Gee handcuffs Zephyrs as 51s extend division lead

Dillon Gee pitched seven shutout innings, and Brandon Allen and Darrell Ceciliani homered to power the 51s to a 3-0 win over the New Orleans Zephyrs in a Pacific Coast League game Tuesday in Metairie, La.

With the victory, coupled with El Paso's 10-4 loss to Colorado Springs, Las Vegas (72-59) extended its lead over the Chihuahuas to 2½ games atop the Pacific South Division.

Gee (7-3) gave up seven hits and no walks and struck out two, throwing 74 of his 100 pitches for strikes. The 29-year-old right-hander induced 11 groundouts and held New Orleans (52-79) hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position.

The 51s opened the scoring in the third inning, when Ceciliani walked with two outs and scored when the Zephyrs committed two errors on a single by Eric Campbell.

Allen led off the fourth with his 16th home run of the season, and Ceciliani went deep for the ninth time with one out in the fifth.

Campbell finished 4-for-5 with a double, and Jayce Boyd went 2-for-4 with a double for Las Vegas, which stranded 10 runners and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Austin Nola went 3-for-4 for New Orleans, which matched the 51s' 10 hits. All of the Zephyrs' hits were singles.

Pat Urckfitz (0-5), the first of four New Orleans relievers, gave up two runs, one earned, on two hits and two walks in two innings.

John Church pitched around two ninth-inning singles to post his fourth save.