51s beaten in 10 innings

Victoria Sun

Friday, Aug. 24, 2001 | 11:09 a.m.

Those who showed up at Cashman Field Thursday night saw the Las Vegas 51s slim hopes of overtaking Sacramento atop the Pacific Coast League's South Division grow even slimmer by losing to the Fresno Grizzlies 5-4 in 10 innings.

They also witnessed Phil Hiatt's march toward the record book.

Hiatt hit his Pacific Coast League leading 42nd home run of the year, a two-run blast that ricocheted off the left field light tower in the fourth inning.

Hiatt went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, helping his bid to become the first PCL player since Albuquerque's Mike Marshall (1981) to achieve the Triple Crown by winning the home run title, the RBI title and the batting average title in the same season.

"I've thought about it," Hiatt acknowledged. "It would be nice to do it.

"It's so hard to do. I'm just going to go day by day and try to get hits. Teams that know you can hit aren't going to give you too much to hit."

Entering the game he trailed Salt Lake's Jose Fernandez in RBIs by seven and was tied with two others, four points behind Colorado Springs' Butch Huskey in batting average.

Hiatt's prodigious home run in the fifth came off an 0-1 forkball from Fresno starter Julio Santana.

Despite his personal success, Hiatt lamented yet another wasted opportunity for the 51s. The loss dropped the team (64-69) into third place.

"This was a tough loss," Hiatt. "We had them and they got a couple of hits and we couldn't hold them."

It is almost a foregone conclusion that Hiatt will be the league's home run champion as he has 14 more than Fernandez with 11 games remaining.

"It's exciting for me to watch him," 51s manager Rick Sofield said. "He takes it nonchalantly. That's the kind of person he is. He's got an excellent demeanor."