Cubs finish off four-game beatdown of reeling 51s

It's a good thing Iowa isn't scheduled to return to Las Vegas for another two years. It might take that long for the 51s to recover from the thrashing the Cubs gave them at Cashman Field this week.

Iowa swept the four-game series by a combined score of 42-21 -- pounding Las Vegas 15-10 on Tuesday, 6-1 on Wednesday, 8-4 on Thursday and 13-6 on Friday in front of a season-high sellout crowd of 9,455.

The 51s (15-21) struggled in all aspects of their game in the series as they fell to 4-10 in May and 9-20 since their strong 6-1 start.

"We got our (butts) handed to us four straight days," Las Vegas manager Dan Rohn said. "We didn't do anything right.

"We didn't get big hits when we needed to, we didn't pitch when we needed to and we didn't play defense when we needed to. Other than that, we were fine."

Chad Tracy, Darwin Barney and Brad Snyder each had three hits Friday and combined for 10 RBIs for the Cubs, who extended their season-high win streak to five games and reached the .500 mark at 17-17.

Iowa's No. 8 hitter, left fielder Jim Adduci, finished 5-for-5 with four runs scored and the Cubs' No. 9 batter, second baseman Matt Camp, went 4-for-5.

Las Vegas rallied for three runs in the seventh -- on a two-run double by Kyle Phillips and an RBI single by Jarrett Hoffpauir -- to cut its deficit to 7-5.

But Iowa answered with four runs in the eighth and added two more in the ninth to finish off the 51s and its sweep.

Adduci led off the eighth with a single, Camp followed with a single to right field and both runners advanced on an error by 51s right fielder Chris Aguila.

Las Vegas committed three errors in each of the final two games of the series.

Barney, who finished a double shy of the cycle, delivered a two-run single to make it 9-5.

Tracy, batting .542 (13-for-24) in five games since getting optioned to Iowa by Chicago, drilled an RBI double to make it 10-5.

Micah Hoffpauir, who hit a three-run homer in each of the first two games of the series, added an RBI single to give the Cubs an 11-5 advantage.

"We weren't really in any of these games," Rohn said. "It's tough to battle back when you're down four or five runs every time."

Las Vegas starter Robert Ray (3-3), coming off a four-hit shutout of Tacoma, took the loss, allowing four earned runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings, with two walks and three strikeouts.

Cubs starter Casey Coleman (3-3) earned the win, giving up two earned runs on nine hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Hoffpauir led off the bottom of the first with a solo homer for the second straight day and finished with three hits. Raul Chavez and Jesus Merchan, who homered off Chicago prospect Jeff Samardzija in the ninth, added two hits apiece.

The 51s will try to snap their four-game slide today at home against the Omaha Royals, who feature former Green Valley High School and College of Southern Nevada standout Jordan Parraz.

"We've just got to play better," Rohn said. "We're not very good right now.

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