Saturday, April 18, 2009 | 11:26 p.m.
Sun Archives
- 51s rally for victory in home opener (4-18-09)
- Inglett trying to ‘grind’ his way back north of the border (4-14-09)
- Lane’s chase for ‘500’ milestone resumes with 51s (4-13-09)
- Kantowski: High pitch, but no heat (4-11-2009)
- Bullington ready for new role, new town, new team (4-10-2009)
- Kantowski: Who he is, and what he's not (4-9-2009)
- 51's Basso back in Vegas to rekindle winning ways (4-8-2009)
- Why Triple-A baseball isn’t leaving Las Vegas (2-25-2009)
More on the 51s
The Las Vegas 51s could have easily thrown in the towel.
Trailing 9-0 entering the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday night against the visiting Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the 51s' fate was all but certain – a seventh loss in nine games to open the season.
But they didn’t quit.
Las Vegas erupted for four runs on four hits to highlight an otherwise dismal performance in a 9-4 defeat.
“This is our job, our careers. We aren’t just going to go up there and swing through,” said Las Vegas first baseman Brett Harper, who batted in the 51s first run with a RBI double.
“There are people always out there watching us and evaluating us. Plus, you never know what’s going to happen in this game.”
Jason Lane plated Harper with a run-scoring triple and Buck Coats followed with a RBI double to cut the deficit to 9-3. Aaron Mathews’ single knocked in Coats with the final run.
Howie Clark flied out to right field to end the game with two runners on base. Overcoming a nine-run deficit in the final inning is seemingly impossible, but to their credit, the 51s still gave it a try.
“I wouldn’t have expected anything less from this group,” Las Vegas manager Mike Basso said. “These guys are professionals who prepare to succeed everyday.”
The outburst was unexpected, especially when considering the 51s' struggles.
They gave up six runs in the third inning, only managed two hits through the first seven innings and committed an error for the ninth straight game.
They didn’t have a runner reach scoring position until the eighth inning – an opportunity that fizzled with an inning-ending double play.
“We just have to play better,” Basso said. “We have to put our pitching, defensive and timely hitting together like we did last night (a 3-2 victory).”
Brandon Hynick (1-1) earned the win for Colorado Springs, retiring 21 of the 23 batters he faced with three strikeouts and no walks. Of the 79 pitches he threw, 54 were for strikes.
Colorado Springs (6-3) batted around in the third inning to score six runs. Carlos Gonzalez, who had a game-high three hits, knocked in two with a RBI single and Matt Murton had a two-run double.
“We are in a funk right now, but we will get out of it,” Harper said. “We are too good of a team not to.”
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy