51s split series with El Paso
The 51s were playing catch up on Monday from the beginning.
They did catch up at twice, but in the end, they couldn’t come up with the hit they needed when they needed it as they fell 10-7 to El Paso at Southwest University Park in the series finale.
“I thought Jonathan (Albaladejo) came out and just got in trouble right away and just had a tough time making adjustments. But I thought overall the guys battled well after being down all those runs,” 51s’ manager Pedro Lopez said. “We tried to make a comeback ninth inning, had the winning run at the plate and just battled.”
Albaladejo was hit — and hit hard in his start. He gave up nine runs on 11 hits in his outing, which lasted four innings.
“He was up in the zone tonight with everything that he threw and just got hit around,” Lopez said.
Albaladejo gave up two runs in the first inning on an RBI triple from Chase d’Arnaud and a Rafael Ortega single, which drove in d’Arnaud.
The 51s (46-76) came right back with two runs of their own in the second, scoring on RBI hits by Cody Decker (double) and Jio Mier.
Albaladejo couldn’t hold that lead, though, giving up three runs in the bottom of the frame.
Counterpart Dillon Overton couldn’t hold the lead he was given, either, allowing three runs of his own.
But in the bottom of the frame, Overton did some damage at the plate, driving in two runs to give the Chihuahuas (59-63) a permanent lead.
Albaladejo gave up two more runs in the fourth on a Ryan Schimpf home run.
After he left the game, the 51s still had their chances, especially in the later innings.
In the eighth, they loaded the bases and scored two runs, though they left the bases packed to end the frame.
The end of the game ended that way, too, with Las Vegas loading the bases and bringing the go-ahead run to the plate but not being able to capitalize.
Cody Decker led the way for the 51s, finishing the day 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Jayce Boyd finished with three hits of his own and drove in a run while Jio Mier had two hits and two RBIs in the loss. All three are among the players who have seen more playing time since the Mets have made recent call ups.
“As long as you’ve got a uni on, whenever you get an opportunity, you’ve got to make the best out of it,” Lopez said. “In their cases they’re going to get to play more often now especially with the departure of Amed (Rosario) and Dom (Smith) and they’re taking advantage of it.”
It’s something that goes for more than just those three, as plenty of players have an increased opportunity in the last month of the season.
With the loss Monday, the 51s split the series with El Paso in the first half of their road trip. They will play four more in Fresno beginning on Tuesday.
“It was a good series,” Lopez said. “I think besides tonight we had the lead going into the eighth and ninth inning almost every game and just unfortunately the second game we lost but I thought that we played well against a good-hitting ballclub.”
Up next
Who: Las Vegas 51s at Fresno Grizzlies
When: 7:05 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Chukchansi Park, Fresno, California
Starters: Donovan Hand (3-5, 7.92 ERA) vs. Dean Deetz (3-4, 7.18 ERA)
Next five
Wednesday: Las Vegas at Fresno, 7:05 p.m.
Thursday: Las Vegas at Fresno, 7:05 p.m.
Friday: Las Vegas at Fresno, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday: Salt Lake at Las Vegas, 7:05 p.m.
Sunday: Salt Lake at Las Vegas, 7:05 p.m.
Update
The 51s will continue their eight-game road trip Tuesday with the opener of a four-game series against the Fresno Grizzlies. The last time the two teams met, the Grizzlies won three of four at Cashman Field and outscored Las Vegas 61-29.
Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.
