Las Vegas 4, Albuquerque 3

Last night I was at Cashman Field to witness the ace of the Las Vegas 51s and prized prospect Zack Wheeler on the mound. In many ways Wheeler lived up to the hype and pitched as expected. However, what I did NOT expect was the competitive spirit he displayed. His poise is more expected of a crafty veteran than a kid three weeks shy of turning 23.

Wheeler pitched well, keeping Albuquerque batters on their toes all evening. He tossed 7 1/3 innings, the longest of any 51s pitcher this season, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits. He fanned 7 while walking just 1. 61 of his 99 pitches went for strikes.

Albuquerque scored in the first. With Elian Herrera on 2nd and two outs Rusty Ryal singled hard to right. Eric Campbell fired a rocket to the plate. Herrera was out by ten feet. However, he avoided the swipe tag by Las Vegas catcher Juan Centeno. Ryal took second on the throw home. Wheeler, however, was unfazed. He turned it up a notch and fanned the next batter. No opposing batter reached second base again until the seventh inning.

In the seventh, with Wheeler and the 51s leading 2-1, he delivered a first pitch fastball that Matt Angle promptly sent high into the Vegas night. Wally Backman showed faith in Wheeler. He didn’t come out to settle him down. He didn’t wave to the bullpen. He gave Wheeler a chance to show what he’s made of and the young pitcher answered the call by striking out the next batter on a knee-buckling curveball.

Eric Campbell’s home run to lead off the home seventh put Vegas back on top, 3-2. Wheeler gave way to Justin Hampson in the eighth after allowing his one and only walk of the night. In the ninth, Hampson squandered the lead and Albuquerque tied the game at 3-3, therefore giving Wheeler a N/D.

The 51s won the game in the bottom of the ninth on a lead-off single by third baseman Zach Lutz followed by a walk to Eric Campbell. A fielder’s choice moved the runners to 2^nd and 3^rd. Omar Quintanilla was intentionally walked to load the bases. Backman had Reese Havens pinch hit. He fell behind quickly in the count, 1-2, but managed to work out a walk. A walk-off walk.

After watching him tonight, it’s clear—as we’ve all been reading and hearing—that Wheeler has “the stuff.” What I learned, however, is that he also has the make-up. He did not get rattled. He did not get flustered. When he had to reach back for something extra, he succeeded.

Another interesting observation about Zack Wheeler is the efficiency he pitches with. He keeps the game moving at a quick clip. He doesn’t take a lot of time between pitches. This obviously keeps the fielder’s sharp. Steve Trachsel he’s not.

2bman Wilmer Flores hit his 3^rd HR of the season in the 4^th and almost hit another in the 6^th, sending the OF to the wall. He also flashed some leather, making a nice diving catch in the hole in the 7th.

It seems like every few years we Mets fans hear about ‘the next’ Tom Seaver or Jerry Koosman. We hear it so much we become numb. Am I saying Zack Wheeler will be the next Koosman to Matt Harvey’s Seaver? No.

However, after seeing Harvey pitch over the last month and personally witnessing Zack Wheeler last night, maybe, just maybe, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Key Stats

Wilmer Flores: 1-for-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB

Eric Campbell: 1-for-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB

Zach Lutz: 1-for-4, 1 R

Zack Wheeler: 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 ER, 7 K

Justin Hampson: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 K

Round Rock 12, Las Vegas 6

The Las Vegas 51s surrendered 20 hits Friday in a 12-6 loss to visiting Round Rock at Cashman Field in the final game of a four-game Pacific Coast League series.D.J. Mitchell struggled in this one, allowing six earned runs over just 4.1 innings pitched.

Eric Campbell went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs for Las Vegas, which also received two hits from Zach Lutz and Kirk Nieuwenhuis.

Las Vegas scored four runs in the third inning to take a 4-1 advantage, but Round Rock scored six runs over the next three innings to take the lead for good. Round Rock put the game away in the ninth inning with four runs — all scoring before Las Vegas recorded an out.

Lutz had a run-scoring double and Campbell plated a pair of runs with a single in the 51s’ four-run third inning.

Las Vegas and Round Rock split the series, winning two games each. Saturday, the 51s open a series against the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Top-prospect Zack Wheeler is scheduled to start Saturday for the 51s, looking to build on a pair of solid starts last week. He went 2-0 at Reno and Sacramento, combing to pitch 12 and 2/3 innings with 12 strikeouts and a 0.69 earned run average.

