Fired-up 51s extend win streak to three

After getting ejected during a pitching change Thursday night, 51s manager Marty Brown twice kicked dirt on home-plate umpire Mike Lusky.

Brown's actions earned him a two-game suspension, but they also appeared to ignite Las Vegas' season-best three-game winning streak.

"If that doesn't light a fire under somebody, I don't know what does," Brown said Sunday following his first game back from suspension.

The 51s - who topped Tacoma 5-0 on Friday and 15-5 on Saturday with hitting coach Chad Mottola in charge - beat the Rainiers 5-2 on Sunday at Cashman Field to win their first series of the season.

"It kind of gets us fired up," catcher Yan Gomes said of Brown's outburst. "But more (so), it gets us loose knowing our coach is backing us up, no matter what."

Gomes put the 51s (9-15) ahead 1-0 in the second inning with an RBI double, and walked and scored in a four-run fourth.

Scott Richmond (2-2) handled the rest, allowing two runs on three hits in 6 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts in his best start of the year.

"It's nice to get one of those under your belt. Hopefully you can build off it and gain some momentum with it," the 6-foot-5-inch right-hander said. "We've got to do our part as a starting rotation. Hopefully everybody can build off each other's good starts."

Richmond allowed a double to Trayvon Robinson to lead off the game, then retired the next 13 batters, striking out the side in the third.

He set down 19 of the first 21 batters he faced before running into trouble in the seventh when he allowed a one-out single to Luis Jimenez and a two-out, two-run homer to Chih-Hsien Chiang.

Tacoma (9-15) threatened in the eighth and ninth, putting two runners on with two outs each time. But Ryota Igarashi got Mike Carp to ground out to second to end the eighth, and closer Chad Beck retired Johan Limonta on a groundout to second to notch his first save.

"We've got a lights out 'pen down there," Richmond said.

Danny Perales had two of the 51s' six hits, belting a leadoff double in the second to extend his hitting streak to eight games (12-for-28).

Travis d'Arnaud hit a leadoff single in the fourth to extend his hitting streak to nine games (13-for-36). Perales and Gomes walked to load the bases for Kevin Howard, who lined an RBI single to center in his first game since being promoted from Double-A New Hampshire.

After an RBI groundout by Mike McCoy made it 3-0, Adeiny Hechavarria delivered a two-run double to the left-center field gap for a 5-0 lead.

"It's kind of a contagious sport," Gomes said. "The more people start swinging, everybody starts swinging."

■ NOTES - 51s right fielder Moises Sierra went 0-for-4 as his 13-game hitting streak ended. A season-high crowd of 7,232 turned out for Little League Day.

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