Williams hangs on for shutout

Steve Addy

Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2001 | 10:27 a.m.

Jeff Williams threw a five-hitter with seven strikeouts, and was supported by three home runs: Phil Hiatt's league-leading 39th, Angel Pena's 13th and Jeff Branson's fourth.

51s starter Jeff Williams began to melt in the desert heat midway through Monday night's game, but there was nowhere to run and no one to rescue him.

With a Do Not Disturb sign hanging on the 51s bullpen door after an overactive weekend, the team needed a good, long performance from right-hander Williams, a recent returnee from the Dodgers.

Despite his weariness, mainly the result of too few innings in Los Angeles, Williams didn't let down Las Vegas. Inning after inning, he soldiered on, and when it was over, he had given the 51s their second complete-game shutout in a month, a 5-0 win over first-place Sacramento.

Williams was 5-3 as a 51s starter before being boosted to the Dodgers on June 12. But he made only one start for L.A., six innings against Seattle on July 8, and pitched only 22 2/3 innings in 12 appearances from June 13 to July 24.

"I pitched about one inning in three weeks and I got sort of rusty," he said.

When Williams returned to the 51s on Aug. 2, with a promise that he'd be recalled by the Dodgers in September, his stamina was gone. He lasted four innings in his Aug. 3 start, a 6-3 loss to Colorado Springs, then went seven innings last Wednesday in a 10-1 win at Salt Lake.

Williams felt he took another stride toward full strength Monday.

"I got tired in the fourth inning," the 29-year-old Aussie said with a laugh. "I'm still not in pitching shape, especially in this kind of weather. It's pretty draining in this humidity. I guess I have to keep going out there to build up my stamina."

Williams pitched no-hit ball for four innings, then allowed a hit in each of the last five. He really seemed to tire in the seventh and eighth, when Sacramento hit four hard shots, but the 51s' bullpen hardly stirred and Williams was allowed to finish.

Manager Rick Sofield wanted to rest his relievers anyway. He used closer Paul Dougherty for three innings and 51 pitches in Saturday's 16-14 win over the Rivercats, so once Williams made it to the eighth inning with a 4-0 lead, Sofield had no intention of yanking him.

"You can't underestimate the game (Williams) threw," Sofield said. "With everything that's happened to our team, under all of the circumstances, that could be the performance of the year for us."