Gabriel Ynoa’s Dominance Finally Pays Off For Las Vegas

Albuquerque Isotopes @ Las Vegas 51s

April 26, 2016

Ryan Carpenter @ Gabriel Ynoa

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Albuquerque	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0		2	6	1
Las Vegas	0	0	0	1	0	3	3	0	X		7	12	2

W: Ynoa (1-0, 1.48 ERA); L: Carpenter (1-2, 5.09 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Gabriel Ynoa (W, 1-0, 1.48 ERA) – 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 3 K, HBP, 91 Pitches (69 Strikes), 9 GO: 4 FO

Dario Alvarez (H, 1, 7.36 ERA) – 0.2 IP, K, 1 GO, 2 IR – 0 S

Zach Thornton (5.79 ERA) – 0.2 IP

Josh Smoker (4.70 ERA) – 1 IP, H, BB, 2 K, 1 GO

Batters

2B – Dilson Herrera – 1-5, 2B (7), 3 K

SS – Gavin Cecchini – 2-3, 2 R, HR (1), RBI (4), BB

3B – T.J. Rivera – 3-4, 3 R, 2B (7), HR (1), RBI (12), SB (1)

RF – Travis Taijeron – 1-4, R, RBI (10), K

C – Johnny Monell – 1-3, R, HBP, K

LF – Ty Kelly – 3-3, 2 RBI (8), BB, CS

1B – Marc Krauss – 1-4, RBI (7), K

Recap

            The Las Vegas 51s will rest a little easier during their off day today having won a second straight game against Albuquerque Tuesday afternoon. Given the way they’ve played the past two days after struggling early in the season, manager Wally Backman might actually prefer his players have a game Wednesday, but everyone needs their rest, and it’s the first scheduled off day for the club this year. The club got great starting pitching, relief pitching, and a huge offensive performance, which included two homeruns. Basically, they did everything right except committing two errors.

The 51s received another great performance from Gabriel Ynoa Tuesday morning, and he lowered his ERA slightly to a now miniscule 1.48. That leads the PCL, and he’s tied for third in IP (24.1), with fewer hits allowed than any starter within 8 IP of him as of this writing (except for the one he is tied with) – teammate Sean Gilmartin was the first pitcher on the MiLB.com IP leaderboard with a lower hit total. 51s announcer Russ Langer didn’t call of the pitches (and it was too sunny to read the scoreboard), but the ones he did I caught below, and Ynoa’s fastball was light for most of the start. He was sitting 87-90 for most of the calls, and Langer mentioned the 92/93 were where he had topped out after he first hit them.

The game was a pitcher’s duel until Las Vegas blew it open in the 6^th and 7^th inning. T.J. Rivera was the offensive hero, finishing a triple shy of the cycle, and scoring 3 runs on his own. He sparked the first run of the game with a double leading off the 4^th inning, scoring on a Ty Kelly single three batters later.

The Isotopes were quick to get that run back in the 5^th thanks to a safety squeeze play. Tim Smalling led off with a single and worked his way around to 3B with one out and the pitcher at the plate. Ryan Carpenter was allowed to bat, and he’d lay down a two-strike bunt that was hit hard at Ynoa. Ynoa fielded and looked over at Smalling, but Smalling didn’t flinch until Ynoa spun and threw to 1B. The play at 1B ended up close as it was, but Marc Krauss had to quickly come off the bag and try to get the out at home. His throw just beat Smalling, but Monell had to turn his body to apply the tag, and that was enough time for Smalling to get in.

Gavin Cecchini and T.J. Rivera hit back-to-back homeruns leading off the 6^th inning, with both going out to left center field. Monell and Kelly kept the inning going with singles, and Krauss brought home the third run of the inning with a two out single of his own.

The Isotopes still had a little fight left in them at this point, and they managed to get one run back in the 7^th. Ryan Casteel led off with a double, and Joey Wong singled him home two batters later to make it a 4-2 game.

Dilson Herrera would start the final rally for Las Vegas with a leadoff double in the bottom half of the 7^th inning. Dilson would be erased from the base paths on a force out when Rivera tried to bunt him over to 3B, but then weirdness ensued, and it benefitted Las Vegas. Travis Taijeron hit an ordinary single into CF that bounced by Juan Ciriaco (who was making his first start in CF) and rolled long enough to let two runs score and Taijeron advance to 3B. Kelly added another RBI single with two outs in the frame, and the 51s suddenly had a huge 7-2 lead.

The 51s pen wasn’t left with much work, but they did their job well, finally protecting the lead Ynoa left with for his first win. After an off day Wednesday, the 51s welcome Tacoma into town for a 4-game series starting Thursday night at 10:05. Sean Gilmartin (1-1, 1.62 ERA) is scheduled to take the hill for Las Vegas as they work their way back to .500.

