51s lose slugfest to Grizzlies

In two games against Fresno, the 51s have combined to score 20 runs.

In two games against Las Vegas, the Grizzlies have erupted for 41 runs and easily have won both games.

Tuesday, the Grizzlies beat Las Vegas 19-12 in a slugfest at Cashman Field.

Fresno’s leadoff hitter Tony Kemp belted a home run supplying a good indication of what was to come.

“We’re not making good pitches,” manager Pedro Lopez said. “It’s a good hitting lineup but I also have seen these guys pitching at their best. Just unfortunately the last two games haven’t been their best games and you’ve also got to give credit to their guys. We made mistakes and they didn’t miss them.”

The Grizzlies (55-41) wound up scoring five runs in the first inning off Las Vegas starter Mitch Atkins, but the 51s responded.

Las Vegas (36-60) knocked Fresno starter Kyle Smith out of the game before he could record an out, scoring five runs on five hits, one of which was a Travis Taijeron home run.

From there, the two teams piled on in a game that took 3:42 to finish. Two hours into the game, they were still in the bottom of the fourth inning after the Grizzlies added a run in the second, three in the third and five in the fourth.

By that point, Fresno had a commanding 14-5 lead.

The 51s, again, responded with five runs in the fourth thanks to two-run home runs from Victor Cruzado and Phillip Evans.

“I thought that we had good at-bats down by eight and made it a close game. … a couple hits from taking a lead or tying it,” Lopez said.

That never came, though.

Atkins had given up 13 runs, 12 of which were earned, in his outing, which lasted three-plus innings.

“(He) just (made) too many mistakes against a good hitting lineup,” Lopez said. “Whenever you’re facing a lineup like that, you really have to make sure you have your ‘A’ game on and just unfortunately that didn’t happen.”

That the 51s have been thin in the bullpen and needed innings from Atkins didn’t help.

“You’re trying to stretch your starter as much as you can to make sure you can cover the whole nine innings. If we would have had a full bullpen, then we could have done something earlier but unfortunately that wasn’t the case,” Lopez said.

After Atkins, the 51s ran out five relievers. Aside from scoreless innings from Kyle Regnault and Kevin McGowan, three relievers (Luis Mateo, Ben Rowen and Alberto Baldonado) gave up two runs apiece.

“We’ve always had pretty good high scoring against these guys even earlier in the season,” Evans said.

Evans led the way for the 51s with four hits and three runs driven in. Three others— Gavin Cecchini, Xorge Carrillo and Cruzado finished with three hits while Evans, along with Cecchini, Cruzado and Travis Taijeron each hit home runs in the loss.

“There’s nothing we can do. We’ve just got to keep going out there, try to get the job done,” Lopez said. “That’s what we’re going to do. That’s what we did today. That’s what we’re going to do tomorrow. And hopefully tomorrow will be a better outcome.”

Up next

Who: Fresno Grizzlies vs. Las Vegas 51s

When: 7:05 p.m. today

Where: Cashman Field

Starters: Trent Thornton (6-2, 5.21 ERA) vs. Tyler Pill (4-3, 3.80 ERA)

Next five

Thursday: Fresno at Las Vegas, 7:05 p.m.

Friday: Las Vegas at Memphis, 5:05 p.m. PDT

Saturday:Las Vegas at Memphis, 4:35 p.m. PDT

Sunday: Las Vegas at Memphis, 12:05 p.m. PDT

Monday:Las Vegas at Memphis, 5:05 p.m. PDT

Update