Las Vegas 51s streak finishes off best month of season
The 51s closed out their first above-.500 month with a five-game winning streak on Saturday.
After going 10-15 in April and 12-18 in May, the 51s finished June with a 16-11 record, having won 10 of their past 12 games.
They entered Sunday’s play six games behind division-leading Salt Lake, after having made up five games on the Bees in as many days.
“I think a familiarity with each other and developing chemistry as a team, we’ve had a lot of roster moves and shakes and I think we’ve got a lot of guys that are eager to play well every single night and I think that’s a big key in Triple-A is guys that want to show up and play every single day,” infielder Cody Asche said. “I think guys are realizing that that’s what it’s going to take if you’re going to go to the next level so I think we’ve just got a collective bunch of guys doing that.”
Starting pitching, in particular, has been very good lately. At the beginning of the season, with all the roster moves, it was hard for the 51s to regularly field the same rotation.
Josh Prevost gave up one unearned run in five innings — he left early with shoulder tightness on Saturday. A day before, Drew Gagnon, who has emerged as the team’s most consistent starter, threw seven scoreless frames.
Sunday’s starter, P.J. Conlon, headed into the day having thrown two consecutive quality starts.
“It’s hard to bring a group of guys together when there’s so much change,” manager Tony DeFrancesco said. “We’ve finally got some consistency. Some of the older players are now mixing in and having success and it’s more about the team instead of the individual numbers, so I think a big part of it is starting pitching again giving us a chance, and the bullpen’s been as good as its been all year.”
Phillip Evans set for return this week
DeFrancesco said he thought Phillip Evans would return within the next week after battling with an infection in his leg.
“Phil, first day he really went out, hit today, ground balls, did some running, probably 3-4 days before he gets back in there,” DeFrancesco said Saturday.
Evans hasn’t played since June 17 and was placed on the disabled list June 21.
“I would think if everything comes along, legs are under him,” DeFrancesco said about a return within the week. “You’re talking about 12 days not doing anything.”
Tim Tebow to Las Vegas?
Could Tim Tebow be coming to Las Vegas this season?
It doesn’t seem as crazy now as it once did.
The former Heisman Trophy winner was named an Eastern League All-Star earlier this week for his first half with Double-A Binghamton.
Tebow, a left fielder, is currently hitting .257 and has steadily raised his average, hitting .301 in June.
His strikeout numbers remain high, though, with 89 strikeouts in 243 plate appearances.
Upcoming at the Park
The 51s finish their series against Salt Lake with games on Monday and Tuesday.
On Monday, they will offer discounted food items and Tuesday, they will have their annual Fireworks Extravaganza.
Then, they head to Fresno for the final five games of the first half of the season. The first half ends Sunday, followed by a four-day All-Star break. The 51s return home July 12.
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Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.