Loewen, 51s walk past Round Rock

Adam Loewen didn't have to do much Tuesday to emerge as the hero for the 51s.

All he had to do, joked Las Vegas left-hander Rommie Lewis, was not swing.

Loewen drew a bases-loaded, walk-off walk with one out in the ninth inning to lift the 51s to a 9-8 comeback victory over Round Rock in front of a "School Day" sellout crowd of 11,001 at Cashman Field.

Express right-hander Justin Miller imploded in the ninth, allowing three runs on two hits and four walks as Las Vegas capped a rally from an 8-3 eighth-inning deficit.

"He was a bit all over the place," Loewen said. "Once I got ahead in the count, I was looking for my pitch in the middle of the zone and I didn't get it."

Brett Lawrie, who finished a double shy of the cycle for the 51s (22-18), tripled to deep center field to lead off the eighth and scored on David Cooper's sacrifice fly to make the score 8-4.

Loewen walked and Jason Lane followed with a two-run homer to left to cut the gap to 8-6.

Pinch-hitter Dewayne Wise led off the ninth with a solo homer off the light pole in right field to make the score 8-7.

Mike McCoy and Lawrie drew one-out walks and Travis Snider launched an opposite-field RBI double off the left-field wall to knot the score at 8 and snap a 3-for-32 skid.

Cooper was intentionally walked to load the bases for Loewen, who was mobbed by his teammates at first after the winning walk.

"We know we can always come back when we're down," said Loewen, who also doubled.

The 51s went 6-2 on their first winning homestand of the season and have won 12 of 15. They took three of four from Albuquerque and Round Rock, which they defeated twice in walk-off fashion.

"The thing about this team is we never give up. We always somehow battle back," said Lawrie, who has a "Never Surrender" tattoo on the inside of his right forearm. "We're playing the game the right way right now. Guys are throwing the ball, and we're having good at-bats."

Lawrie, who went 3-for-3 with three runs, belted an opposite-field solo homer to right in the third to give Las Vegas a 2-0 lead and stroked an RBI single to left in the fifth for a 3-1 edge.

Round Rock (24-15) rallied for four runs in the sixth to take a 5-3 lead and added three runs in the eighth.

51s starter Michael MacDonald allowed four straight two-out RBI hits in the sixth. Brian Barden doubled for Round Rock to make the score 3-2, and Chad Tracy doubled to tie it at 3. Brad Nelson tripled for a 4-3 edge, and Luis Cruz followed with an infield single to make the score 5-3.

Nelson added an RBI single in the eighth to give the Express a 6-3 lead, and Cruz cracked an RBI double and scored to make it 8-3.

"Round Rock's a very good team," Las Vegas manager Marty Brown said. "Any time you can take three of four from them, you've achieved something."

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