Monell Walkoff Puts An End To 51s Losing Streak

Albuquerque Isotopes @ Las Vegas 51s

April 25, 2016

Shane Carle @ Duane Below

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10		R	H	E
Albuquerque	1	0	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	0		5	14	2
Las Vegas	1	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	1		6	13	0

W: Sewald (2-1, 3.48 ERA); L: Gonzalez (1-3, 8.31 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Duane Below (5.25 ERA) – 6 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 6 K, 2 HR, 84 Pitches (58 Strikes), 9 GO: 1 FO

Chase Bradford (H, 1, 0.79 ERA) – 1 IP, H, K, 1 GO: 1 FO

Jeff Walters (BS, 1, 5.79 ERA) – 1 IP, 3 H, R, BB, 1 FO

Paul Sewald – 2 IP, H, BB, 2 K, 3 GO: 1 FO

Batters

2B – Dilson Herrera – 2-5, R, 2B (6), SB (3), K

3B – Matt Reynolds – 1-4, 2B (2), RBI (5), BB, K

CF – Brandon Nimmo – 2-3, R

RF – Travis Taijeron – 2-5, 2 R, 2B (5), 2 K, GIDP

LF – T.J. Rivera – 2-5, R, 2B (6), RBI (11)

1B – Marc Krauss – 1-3, RBI (6), 2 BB

C – Rene Rivera – 1-1

PH/C – Johnny Monell – 2-4, R, HR (1), 2 RBI (6), K

Recap

            The 51s put an end to their 4-game losing streak Monday night thanks to a walkoff blast from Johnny Monell in the 10^th inning. Monell didn’t even start the game. He only entered because Rene Rivera had been removed after news of Travis d’Arnaud’s sore shoulder reached the desert. Brandon Nimmo also joined the lineup mid-game, taking over for Roger Bernadina in CF after he and Wally Backman were ejected in the bottom of the 3^rd inning, and finishing with a pair of hits, including one during their 4^th inning rally.

51s starter Duane Below didn’t have his best stuff, but he was efficient and kept the team ahead over 6 innings. The Isotopes actually went 4-5 off of Below in the 1^st inning, but they only scored one run. After the first two reached to put runners on the corners, Below caught Tim Smalling leaving for 2B too early. The run then came home on an RBI groundout, which means the only RBI came from the only batter without a hit. Cody Decker kept the inning alive with a single, and he’d try to score from 1B when Stephen Cardullo split Nimmo and Travis Taijeron for a double into the RF gap. Taijeron threw a strike to cutoff man Gavin Cecchini, and Cecchini one-hopped a throw right to the plate and in plenty of time for the final out of the frame.

The 51s were quick to get that run back, scoring after only two batters in the bottom half of the 1^st. Dilson Herrera led off the frame with a single, stole 2B, and then scored on Matt Reynolds second double of the year. They would jump ahead in the 3^rd after some initial controversy. Roger Bernadina was called out on a close play at 1B to start the frame, and then must’ve said something the ump didn’t like, because he was given a quick hook. Wally Backman would come running out of the dugout to step up for his player, but he was also given a quick hook. Travis Taijeron and T.J. Rivera might’ve been pumped up by the ejections, because they followed with well-struck doubles, and Rivera’s was hit over the right fielder’s head. Monell singled Rivera home later in the frame to make it a 3-1 game.

The Isotopes were quick to tie the game up in the 4^th, but Las Vegas would jump back ahead in their half of the inning. Decker and Cardullo went back-to-back off of Below in the top half of the 4^th. Nimmo came up for his first AB with two outs in the 4^th and singled to keep the frame alive. Taijeron then pulled a single into LF, and Nimmo was able to reach 3B on the hit. Isotopes starter Shane Carle then got the groundball he needed from Rivera, but Decker couldn’t hold onto the throw at 1B, so Nimmo came home to score, and the inning was extended. That allowed Marc Krauss to single home a Taijeron for a 5-3 Las Vegas lead before the inning ended.

Albuquerque was able to tie it with a run in the 6^th and 8^th inning, which set up the extra inning heroics for Monell. Paul Sewald kept the game tied during the 9^th and 10^th inning, retiring the final 5 Isotopes batters in a row. Monell then came up with one out in the bottom half of the frame and launched a 3-2 pitch just over the tall wall in right center field. The way Monell paused to watch it for a moment, I think he could tell off the bat that he had just won the game.

            This series wraps up Tuesday afternoon at 1:35 PM (on the East Coast), with Gabriel Ynoa (0-0, 1.53 ERA) scheduled to pitch for Las Vegas.

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