Pitcher Coverage

Table 1 – Pitch stats by inning

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	Total
Total	26	6	9	8	15	8	19	91
Strikes	18	6	7	6	13	5	14	69
Swinging*	3	1	1	2	2	1	1	11

*12.1% Swinging strike rate

1^st inning

1)   Rafael Ynoa struck out swinging (K/Sw)

                                  i.         – called strike 0-1

                                ii.         – swinging strike 0-2

                               iii.         – swinging strike 3

2)   Jordan Patterson hit a groundout to Dilson Herrera (43/G)

                                  i.         – called strike 0-1

                                ii.         – ball 1-1, low and inside

                               iii.         – ball 2-1

                               iv.         – foul 2-2

                                v.         – foul 2-2

                               vi.         87 MPH Fastball – ball 3-2, inside at the knees

                             vii.         – foul 3-2

                            viii.         89 MPH Fastball – foul 3-2

                               ix.         In play

3)   Stephen Cardullo was hit by a pitch (HBP)

                                  i.         Fastball – foul 0-1

                                ii.         HBP

4)   Cody Decker walked (BB)

                                  i.         88 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1, outside corner

                                ii.         – ball 1-1, outside and low

                               iii.         89 MPH Fastball – called strike 1-2, outside corner

                               iv.         Fastball – foul 1-2

                                v.         82 MPH Changeup – ball 2-2, low

                               vi.         – ball 3-2, outside

                             vii.         Changeup – foul 3-2

                            viii.         90 MPH Fastball – foul 3-2

                               ix.         Fastball – ball 4, high

5)   Ryan Casteel struck out swinging (K/Sw)

                                  i.         90 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1, inside corner

                                ii.         Fastball – foul 0-2

                               iii.         81 MPH Changeup – swinging strike 3

2^nd inning

1)   Tim Smalling flied out to Nimmo (8/F)

                                  i.         – called strike 0-1

                                ii.         In play

2)   Joey Wong lined out to LF (7/L)

                                  i.         – called strike 0-1

                                ii.         89 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 0-2

                               iii.         In play

3)   Juan Ciriaco hit a one-hopper to Rivera (53/G)

                                  i.         In play

3^rd inning

1)   Ryan Carpenter struck out swinging (K/Sw)

                                  i.         – foul 0-1

                                ii.         – foul 0-2

                               iii.         91 MPH Fastball – ball, up and away

                               iv.         89 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 3

2)   Ynoa hit a grounder back up the middle for a single (S8/G)

                                  i.         – called strike 0-1

                                ii.         In play

3)   Patterson hit a comebacker to Ynoa that started a double play (163/G)

                                  i.         Changeup – ball 1-0, outside

                                ii.         – called strike 1-1, outside corner

                               iii.         Fastball – In play

4^th inning

1)   Cardullo reaches on an E6 – high chopper ate Cecchini up (E6/G)

                                  i.         Slider – swinging strike 0-1

                                ii.         90 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 0-1

                               iii.         Slider – In play

2)   Decker hit a slow dribbler to Dilson that started a double play – Dilson applied the tag (43/G)

                                  i.         Fastball – ball 1-0, outside

                                ii.         In play

3)   Casteel popped out to Krauss halfway up the 1B line (3/P)

                                  i.         – foul 0-1

                                ii.         92 MPH Fastball – ball 1-1, high

                               iii.         Slider – In play

5^th inning

1)   Smalling lined a single into CF (S8/L)

                                  i.         – called strike 0-1

                                ii.         88 MPH Fastball – In play

2)   Wong hit a slow chopper towards 1B that was misplayed by Krauss (E3/G)

                                  i.         – foul 0-1

                                ii.         – ball 1-1, outside

                               iii.         – foul 1-2

                               iv.         In play

3)   Ciriaco flied out to Nimmo in right-center (8/F)

                                  i.         – called strike 0-1

                                ii.         In play

4)   Carpenter with an RBI sac bunt hit up the 3B line – Ynoa fielded it and looked to Smalling, but then Smalling still broke for home when he threw to 1B and just made it ahead of the tag (SAC/13)

                                  i.         92 MPH Fastball – bunt foul 0-1

                                ii.         93 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 0-2

                               iii.         Fastball – foul 0-2

                               iv.         Fastball – ball 1-2, high

                                v.         In play

5)   Ynoa flied out to Nimmo (8/F)

                                  i.         Changeup – swinging strike 0-1

                                ii.         In play

6^th inning

1)   Patterson blooped a single just out of the reach of Rivera and into LF (S5/P)

                                  i.         In play

2)   Cardullo hit a slow grounder to Dilson for a force out at 2B (46/G)

                                  i.         Fastball – ball 1-0, inside

                                ii.         Slider – swinging strike 1-1

                               iii.         Changeup – foul 1-2

                               iv.         Changeup – ball 2-2, low

                                v.         Slider – in play

3)   Decker popped out to Nimmo in shallow CF (8/P)

                                  i.         In play

4)   Casteel was up to the plate when Cardullo was picked off at 1B by Monell – Cardullo had broke for 2B on the pitch, but stumbled, and was caught trying to get back to the bag (PO)

                                  i.         – ball 1-0

7^th inning

1)   Casteel doubled to deep left center field (D8/L)

                                  i.         – called strike 0-1

                                ii.         – swinging strike 0-2

                               iii.         Slider – in play

2)   Smalling flied out to deep LF (7/F)

                                  i.         – called strike 0-1, inside corner

                                ii.         In play

3)   Wong lined an RBI single to CF (S8/L)

                                  i.         – foul 0-1

                                ii.         – foul 0-2

                               iii.         In play

4)   Ciriaco tapped a comebacker halfway to the mound (13/G)

                                  i.         Fastball – ball 1-0, up and in

                                ii.         – called strike 1-1, inside corner

                               iii.         – foul 1-2

                               iv.         90 MPH Fastball – foul 1-2

                                v.         Slider – in play

5)   PH Chris Nelson walked (BB)

                                  i.         Fastball – ball 1-0, outside

                                ii.         Slider – ball 2-0, bounced

                               iii.         Fastball – ball 3-0, high

                               iv.         – called 3-1

                                v.         – foul 3-2

                               vi.         – ball 4 outside

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