Comeback victory kicks off 51s homestand

In a competition of slugging first basemen, Las Vegas’ two-headed monster trumped Portland’s gargantuan beast Thursday night.
Randy Ruiz and Brett Harper combined to go 7-for-8 and brought the 51s back from a 3-0 deficit for a 4-3 win over Kyle Blanks and the Beavers in the opener of a four-game series at Cashman Field.
The mammoth Blanks, who stands 6’6” and weighs almost 300 pounds, gave the Beavers the early lead with a titanic three-run home run off of 51s starter Davis Romero with two outs in the third inning.
The 51s scratched back, however, scoring single runs in the fourth and sixth innings. In the seventh, Ruiz stepped up with a runner on second after Beavers reliever John Hudgins hit shortstop Russ Adams in the foot with a breaking ball and uncorked a wild pitch to put him on second. With two outs, Ruiz fouled off several good pitches from Hudgins before lining a pitch up the middle for a single that tied the game at 3-3.
"He threw me some fastballs, some curveballs, some sliders, some changeups, he must have thrown everything he had, but I was just battling and fouling stuff off, and fortunately I hit the ball, put it up the middle and got us a run," Ruiz said.
51s manager Mike Basso said after the game that Ruiz and centerfielder Buck Coats deserve spots in the AAA All-Star Game, coming up in Portland on July 15.
"It would be nice. Last year, I missed it by a couple RBIs or something like that. If it happens, it happens," Ruiz said of the possibility.
With the score still tied in the bottom of the eighth inning, Harper, the designated hitter for Thursday night's game, led off with a line drive that skipped under the glove of Beavers centerfielder Drew Macias for a double. Jason Lane followed with a tough at-bat, fouling off multiple two-strike fastballs from Beavers pitcher Scott Patterson (2-2) before sending a groundball to College of Southern Nevada prospect Sean Kazmar at shortstop. When pinch-runner Jonathan Diaz took off for third, Kazmar tried to catch him and threw the ball into the Beavers’ dugout, scoring the eventual winning run.
Jonah Bayliss (6-2) pitched the eighth for the win and stayed in for the ninth, getting Portland 1-2-3 to close out the win for the 51s.
NOTES: You can vote for Ruiz, Coats and other 51s for the AAA All-Star Game here. ... Beavers starter Jeremy Hefner, called up from A ball before the game for his first start at AAA, pitched 5 1/3 innings and gave up two runs on seven hits while striking out five. ... Fathers and sons are invited to play catch on the field at Cashman before the Father's Day game on Sunday.

The Beavers are back in town

Yes, Portland and their mammoth first baseman Kyle Blanks, above, return to Las Vegas today, offering 51s Today another chance for some Photoshop fun at Blanks' expense.
In their previous four-game series earlier this month, June 2-6, the Beavers won three of the four, scoring 27 runs against 51s pitching. That could be the case again this week, as the 51s' pitching staff is in flux due to injuries in Toronto. Tonight's scheduled starter, Brad Mills, will be making his major-league debut for the Blue Jays in Philadelphia instead, and another starter, likely Brett Cecil, will be called up to start Saturday, leaving tonight's pitching match-up the ever-popular TBA vs. TBA.
So expect the two offenses to light up the scoreboard in this four-game homestand, and the 51s will also help you light up your house Saturday night, in one of three games with promotions attached. Attend Saturday's 7:05 p.m. game and you will receive a free Compact Fluorescent Light bulb courtesy of NV Energy.
That game will also be Pink Out Night, when the 51s will wear pink jerseys to support the fight against breast cancer. In conjunction with The Southern Nevada Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure Organization, the pink jerseys worn by the Las Vegas players and coaches will be auctioned off after the game, with fans bidding until the seventh inning. All proceeds will go to "Komen for the Cure" and the 51s will donate $1.00 to the group for every fan in attendance. Fans are encouraged to wear pink as well and stick around after the game for fireworks.
Other promotions are tonight's Dollar Beer Night, a favorite for of-age fans, and Friday night's Bat Night, when the first 2,500 fans in attendance will receive a free 51s bat.
The games begin at 7:05 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and the series ends with a 12:05 p.m. game on Sunday. Keep an eye out for these players:

