Arencibia powers 51s’ winning rally in ninth

51s manager Dan Rohn has been involved in professional baseball since 1977. But he's never seen a player stay on a hot streak longer than Las Vegas catcher J.P. Arencibia, who has 19 home runs and 42 RBIs in his last 34 games.

"He just keeps doing it. He's amazing right now," Rohn said. "I've never had a guy that hot for that long. It's pretty fun to watch, actually."

Arencibia, who leads the minor leagues with 28 home runs, launched a towering, tying blast in the ninth inning and Raul Chavez lined a bases-loaded single to give Las Vegas its second walk-off victory of the season at Cashman Field, 10-9 over the Tacoma Rainiers on Monday.

"I was looking for something to hit up the middle. It was a one-run game, so I just wanted to get on and give us a chance to tie it up," said Arencibia, who hit his third home run in five games since the Triple-A All-Star break to make it 9-9.

Arencibia has hit safely in 32 of his last 34 games, raising his average from .254 to .316.

"(Rainiers reliever Levale Speigner) threw a slider and it kind of hung over the middle of the plate, and I was able to put a good swing on it," he said.

Arencibia, who hit .236 with 21 home runs and 75 RBIs last season for Las Vegas (46-50), also supplied an RBI double and sacrifice fly, giving him three RBIs for the game and 69 this season.

"I've been locked in like this before for a week or two, but never for this extended period," said the 2007 first-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays.

"A lot of it has to do with me failing last year. I've been trying to be consistent in my mental and physical approach every day and it's been paying off. It's been a fun time."

Brad Emaus and Aaron Mathews followed Arencibia's home run with consecutive singles to center, putting runners at first and third.

Speigner intentionally walked Adam Calderone to load the bases for Chavez, who lined a 2-0 pitch to left field to give Las Vegas its third victory in five games since the break.

"I was thinking, don't do too much, put the ball in play and see what happens," said Chavez, who started at catcher in place of Arencibia, who was the designated hitter. "I got a 2-0 count and was looking for my pitch and I hit it good on the ground. I'm happy for that."

Mathews had three hits and Mike McCoy, Manny Mayorson, Emaus and Chavez added two hits apiece in Las Vegas' 14-hit attack.

Emaus hit a three-run homer to cap the 51s' five-run second inning as they took a 7-3 lead.

But the Northern Division-leading Rainiers (53-42) scored five runs in the sixth, capped by a three-run homer by Matt Mangini, to take a 9-7 edge.

Jesse Carlson (3-1) pitched two scoreless innings to get the victory, allowing one hit with two strikeouts and no walks.

"This is one you want to just hold your hat on," Rohn said. "Usually the last at-bat has the advantage and it did tonight.

"It's always nice to win in dramatic fashion, I just wish we didn't have to do it too often."

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