Key Stats

Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 SB

Zach Lutz: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R

Eric Campbell: 3-for-4. 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R

D.J. Mitchell: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 1 HR, 4 BB, 6 ER, 1 K

Greg Peavey: 1.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 ER, 1 K

Justin Hampson: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K

(Team Report)

Las Vegas 3, Round Rock 2

Collin McHugh took the mound tonight and pitched a heck of a game. He continued his tremendous start to the season tossing seven scoreless innings. The righty threw 90 pitches (59 strikes), allowed just five hits, struck out five, and left the game with a 1-0 lead. McHugh came into the game leading the 51s with a 3.57 ERA, but after tonight’s masterful performance, he lowered his ERA to 2.98.

McHugh was in line for the win when he left the game heading into the eighth inning, but the combination of Gonzalez Germen and Justin Hampson squandered the lead allowing the tying run to score. Greg Burke took the ball in the top of the ninth up 2-1, but was unable to nail down the save. He allowed a double followed by an RBI single, and saw his ERA balloon to 5.19.

The Vegas offense was held to just three hits on the night, but was highlighted by Josh Satin hitting his fifth home run of the season, and an RBI single by Juan Centeno. Eric Campbell had a very patient night at the plate, accumulating three walks, and scored the go ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Vegas a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Reese Havens singled to lead off the inning, and was moved to second on a ground out by Satin, before being pinch ran for by Brian Bixler. The next batter Zach Lutz struck out swinging, but the ball hit the dirt and had to be blocked by the catcher. Bixler plated the winning run on an errant throw by the catcher attempting to throw out Lutz at first base.

Key Stats

• Wilmer Flores: 0-for-2, BB
• Josh Satin: 1-for-3, HR, R, RBI, BB
• Juan Centeno: 1-for-3, RBI
• Reese Havens: 1-for-4
• Eric Campbell: 0-for-1, RBI, 3 BB
• Collin McHugh: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, ND

Las Vegas 6, Sacramento 2

Zack Wheeler took the hill yesterday afternoon against the River Cats and was firing on all cylinders as he made quick work of Sacramento, cruising to his second victory on the season.

Wheeler took the mound looking to build off of his solid outing against the Reno Aces in which he struck out eight over 6 2/3 innings back on April 30th. This time, the Mets top prospect went six shutout frames allowing just three hits and a walk while punching out four. Each of the baserunners allowed were scattered through different innings as the River Cats failed to get a runner to second base with Wheeler on the mound. After struggling mightily to start the season, Wheeler has now put together back-to-back solid efforts in the infamously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

On the offensive side of things for the Vegas 51s, everyone in the lineup had themselves a base hit with the exception of Juan Centeno and Josh Satin. Las Vegas put up a two-spot in the second on the strength of a double off the bat of Omar Quintanilla to score Wilmer Flores and Jamie Hoffmann, his fifth on the year. They would be held off the board until the top of the sixth when the recently demoted Collin Cowgill (more from him later) scored on a Zack Lutz fly ball to center. The following inning however, is where the game was broken open. With Quintanilla on second and Centeno at first, Cowgill, in just his second game since joining the 51s, clubbed a three-run bomb to left field to make it a 6-0 ballgame. Vegas batters only struck out three times in this game and tallied ten hits and a pair of walks against Sacramento pitching.

Justin Hampson came on in relief of Wheeler and had himself a difficult outing. After plunking Scott Moore, Josh Horton took Hampson deep to make it a 6-2 game. Hampson would eventually retire the side. Greg Peavey and Gonzalez Germen came in and pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth respectively as the 51s would go onto win by a final score of 6-2.

Key Stats

Collin Cowgill: 2-for-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

Zach Lutz: 1-for-3, 1 RBI

Eric Campbell: 2-for-4

Omar Quintanilla: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 R

Zack Wheeler: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 4 K

Justin Hampson: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 HR, 2 ER, 1 K

Greg Peavey: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 ER

Gonzalez Germen: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Sacramento 3, Las Vegas 0

Sometimes…you just have those games where nothing goes right for you on offense – even in the PCL. This was one of those games for Las Vegas, who mustered only three hits as a team, and they were all singles. Jamie Hoffmann, Juan Centeno, and Zach Lutz were the men who provided the singles, yet Sacramento induced double plays after two of those singles to erase most of the 51s’ chances. Las Vegas had only one at-bat with a runner in scoring position all night.