LAS VEGAS 51s (27-40, fourth place in PCL Pacific South division)
David Dellucci, OF: The long-time major-leaguer hasn't taken long to get used to his new home with the 51s. He has five hits in his four games with the team while occupying the third spot in the order.
Randy Ruiz, 1B/DH: The 51s' answer to Blanks -- though even he is dwarfed by the Beavers' star -- Ruiz hit two home runs in Wednesday's get-away game against Reno to lead Las Vegas to a victory. He was 10-32 with four homers in the 51s' just-completed eight-game road trip.
Buck Coats, OF: The 51s' leadoff hitter continues to spark the offense, getting on base six times in 14 plate appearance the last three games.

PORTLAND BEAVERS (33-34, fourth place in PCL Pacific North division)
Kyle Blanks, 1B: It really can't be said enough: Blanks is the type of player you have to see to believe. At 6'6" and nearly 300 pounds, the mammoth slugger resembles an NFL offensive lineman and must cause third basemen to have horrible nightmares of screaming line drives. He comes into this series on fire, having gone 13-for-27 in his last eight games with four RBI and four runs scored.
Craig Stansberry, SS: Listed as a shortstop, Stansberry also lined up as a third baseman and designated hitter in the Beavers' recent series at Cashman Field. He is 7-for-20 in his last five games.
Everth Cabrera, SS: The recent call-up is 9-for-27 in his seven games with the Beavers, scoring five runs in that time. The speedster led all of professional baseball last year with 73 stolen bases while playing in the Colorado Rockies' system.

Mediocre May is still better than awful April

If April was a thunderstorm of poor play for the Las Vegas 51s, then May was only scattered downpours. If the 51s want to make anything of this season, however, they have to start making it rain on the opposition.
The 51s finished April with a 6-14 record, and are still in last place as June begins. However, two four-game losing streaks bookended May; between them, the team went 13-9 and showed amazing resiliency, coming from behind to win several times.
Most importantly, the talent level rose considerably in May, with Travis Snider, Fabio Castro and David Purcey coming aboard and incumbents such as J.P. Arencibia, Buck Coats and Brad Mills playing up to their potential.

GAME(S) OF THE MONTH
51s Today unfortunately missed the end of the last homestand due to some travel plans that couldn't be changed, and therefore was not in attendance for a pair of games that will certainly go down as the most exciting pair of back-to-back pressure performances by the 51s offense this season.
On May 23, Las Vegas went into the ninth inning trailing the Oklahoma City RedHawks 5-2. In walks imposing 6-4 sidearmer (and fellow blogger) Beau Vaughan from the Oklahoma City bullpen. Vaughan was obviously wondering who his next interview was going to be, because he gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases before getting yanked for hard-throwing righty Brian Gordon.
The hits kept coming however, as Kevin Howard and Coats sandwiched singles around a Randy Ruiz pinch-hit popout to make it 5-4. WIth one out and the bases still loaded, Howie Clark stepped in and ripped a double that scored two runs and gave the 51s a 6-5 walkoff win.
Apparently, that comeback wasn't hard enough, though.
The next night, the 51s sleepwalked into the ninth inning behind 5-0 to OKC's Tommy Hunter, a pitcher who had given up nine earned runs in his previous start. Hunter stayed out for the ninth in an attempt at the complete-game shutout, but an error by third baseman Esteban German started the avalanche. Hunter was gone after loading the bases while only getting one out, ceding the mound to former big-leaguer Elizardo Ramirez.
Ramirez faced a tough situation, bases loaded with only one out, but don't forget that he had a five-run lead at this point. He could allow all his inherited runners to score and still be up 5-3, which is exactly what he did. In fact, after two singles and a Brett Harper pinch-hit double, he had allowed the lead to evaporate to just one run. After an intentional walk to Coats, Clark, the previous night's hero, strode to the plate with the bases loaded and still just one out.
Clark drove a fly ball to the outfield for the second out of the inning, driving in the tying run and ensuring at least extra innings. With runners on first and second and two outs now, it seemed the RedHawks might finally end the inning. The only man to record an out in the night before's rally, Randy Ruiz, was coming up.
But the 51s didn't want to see extra innings on this night. Ruiz singled to left and pinch-runner Jonathan Diaz sprinted around third to score the winning run in an improbable comeback.
So, to recap: The 51s won two consecutive games by a 6-5 score with ninth-inning rallies. In these two games, the 51s scored two runs in the sixteen innings labeled 1 through 8 and 10 combined runs in the two ninth innings. The Redhawks pitching staff recorded a 1.13 ERA for the first eight innings of these two games and a 90.00 ERA in the ninth.
As espn.com's Jayson Stark would say, you can't make this stuff up.

