51s conclude road trip with walk-off loss
The 51s were four outs away from a four-game sweep of Fresno.
Instead, they had to settle for winning three out of four, as Tony Kemp’s ninth-inning RBI single propelled the Grizzlies (70-56) to a 3-2 walk-off victory on Friday night at Chukchansi Park in the series finale.
“It was a tough loss but I thought it was a well-pitched game from both sides. I thought that both pitchers, (Mitch) Atkins and their guy (Rogelio Armenteros), did a really good job,” manager Pedro Lopez said. “We had big hits by (Jayce) Boyd and (Phillip) Evans and just unfortunately couldn’t finish it.”
Though the 51s (49-77) found themselves leading briefly in the eighth inning, it was a game they had mostly been trailing.
Fresno starter Armenteros shut Las Vegas down during his seven-inning outing, striking out nine. The 51s got their first hit of the game with two outs in the seventh inning.
Travis Snider’s single broke up the no-hit bid and after getting the last out of the seventh, Armenteros’ night was done.
“He just had his ‘A’ game on,” Lopez said. “Everything that he threw was a strike. He kept us off balance and he really pitched well.”
Atkins pitched well, too, giving up just a run in six innings on two hits, though he faced occasional trouble as he walked four.
“(He) did a really good job,” Lopez said. “I thought that a couple times (he) got in trouble trying to be too fine with pitches, but he made pitches when he needed to get out of jams. I thought he did a really good job and gave us a chance to win a ball game.”
Both starters had to settle for a no-decision, though, as Boyd tied the game at one with his eighth home run of the year in the eighth inning.
Shortly after, Evans hit an RBI double to give the 51s their only lead of the night.
In the bottom of the frame, Preston Tucker tied the game up with a two-out single off Alberto Baldonado, though the run was charged to Logan Taylor.
An inning later, Kemp also got to Baldonado, helping Fresno avoid the sweep.
After using the bullpen for the whole game on Thursday, Las Vegas had just Taylor, Baldonado and Jamie Callahan — who did not pitch — available to them on Friday.
“That’s the reason why we kind of stuck with Baldonado at the end,” Lopez said. “I thought that he did a good job. He made a couple bad pitches up in the zone but overall I thought he battled well.”
Despite the loss, Las Vegas finished its road trip with a 5-3 record,including a series split in El Paso and a series win in Fresno.
“Really good road trip,” Lopez said. “That’s seven games out of eight that we went into the … seventh, eighth inning with a lead. That’s actually kind of good. Still a winning road trip and I thought that we played really well.”
Up next
Who: Salt Lake Bees at 51s
When: 7:05 p.m. today
Where: Cashman Field
Starters: Osmer Morales (2-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Jonathan Albaladejo (1-2, 4.76 ERA)
Next five
Sunday: Salt Lake at Las Vegas, 7:05 p.m.
Monday: Salt Lake at Las Vegas, 7:05 p.m.
Tuesday: Salt Lake at Las Vegas, 7:05 p.m.
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Reno at Las Vegas, 7:05 p.m.
Update
The 51s will give out Kris Bryant bobbleheads to the first 2,500 fans in attendance on Saturday night. His father, Mike Bryant, will throw the ceremonial first pitch.
Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.
