Nieuwenhuis, Muno step up for 51s in 9-5 win over Omaha
Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a two-run triple and stole home during the 51s’ five-run sixth inning, leading Las Vegas to a 9-5 win over the Omaha Storm Chasers in a Pacific Coast League game Saturday at Cashman Field.
The 51s (70-58) remained a half-game ahead of El Paso, which won 9-3 at Memphis, atop the Pacific South Division.
Danny Muno went 3-for-4 with a two-run double in the sixth for Las Vegas, which matched Omaha’s 12 hits.
51s starter Tim Stauffer (3-0) gave up five runs, four earned, on 10 hits and three walks and struck out one in 6 2/3 innings.
Las Vegas sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning against starter Casey Coleman but scored only three runs, on a bases-loaded wild pitch, a sacrifice fly by Nieuwenhuis and Travis Taijeron’s RBI single.
After Francisco Pena hit an RBI single in the second for the Storm Chasers (70-58), Jose Martinez launched a three-run homer in the third to put Omaha up 4-3.
Dilson Herrera, who finished 2-for-5, hit a two-out RBI single in the fourth to tie it.
Storm Chasers reliever Miguel Almonte (2-2) gave up all five sixth-inning runs on three hits and three walks.
Casey Kotchman went 4-for-4 with a double for Omaha, which left 11 runners on base.