Ray’s shaky outing doesn’t derail 51s

When he walked off the mound in the middle of the fifth inning, 51s right-hander Robert Ray was in line to be the winning pitcher.

That was the positive spin on one of his worst starts of the season. Ray allowed season highs of eight runs and 11 hits, including three home runs, and on most nights he would have walked off a loser.

But every pitcher appreciates run support, and Ray got an abundance of it to pick up an unlikely victory Friday at Cashman Field.

Mike Jacobs and Brian Jeroloman hit two-run homers to lift Las Vegas, which outlasted the Memphis Redbirds 12-10 in a Pacific Coast League slugfest.

"At this point, you'll take them however you can get them," Ray said.

Jacobs, acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays in a July 30 trade with the New York Mets, went 3-for-4 with four RBIs to continue his hot hitting for the 51s (55-59). He's batting .467 after eight games.

Ray (5-5) was sharp in spots while striking out six and walking one. Three of the runs he allowed were unearned.

"I'm just having trouble staying out of the big inning," said Ray, who has a 5.30 ERA after 13 starts. "I felt good physically. One of the home runs was a bad pitch, and a couple hits I give up were bad pitches as far as location."

Ray allowed three runs on five hits in the second inning. He was beat up again in the third, when the Redbirds scored three times on four hits. Still, he managed to survive and go the required five innings.

Jacobs' towering homer in the third inning put the 51s up 9-6, and Ray left with a 9-8 lead after pitching a perfect fifth.

Ruben Gotay, Nick Stavinoha and Mark Hamilton homered for Memphis (62-52).

Las Vegas manager Dan Rohn said his depleted pitching staff is forcing his starters to go longer, so he never considered lifting Ray earlier.

"He pitched better than the other guy. It was a battle of attrition for both sides," Rohn said. "This is Vegas baseball right now. The wind is blowing out 30 mph, it's 105 degrees, and the field is harder than a rock.

"The bottom line is that we've got to get innings out of somebody, somehow. All you can do is go up there and keep scoring runs, and it's the last man standing most of the time in this ballpark."

■ NOTE -- The Blue Jays recalled left-hander Brad Mills, who will start today against Tampa Bay. Mills, 8-4 with a 4.20 ERA in 17 starts for Las Vegas, threw seven innings in Toronto's 5-0 victory over Baltimore on July 28.

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at
myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.