Gagne excels in rehearsal for the Show

Steve Guiremand

Friday, July 13, 2001 | 10:05 a.m.

Eric Gagne made a brief stop in Las Vegas on Thursday night for a little tuning up before his planned Monday start in Pittsburgh for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

If his performance in the 51s' 5-4 loss to the Sacramento River Cats is any indication, consider him finely tuned.

Gagne, who is being counted on to help fill the void in the Dodger rotation left by season-ending arm injuries to Darren Dreifort and Andy Ashby, was simply sensational in his brief stint on Thursday night.

The hard-throwing right-hander went into the game with a 45-pitch limit and threw three no-hit innings, striking out seven of the 10 batters he faced. He threw 43 pitches before giving way to Mark Kiefer -- a remarkable 30 for strikes.

"It wasn't the best I've seen him throw, but I liked his approach out there," said Las Vegas pitching coach Dean Treanor.

Las Vegas (45-48), which remained in a tie with Fresno for first place in the Pacific Coast League's South Division despite the loss, certainly wouldn't have minded having Gagne around for a few more innings. However, Gagne already has been penciled in to start Monday night's Dodger game at Pittsburgh.

"The big key is we're here to make sure he goes and pitches well in Pittsburgh and when the big leagues call," Las Vegas manager Rick Sofield said. "This was a good side, a good workout for him to be prepared to go into Pittsburgh when it comes to his time."

After getting replaced by Kiefer to start the fourth inning, Gagne showered and left the clubhouse before reporters could speak to him.

However, on this night, his pitching spoke volumes.

"I think he's found himself a little bit," Sofield said. "I think he'll be more productive at the major league level."

Now they have two, but only one was on hand for Thursday night's game.

John Hernandez, who was hitting just .217 in 31 games with Class A Vero Beach of the Florida State League, was promoted to Las Vegas and started Thursday night's game. Hernandez went 0-for-4 in his 51s' debut.

Gil, meanwhile, still hadn't returned from his home in Mexico where Sofield said he was tending to "family issues." Sofield said he expected Gil to be back for tonight's game.

Pena is on the seven-day disabled list after suffering a high ankle sprain at Fresno last weekend. Sofield said it's possible he could be out a lot longer than just seven days because of the severity of the sprain.

Who would have gone in if Hernandez had gone down?

"Jeff Barry," Sofield said. "He told me he did it before in Little League."

Center fielder Chris Prieto, who spent all day flying back from Indianapolis where he starred in Wednesday night's Triple-A All-Star game, homered and had three hits to lead the 51s.