In terms of pitching, somebody give a gold star to Juan Centeno, who somehow pulled a decent start out of Chris Schwinden. Schwinden has been in the middle of a really tough year in AAA, giving a handful of runs in almost all of his starts, but he went the first five innings today and allowed just two earned runs. He was lifted in the sixth after giving up a solo home run to Michael Choice and a single right after. Justin Hampson handled the next four outs with ease, but Sacramento would tack on another run at the expense of Gonzalez Germen. Germen allowed three hits, and was removed with two runners on base in favor of Sean Henn, who allowed one to cross the plate.

Although I sing the praises of Juan Centeno’s defense a lot, he did get saddled with his first error of the year last night – along with his second passed ball. On the other side of the spectrum, Captain Kirk made a ridiculous catch that I will try to get up in the MiLB report as a video.

Key Stats

Jamie Hoffmann: 1-for-3

Zach Lutz: 1-for-3

Juan Centeno: 1-for-3

Chris Schwinden: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 ER, 5 K

Justin Hampson: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB

Gonzalez Germen: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER

Sean Henn: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1-for-1 inherited runners scored

Las Vegas 9, Reno 5 

D.J. Mitchell‘s last start was marred by bouts of wildness, but tonight’s outing was much better, as he did not allow a run over the first five innings. He dodged in, and out of trouble a few times, including a bases loaded no out jam in the second inning. After two singles and a walk, Mitchell buckled down and got a pop out, strikeout, and a ground out to end the inning. He ran into trouble again in the sixth inning, and was eventually lifted in favor of Sean Henn.

The bullpen struggled once again, and Greg Peavey was the main culprit tonight. Peavey, allowed three runs to score in the seventh, and what was a 9-0 lead heading into the sixth, quickly became 9-5 through eight. Justin Hampson came in and pitched a spotless ninth to shut the door.

On offense, Andrew Brown and Wilmer Flores once again led the way. Brown tallied two more RBI, added a double and a triple, and leads the 51s with 21 RBI and a .360 batting average. Flores also had two hits, including a double, and drove in two. Kirk Nieuwenhuis had just one hit in five trips, but it was a triple, and he also produced an RBI ground out. Travis d’Arnaud‘s replacement Landon Powell had two hits himself, as he doubled and scored a run.

Key Stats

• Wilmer Flores: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, 2B
• Andrew Brown: 2-for-5, 2 RBI, 2B, 3B, 2 R
• Josh Satin: 0-for-3, 2 BB
• Brian Bixler: 1-for-5, R, 2 RBI, BB
• Zach Lutz: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, BB
• Landon Powell: 2-for-4, R, 2B
• Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 1-for-5, R, RBI, 3B, BB
• D.J. Mitchell: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K

Colorado Springs 11, Las Vegas 6

In a game where the two teams combined for thirty hits, the Las Vegas 51s dropped this one to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox 11-6.

It was trouble out of the gate for Vegas in this one, as designated starter Darin Gorski was only able to last two innings in this late-night affair. Gorski struggled from the start, and faced all nine hitters in the Colorado Springs lineup in the first inning, where he allowed three runs. He allowed back-to-back RBI doubles in the second inning, and although he got out of the jam, he was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom half of the inning. Gonzalez German was brought on, and he pitched the next three frames while allowing two runs in the top of the fourth.

Robert Carson allowed an inherited runner from Dylan Owen to score in the seventh on a wild pitch, but had an overall line of an inning and two-thirds pitched without allowing a hit and striking out three. Justin Hampson struggled in his inning, allowing five hits and three earned runs in the eighth, but he managed to strike out two batters. Jeurys Familia rounded out the pitching for the 51s, and pitched a hitless ninth while setting two down on strikes.

It looked like this could possibly have been a higher scoring affair, but Las Vegas was only able to score in bunches – three in the third and three in the fifth. After an RBI ground-out by Travis D’Arnaud in the third inning, Andrew Brown drove home Wilmer Flores on an RBI double, and was promptly sent home on a Josh Satin RBI single. Satin was not finished, however, as he drilled his fourth home run of the campaign in the sixth – a two-run shot that scored D’Arnaud, who had reached base after ripping an RBI double.

Vegas had the bases loaded in the seventh inning with none out, but failed to score any runs as Zach Lutz and Jamie Hoffman flew out and Reese Havens followed that with a strikeout.

Key Stats

Wilmer Flores: 2-for-5, 2 2B, 2 R

Travis D’Arnaud: 2-for-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 1 R

Josh Satin: 2-for-2, HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 1 R

Darin Gorski: 2.0 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 5 ER, 0 K