Nimmo Erupts In Rain-Shortened Opener Against Rainiers

Tacoma Rainiers @ Las Vegas 51s

April 28, 2016

Donn Roach @ Sean Gilmartin

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Tacoma	0	0	0	0	1	X	X	X	X		1	2	2
Las Vegas	2	2	4	0	X	X	X	X	X		8	10	0

W: Gilmartin (2-1, 1.66 ERA); L: Roach (1-2, 10.59 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

Not enough infield protection from the rain

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Sean Gilmartin (W, 2-1, 1.66 ERA) – 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 2B, 3 TB, 4 BB, 5 K (5 K/Sw), 5 GB: 1 FB: 4 LD: 1 PU, 82 Pitches (46 Strikes), 10 Swinging, 11 Called, 12.2% SwStr, 28.6% Whiff/Swing, 16.4 Pitches/IP, 20 BF

Batters

CF Brandon Nimmo - 3-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 3.33 Pitches/PA

3B Matt Reynolds - 2-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 Pitches/PA

RF Roger Bernadina - 1-3, 1 K, 7.7% SwStr, 25% Whiff/Swing, 4.33 Pitches/PA

DH Travis Taijeron - 1-2, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 3.67 Pitches/PA

2B T.J. Rivera - 1-3, 1 R, 4 Pitches/PA

SS Gavin Cecchini - 1-3, 1 R, 1 K, 6.2% SwStr, 11.1% Whiff/Swing, 5.33 Pitches/PA

1B Marc Krauss - 1-2, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 22.2% SwStr, 50% Whiff/Swing, 4.5 Pitches/PA

Recapish

            The 51s erupted for a big lead Thursday night, and the weather held out just long enough for them to pick up their third straight win. Las Vegas starter Sean Gilmartin was a little wild, but the Rainiers had trouble squaring him up, and he ended up with he 5-inning complete game win. Brandon Nimmo led the way on offense, picking up a hit in each of the first 3 innings, including a bases clearing double in the 3^rd.

            The Las Vegas bats were hot from the start and finished 10-23 in this game. Nimmo and Matt Reynolds led off the 1^st with singles, and Travis Taijeron doubled them home for a quick 2-0 lead.

Gilmartin responded with his quickest inning of the night, and the only 1-2-3 inning he’d have in this start.

A two out error by Tacoma second baseman Shawn O’Malley opened the door for a second Las Vegas rally in the 2^nd inning. Nimmo followed with his second hit, singling to CF to advance Ty Kelly to 3B, and then advancing to 2B on the throw. Reynolds hit a grounder up the middle that led to an infield single, and the first baseman missed the catch on the play, which allowed Nimmo to come around from 2B and score. It was the great baserunning of Kelly and Nimmo in the inning that led to both runs.

            Tacoma would put together a threat against Gilmartin in the 3^rd when a one out walk nearly came around to score. After walking, Daniel Robertson would steal 2B with two outs and Chris Taylor at the plate. Taylor lined a single into RF, so Robertson tried to come home and score, but Roger Bernadina would throw a strike to the plate to nail him before the run came home.

            The 51s put this game out of reach with a big 3^rd inning. T.J. Rivera, Gavin Cecchini, and Marc Krauss hit consecutive singles for a run early in the frame. After a Ty Kelly walk loaded the bases, Brandon Nimmo picked up the biggest hit of the game, clearing the bases on a double to RF.

            Mike Baxter would hit a leadoff double against Gilmartin and then come around to score in the 5^th, but rain had started to fall pretty hard in the frame. Once the final out of the top half was recorded the umpires called for a break and some tarp was brought onto the field. They don’t have a full tarp at Cashman field, so the infield took on puddles while they waited out the rain over the next hour, and it was too much for the grounds crew to fix with dry dirt.

            These two play each other in Las Vegas all weekend, so hopefully rain won’t continue to be a problem – there have already been two rain postponements at Cashman this year, and one is unusual. The 51s are scheduled to send Rafael Montero to the hill for the 10:05 PM ET start time. He’ll be looking to go deeper than the 4 innings he threw last time out, and Las Vegas can get back to .500 with a win.

Pitcher Coverage

Table 1 – Gilmartin pitch stats by inning

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Total
Total	17	10	24	20	11	82
Strikes	8	8	13	10	7	46
Swinging*	1	3	3	3	0	10

*12.2% Swinging strike rate

First pitch strike to 10/20 batters faced (50%)

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