Nimmo, Reynolds lead 51s past Salt Lake

Matt Reynolds got the offense going for the 51s early on Friday and finished it off late.

Reynolds drove in two runs in the second inning to give Las Vegas the first lead of the game and added an RBI double in the eighth to propel the 51s to a 5-4 victory over Salt Lake at Smith’s Ballpark.

“Matty’s been swinging the bat pretty well,” manager Wally Backman said. “I think he came back from the big leagues only hitting .230 something when he got here and he’s up to about .270 so he’s swung the bat of late the way I’ve seen him swing the bat before.”

Reynolds finished the day 2-for-4 to boost his batting average to .265 and extend his hitting streak to seven games. He also scored the game-tying run in the seventh inning when Brandon Nimmo, the league’s leading hitter, drove in a pair of runs to tie the game.

“We got some timely hitting tonight,” Backman said.

After Reynolds gave the 51s a two-run lead in the second, starter Ricky Knapp, recently called up from Double-A Binghamton, gave it right back, as Salt Lake scored three runs on four hits in the second.

“I thought he kept us in the game,” Backman said of Knapp. “He had that one inning where he gave up three runs … but he kept us in the game.”

Knapp gave up four runs on seven hits in his 5 2/3-inning outing as reliever Josh Edgin allowed an inherited runner to score to give the Bees a two-run lead in the sixth.

The 51s rallied right back. Travis Taijeron and Reynolds both reached on errors and after a Xorge Carrillo sacrifice bunt, Nimmo came through in the clutch to tie the game.

Reliever Jeff Walters pitched two perfect frames in the seventh and eighth on his way to picking up the win.

“We got good pitching tonight,” Backman said. “Our bullpen was very good.”

Closer Paul Sewald got himself into a little bit of trouble in the ninth with two outs, walking a pair of batters, but got Johnny Giavotella to fly out to Taijeron in foul territory to seal the save for the team’s third win in its past five games.

“The guys have come out and we had that meeting back a few days ago and these guys have played hard,” Backman said. “That’s all I can ask them to do is finish hard and that’s what they’re doing so they’re playing hard, they’re playing pretty good baseball.”

Betsy Helfand can be reached at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @BetsyHelfand

Up next

Who: Las Vegas 51s at Salt Lake Bees

When: 6:05 p.m. Saturday

Where: Smith’s Ballpark, Salt Lake City

Starters: Darin Gorski (5-4, 6.46 ERA), 51s, vs. Nate Smith (8-8, 4.55 ERA)

Upcoming

Sunday: Las Vegas at Salt Lake, 6:05 p.m.

Monday: Las Vegas at Salt Lake, 12:05 p.m.

Update

Gorski has thrown two consecutive quality starts, giving up three runs in six innings against Tacoma and then against El Paso. Smith has thrown three straight of his own. After giving up six runs in 5 1/3 innings to Round Rock, Smith is 1-1 with a 1.83 ERA in his past three starts, having allowed four runs in 19 2/3 innings.