HITTER(S) OF THE MONTH
J.P. Arencibia and Buck Coats: One month into the season, the 51s were struggling to get anybody on base at the top of the order and their top prospect, catcher Arencibia, far left, had yet to hit a home run and was barely topping .200.
But their offensive woes seemed to disappear once Coats, near left, was plopped atop the lineup. He's sparked the team from the leadoff spot and given manager Mike Basso's team a chance to score some runs.
"It's impressive how far he's come ... in learning what it takes to be a leadoff hitter," Basso told 51s Today during the last homestand.
As for Arencibia, he found his stroke in May and hit eight home runs, which takes a lot of the pressure off of Ruiz and Harper to perform every night in order for the 51s to generate power.

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Fabio Castro: The slight, young Dominican prospect made his first start for the 51s on the last day of April, giving up three runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Once the calendar turned, he was ready to go.
Castro did not allow a run in his first three May starts and had a scoreless streak that topped 24 innings. Even though he spent almost a month in AA to start the season, Castro has the second-most wins as a starter on the club and begins June with a 2-1 record and a sparkling 2.30 ERA.
He could be the next pitcher to get the call when the Blue Jays need another starter, but in the meantime, Fabio Castro is the 51s' new ace.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR IN JUNE
The Travis Snider show: The Blue Jays' top prospect wasn't happy about being sent down from the big leagues to get some at-bats in AAA and get his stroke back. He has played eight games so far for Las Vegas and is only 8-for-31 with one extra-base hit, a double. But now that he's gotten his feet wet, he could be primed for a huge month.
Basso has been hitting Snider fifth, behind Ruiz and Harper, which is the same spot in the batting order that Arencibia used to get back on track in May. If the top of the order -- Coats, Clark, Ruiz and Harper -- can continue to get on base and produce, Snider will have a chance to put up big numbers.

Brad Mills' first win: Mills must have Social Distortion on repeat in his iPod: "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all" is his motto right now.
In ten starts so far this season, Mills has given up more than three runs only once, and that came in his last start May 27 against New Orleans. Before that start, he had a sub-4.00 ERA but was still 0-5, and now he's 0-6 despite a 4.21 ERA, which is low for a pitcher who starts half his games at Cashman Field.
In his four May starts leading up to being blown out by New Orleans, Mills had gone at least six innings every time and given up three runs or less, which is considered a quality start in the majors. If he continues to pitch like that, he will finally be rewarded with a W this month.

Some home runs, maybe? Las Vegas has been scoring its run the old-fashioned way this year, and by old-fashioned, I mean "Ty Cobb era." Very few home runs (only 38 in 51 games) means that they have to manufacture runs by getting the top of the order on, moving them over and then getting clutch RBI singles and doubles to drive them home.
But those clutch hits haven't always arrived, and runners have been stranded in scoring position far too often for the offense to be successful. The only way to make up for these lapses in situational hitting is by knocking a few pitches out of the park at other times, which the 51s haven't been doing.
But the 51s will play 20 games this month against Portland, Tacoma and Colorado Springs, three of the top six teams in the Pacific Coast League in home runs allowed. That stretch starts this week, when temperatures should be in the 80s and 90s and the wind will be blowing at Cashman Field for eight games against Portland and Tacoma, who are sitting at the bottom of the PCL's Pacific North division.

If the 51s are going to make a run at a playoff spot this season, they have to make up a lot of ground this month. They only have 16 games at home during the month and the longest homestand, an eight-game run, begins tonight. So get out to Cashman Field while it still matters.