Kiefer sends 51s into sole possession of first place

Steve Addy

Wednesday, July 18, 2001 | 9:50 a.m.

Chris Prieto's leadoff homer in the first inning was all the scoring the 51s needed to snap a two-game losing streak Tuesday at Cashman Field behind the pitching of Mark Kiefer. Las Vegas added two runs in the second on Keith Johnson's RBI triple and Geronimo Gil's sacrifice fly. Oklahoma never got a runner past second base.

After pitching in Taiwan for the last four years, 51s right-hander Mark Kiefer is grateful for the simple joys of playing back home.

"In Taiwan you're pretty much on your own because the language barrier is so difficult," he said. "Here, it's great just to be able to talk to the other guys in the clubhouse and to communicate with my catcher."

But for all of Kiefer's happiness to return to American baseball, the 51s are becoming equally grateful that he's around. After opening the season as a reliever, the 32-year-old veteran has gradually emerged as Las Vegas' most trustworthy starter.

Kiefer's midseason hot streak reached a high point Tuesday when he hurled the 51s into sole possession of first place in the PCL South Division with a 3-0 win over the Oklahoma Redhawks.

Gaining his fourth straight winning decision and fifth in nine outings since June 2, Kiefer got in an early groove and had the Redhawks guessing all night. He went 7 2/3 innings, matching his longest stint of the season, struck out 10, walked none and allowed four harmless hits.

Kiefer is only 5-6 with a 4.88 ERA, but in his last six starts he is 4-1 with a 1.12 ERA, 43 strikeouts and only seven walks. Batters have a .220 average against him as a starter.

"For me, the whole key is getting ahead in the count," said Kiefer, who pitched parts of four seasons for the Brewers (1993-96) before heading to Taiwan. "If I have good off-speed stuff and good movement on my fastball, I can put hitters away with strikeouts or ground balls."

Though manager Rick Sofield still uses Kiefer in the occasional relief role, it has grown obvious that the 51s can't afford not to start him every fifth day. At 47-51, nursing a one-game lead over Fresno (44-50) in the division race, they need all the starting pitching they can get.

"I don't know where we're going to be with our rotation, but obviously Kiefer is a guy we like throwing out there," Sofield said. "He deserves his opportunities. He's done everything we've asked -- long relief, starting, short relief. He takes the ball and gives you everything he has. He's been a warrior."

But both Kiefer and Sofield acknowledge that Kiefer's transition back to US baseball wasn't immediate. In early May he allowed 18 hits and six homers in two outings within seven days.

"I had to adjust to the power game," Kiefer said. "In Taiwan, if I fell behind in the count, I could just throw something that moved and get them to pop up. Here if they pop it up, it goes out of the park. From one through nine, pretty much every guy can hit it out."

Sofield said, "He grew accustomed to the Taiwanese hitters and he had to make that adjustment. He has tremendous instincts, because he's wound up being one of the better pitchers in the league."