Carpenter’s strong start follows suit for hot 51s

Hitting has long been considered contagious. Pitching, as it turns out, might also be.

It was for the 51s on Sunday, when Andrew Carpenter combined with three relievers on Las Vegas' second straight six-hitter in a 5-2 victory over Memphis in front of 4,078 at Cashman Field.

Carpenter (1-0), a burly right-hander, allowed one earned run on five hits in six innings a day after left-hander Aaron Laffey pitched a complete game in a 5-3 win over the Redbirds.

Laffey retired the final 17 batters he faced Saturday, striking out the side in the ninth, and threw 68 of his 86 pitches for strikes.

"I think that really got Carpenter going," 51s manager Marty Brown said.

It was the longest outing of the season for Carpenter, who made his fourth straight start after opening the year with nine relief appearances.

"We all build off of each other for everything, so if we have a couple good starts in a row, our hitters get confidence and score some runs and our pitchers want to keep pitching good," said Carpenter, who turned 27 on Friday.

Jim Hoey, Ryota Igarashi and Chad Beck each pitched a scoreless inning of relief, with a strikeout apiece.

Igarashi cut his ERA to 0.90 and Beck lowered his to 0.96 while earning his seventh save in eight chances for Las Vegas (22-21), which is 16-6 since a 6-15 start.

"Our pitching has been more consistent," Brown said. "Our starting pitchers have been giving us a chance and our bullpen's been solid all year.

"Offensively, we don't give up."

Every player in Las Vegas' lineup had a hit except for third baseman Chris Woodward, who doubled and homered Saturday.

Ruben Gotay went 3-for-4 with a two-run single in the 51s' four-run sixth inning. The veteran second baseman has hit safely in 10 of 11 games, batting .389 (14-for-36) in that span and .365 overall.

He has managed to stay sharp despite appearing in only 18 of the team's 43 games.

"You've got to keep your mind positive and every time you get a chance give 100 percent, no excuses," Gotay said. "I keep my confidence up always and I'm always ready to play."

■ NOTES - 51s left fielder Travis Snider missed his third straight game with a sore wrist that landed him on the disabled list April 26. He was activated May 9 and appeared in seven games for Las Vegas, going 2-for-21 with a homer and double, before sitting out over the weekend. "We're just trying to get him to 100 percent," Brown said. "When he came back, he felt like something was still a little tweaked. He's on his way to being 100 percent. I don't think he's that far off." First baseman Adam Lind made his first appearance for the 51s since being sent down from Toronto on Thursday. He went 1-for-3 with a single and a walk and made a fielding error.

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