Eight-run seventh ignites 51s’ victory

A season-high crowd of 8,844 was treated to two fireworks shows Friday night at Cashman Field -- the first of which was produced by the 51s, who erased a 9-0 deficit on their way to a 14-10 win over Sacramento.

"That shows the character of this team," said Las Vegas first baseman Brett Harper, who belted two solo home runs. "We've got a great group of guys, the locker room's awesome, and it shows if we get down 9-0, we can come back."

After losing eight of its previous nine games, Las Vegas (9-19) has won three of four.

"The last week or so we've been playing well," said Harper, who has four homers in his last three games and is batting a team-best .324. "We're starting to jell as a team a little bit, and the bats are starting to come around."

The 51s exploded for eight runs in the seventh inning to turn a 10-4 deficit into a 12-10 lead.

With the bases loaded and two outs in a 10-8 game, 51s shortstop Angel Sanchez delivered a two-run, game-tying double down the right-field line.

Center fielder Buck Coats, who went 5-for-5, followed with a two-run single to right-center field to give Las Vegas a 12-10 edge.

Harper and Jason Lane launched back-to-back homers to left-center in the eighth to punctuate the comeback win.

"Those nights don't come around very often. When you do have those nights, you want to take advantage of them," said Coats, who raised his average from .287 to .321. "I was glad that everybody came together. Our record doesn't show it, but we always fight to the end."

With two pitchers who opened the season in the big leagues starting for each team, the game shaped up as a pitching duel between River Cats left-hander Dana Eveland (Oakland Athletics) and Las Vegas left-hander David Purcey (Toronto Blue Jays).

But it quickly dissolved into a shootout as Sacramento scored three runs in the second and six in the third to take a 9-0 lead and chase Purcey, who allowed eight runs on eight hits in 2 1/3 innings.

The 51s began their comeback in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs on a bases-loaded walk by Randy Ruiz, a wild pitch and a throwing error by catcher Joel Galarraga.

Harper led off the fourth with his first homer of the game to make the score 9-4, and it stayed that way until the seventh, when Sacramento (15-13) scored a run to go up 10-4.

Sanchez singled to start the bottom of the inning, Coats doubled and Howie Clark followed with an RBI single to make the score 10-5 and extend his hitting streak to 10 games.

Ruiz lined a run-scoring single to make the score 10-6 and chase Eveland, who allowed eight runs on 10 hits in six innings.

Lane drew an RBI walk to close the gap to 10-7, and Ruiz scored on a groundout to pull the 51s within 10-8.

By the time the traditional postgame fireworks display began, the fans already had seen quite a show.

• NOTE -- Sacramento center fielder Eric Patterson finished a single shy of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with a homer, a triple, a double and five RBIs.

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