51s drop third straight game to Memphis Redbirds
Coming back from four runs down against some Pacific Coast League teams might be no problem.
Less than a week ago, after the 51s had given up five runs in the top of the first to Fresno, they responded with five of their own.
It’s a little harder against Memphis. And it’s even harder against Memphis in Memphis.
The Redbirds are the only team in the league with an ERA sub-4.00. And though the 51s did score five runs Sunday, Memphis maintained the lead all day as it beat Las Vegas 7-5 at Autozone Park.
Good pitching combined with the elements mean runs don’t come as easily in Memphis.
“Not only against a good club like they have in which they have good pitching (but) the ballpark that we’re playing in, the elements, the ball doesn’t carry here as much as it does in some of the other ballparks (like) Vegas and some of the other ballparks we go to throughout the league,” said manager Pedro Lopez, whose team fell to 37-64. “It’s a fair ballpark. … It’s not going to carry as much.”
There were still five home runs Sunday, though, including two two-run home runs in the first inning by Alex Mejia and Patrick Wisdom off 51s starter Mitch Atkins (2-4).
The Redbirds, the top team in the PCL at 65-35, added three more runs, including two more off Atkins — one in the third and one in the fifth — and one off of reliever Luis Mateo.
“I think that he did a better job working ahead and locating his pitches,” Lopez said of Atkins after the first inning. “That’s the one thing that kind of hurt him in the first inning. He was behind and made some mistakes up in the zone.
“Other than that, I thought he battled well without his best stuff and gave us a chance to win a ballgame.”
The 51s, though, were unable to catch up despite scoring five runs off three different Memphis pitchers — four more runs than they had in the previous two games combined.
Atkins helped his own cause with an RBI single in the second. In the sixth, Xorge Carrillo’s three-run home run provided a bulk of the Las Vegas offense and cut the Memphis lead to 6-4.
Later that inning, the 51s had a good opportunity tie the game with Neil Walker at the plate and runners on the corners. But Walker popped out to end the threat.
Walker, who is on a rehabilitation assignment for a hamstring injury, left in the seventh inning as planned and went 1-for-4 in the game with a single in the first inning.
The 51s scored their only other run in the seventh with a leadoff home run from first baseman Dominic Smith.
The loss was their fourth straight and third in a row to Memphis, but Lopez said he thought it was a “good battle.”
“We got down in the game 4-0 and then made a nice comeback,” he said. “We came close, within reach.”
Up next
All times Pacific
Who: Las Vegas 51s at Memphis Redbirds
When: 5:05 p.m. Monday
Where: Autozone Park, Memphis, Tennessee
Starters: Tyler Pill (4-3, 3.47 ERA) vs. John Gant (1-5, 3.45 ERA)
Next five
Tuesday: Las Vegas at Nashville, 5:05 p.m.
Wednesday: Las Vegas at Nashville, 5:05 p.m.
Thursday: Las Vegas at Nashville, 5:05 p.m.
Friday: Las Vegas at Nashville, 5:05 p.m.
Saturday: Colorado Springs at Las Vegas, 7:05 p.m.
Update
Tyler Pill will take the ball Monday for the 51s in the finale against Memphis. In his last start, the right-hander threw seven scoreless innings against Fresno, giving up just six hits.
Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.
