51s Comeback Comes Up Short Against Sacramento

Sacramento River Cats @ Las Vegas 51s

May 14, 2015

Clayton Blackburn @ Duane Below

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Sacramento	2	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0		6	14	0
Las Vegas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0		5	9	1

W: Blackburn (1-1, 1.64 ERA); L: Below (2-2, 3.47 ERA); S: Strickland (4, 1.83 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Duane Below – 6 IP, 11 H, 6 R, BB, 3 SO, 2 HR, 87 Pitches (61 Strikes), 5 GO: 5 FO

Cody Satterwhite (7.56 ERA) – 2 IP, 2 H, 3 SO, 3 GO

Chase Bradford (2.76 ERA) – 1 IP, H, SO, 1 GO

Batters

Matt Reynolds – 1-5, R

Darrell Ceciliani – 1-4, R, SO

Eric Campbell – 1-4 R, 2B (5), RBI (13), SO

Brooks Conrad – 1-2, 2B (4), 2 BB

Brandon Allen – 2-4, RBI (17), SO

Wilfredo Tovar – 1-4, R, SB (9)

PH Danny Muno – 1-1

PH Kyle Johnson – 1-1, R, HR (1), 2 RBI (9)

Recap

            The River Cats jumped out on Duane Below early Thursday night, and built up just enough of a lead to hold off a late comeback attempt from the 51s. Sacramento starter Clayton Blackburn was in control of the Las Vegas lineup through his 6 innings, allowing only 3 H and a BB, with 6 strikeouts and 6 groundouts. After being held quiet for the first 7 innings, Las Vegas erupted for 5 straight hits in the 8^th, scoring 5 runs in the frame, with Travis Taijeron stranded at 2B. Cats reliever Hunter Strickland took over with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 8^th, and retired all 6 batter he faced (although two runs would score), while lighting up the radar gun.

            Duane Below retired the first two River Cats batters in the 1^st, but then Hunter Pence beat out a close play at 1B, which snowballed into a two-run inning. Following Pence was another rehabbing major leaguer, Travis Ishikawa, who would double him to 3B. Both runners came home on a single from Adam Duvall before Below recovered to strikeout Jarrett Parker. They hit two bombs off of Below in the 3^rd, including one that still hasn’t landed off the bat of Pence. In the 5^th, Brett Jackson led off with a single, moved to 2B when Ehire Adrianza was walked, to 3B on a fly out from Pence, and then scored on an Ishikawa single into RF. If he hadn’t taken 3B on the fly out to CF from Pence, Jackson might not have scored on the single right in front of Taijeron in RF, and the 51s might’ve tied the game in the 8^th.

            Speaking of the 8^th, it was the type of outburst we’ve come to expect from these 51s, who have been an even better version of last year’s 51s in that regard. Wilfredo Tovar led off with a single, and then stole 2B for his 9^th steal in 12 attempts this year. Kyle Johnson followed with his first AAA bomb, crushed to LF. Matt Reynolds nearly went back-to-back with Johnson, but his single bounced off the top of the tall wall in left-center – not exactly busting it out of the box. Darrell Ceciliani followed with a single, and then Eric Campbell doubled Reynolds home to make it a 6-3 game. After Brooks Conrad was walked, the Cats went to closer Hunter Strickland as part of a double switch. Brandon Allen and Travis Taijeron hit back-to-back groundouts, which brought one runner home, and left it up to Dan Rohlfing with runners on the corners. Rohlfing would strikeout, but not before a wild pitch brought home Eric Campbell.

            Cody Satterwhite came in for two of his best innings of the year, allowing only two singles, both coming off the bats of rehabbing major leaguers – both were groundballs hit back up the middle. This was his longest scoreless outing of the season, so hopefully he can build on it. Chase Bradford has been the most consistent 51s reliever since the middle of last year, and he appears next in line should the Mets need another bullpen arm.
            This series concludes Friday night at 10:05 PM, with Steven Matz taking the mound looking to give Las Vegas a 4-game series win.

NASA research reveals Europa’s mystery dark material could be sea salt, http://t.co/awCyrUJ8lH pic.twitter.com/N9Itw52z6a

— Astronomy Magazine (@AstronomyMag) May 13, 2015