Eric Campbell and Travis Taijeron combine to beat Tacoma

Just like Saturday night, the 51s jumped out to an early lead, only to fall behind in the middle innings and retake the lead late.

This time it was Eric Campbell and Travis Taijeron who combined to be the heroes, with Taijeron driving in Campbell to tie the game in the sixth and put the 51s on top for good in the eighth in what amounted to a 6-5 win for Las Vegas over the Tacoma Rainiers.

For Taijeron, there was one thought in his head when he twice batted with a key run on third.”

“Score the run,” Taijeron said. “There’s not really too much to it. Baseball’s about keeping it simple pretty much and I walk up there and think score this run, no matter how you get it done.”

Campbell homered as part of a three-run first inning, then watched Tacoma take a 5-4 lead going to the sixth.

The sixth inning at-bat by Taijeron was the pivotal point in the game for Las Vegas. Down a run and with Campbell on third, Taijeron battled for seven pitches before lining a single to center to tie the game.

The next time the pair’s spots in the order came up, they did essentially the same thing, without the benefit of a hit.

With a tie game in the eighth, the 51s played small ball to plate the game-winner. Campbell walked, advanced to second on a Roger Bernadina bunt, then stole third. Taijeron, who singled home Campbell in the sixth inning to tie it, untied it with an RBI groundout.

“That’s the sign of a winning team, being able to score with the long ball then playing small ball, too,” Campbell said. “That’s what you’re going to have to do at this level and at the next level, too.”

Before the game, 51s manager Wally Backman announced right-hander Erik Goeddel would take over closing duties. Goeddel got his chance right away, taking the ball with a 5-4 lead in the ninth.

It got interesting, with runners getting to the corners with two outs, but he struck out Patrick Kivlehan to nail down the first save of his professional career.

“I couldn’t have asked it to go any better than that,” Backman said. “Telling Goeddel last night in the meeting that he’s the closer and coming in and doing what he did, I thought he did a nice job.”

With the victory, Las Vegas improved to 6-2 on Sundays and 9-4 in day games. It was their 16th come-from-behind victory of the season. The 51s are 5-1 against Tacoma this season.

Justin Emerson can be reached at jemerson@reviewjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @J15Emerson