on the barrel. I wasn't trying to do too much," Dopirak said. "This is something I'll definitely remember."

Dopirak's dramatic blast off Michael Benacka ended a crazy contest that lasted more than four hours and featured 33 hits, six errors, 16 walks, a cycle by 51s second baseman Jarrett Hoffpauir and a blown 6-0 lead by Las Vegas -- along with a dust devil that swept several chairs from Sacramento's bullpen up in the air and onto the field in the second inning.

"It was a battle on both sides. Luckily we had the last swings," said Hoffpauir, who homered in the first, doubled in the third, tripled in the fourth and singled in the sixth to complete the first cycle of his 7-year professional baseball career.

"I got the tough (hits) out of the way first," he said. "I had two at-bats left to hopefully get it done and that first one (in the sixth), I went ahead and got it out of the way first."

The first Las Vegas player to hit for the cycle since Cody Ross did it in the finale of the 2005 season, Hoffpauir finished 4-for-5 with two RBIs and tied the 51s' franchise record for runs in a game, with five.

Dopirak said the whole team was caught up in Hoffpauir's quest to hit for the cycle.

"We actually fed off it. I fed off it because I was so happy for him," he said. "That had a lot to do with (the comeback). It kept us loose and having fun and a positive attitude in the dugout."

Las Vegas (10-8), which scored in every inning but the eighth, when it left the bases loaded, built a 6-0 lead over the first four innings. But the River Cats (8-10) rallied for six runs in the fifth to tie it 6-6.

The first five batters -- Landon Powell, Corey Brown, Michael Affronti, Corey Wimberly and Eric Sogard -- singled to start the uprising and Jack Cust crushed a two-run homer to tie the game at 6-all and chase 51s starter Rey Gonzalez, who gave up six runs on eight hits.

Las Vegas regained the lead at 7-6 in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Luis Figueroa, who went 4-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs.

Sacramento scored four runs in the sixth to take a 10-7 edge and Las Vegas plated two in the sixth to close to 10-9.

Affronti, who had four hits, drilled an RBI double in the seventh to give the River Cats an 11-9 edge. Hoffpauir walked in the seventh and scored to make it 11-10.

With the flu affecting most of the team, Dopirak was the only player available to pinch hit in the ninth.

"Everybody else was home sick," Las Vegas manager Dan Rohn said.

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