Burres heats up to help 51s rally

Firing more than 100 pitches in temperatures topping 100 degrees is enough to wear down many pitchers. But on a sun-splashed Sunday at Cashman Field, 51s left-hander Brian Burres got stronger as the game went on.

Burres overcame a shaky start, retiring the last nine batters he faced, to help Las Vegas to a 6-3 victory over the Sacramento River Cats.

The 51s (33-44) scored two runs in the fourth inning and four in the fifth to erase an early 3-0 deficit.

"After we scored some runs and had a longer inning, I really had a chance to catch my breath, and when I went back out there, I felt a little more fresh," Burres said. "From then on, I found a little more of a stride."

After tossing a four-hit shutout at Reno on June 17, Burres allowed 10 runs on 13 hits Tuesday in a 14-4 loss at Tacoma.

He struggled again early on against Sacramento (47-29), giving up three runs on seven hits in the first three innings.

But he allowed just two more hits, finishing with one walk and eight strikeouts, in seven innings. Burres (5-6) threw 67 of his 103 pitches for strikes.

"At the beginning, I was struggling kind of with everything," he said. "I was struggling with my location early, but then that started coming back a little bit."

As Burres settled down -- retiring six of the eight batters he faced in the fourth and fifth innings -- his teammates came alive.

Howie Clark singled to lead off the fourth and scored on an RBI double by Randy Ruiz, who leads the Pacific Coast League with 30 doubles and 66 RBIs.

Ruiz scored on an RBI groundout by Aaron Mathews to make it 3-2, and the 51s rallied for four more runs in the fifth. Jason Lane led off the inning with a ground-rule double down the left-field line and scored on an RBI single by Angel Sanchez to tie the game at 3.

Buck Coats singled, and Clark reached on a fielding error by River Cats second baseman Gregorio Petit to load the bases.

With two outs, J.P. Arencibia belted a tiebreaking two-run double off the left-field wall, and Mathews followed with an RBI single to make it 6-3.

Burres retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh, and Bill Murphy and Bryan Bullington each pitched a scoreless inning to preserve the victory.

"I've always thought Burres gets better as the game goes on, and he showed that today," said 51s third baseman Kevin Howard, who doubled to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. "Sometimes he takes a couple innings to find his stuff, but when he gets locked in, he starts throwing all his pitches for strikes and he's tough to hit."

Matt Carson hit a solo homer for Sacramento, and Tommy Everidge and Travis Buck each had an RBI single.

• NOTES -- Las Vegas relief pitcher Brian Wolfe was placed on the DL, and left-hander Brad Mills was optioned to Las Vegas from Toronto after allowing 12 runs on 14 hits in his first two major league starts.

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