Beltre has a blast in debut with Las Vegas

Victoria Sun

Thursday, May 10, 2001 | 9:21 a.m.

In his first at bat with the Las Vegas 51s, Adrian Beltre blasted a 2-2 pitch over the left-field fence for a solo home run, his first of the year.

His next time up, the Los Angeles Dodgers' third baseman muscled the ball to left field for a single.

Though Beltre said he's not 100 percent healthy, he sure looked good Wednesday night, and so did the 51s.

Beltre, on a rehabilitation assignment, went 2-for-2 in five innings for the 51s in a 10-9 victory over the Tucson Sidewinders at Cashman Field.

"I am seeing the pitches pretty good and working on some stuff to help me out," Beltre said. "I think I'll be ready soon for the big leagues.

"I'm definitely happy. I never thought I was going to be back this soon. I've been working pretty hard and I hope I can stay healthy the rest of the year."

Beltre arrived in Las Vegas Wednesday morning from Vero Beach, Fla., home of the Dodgers' Class A club. In two games at Vero Beach, Beltre went 4-for-7 with a double and RBI.

Beltre is scheduled to play for the 51s in today's game against the Sidewinders before flying back to Los Angeles. He is expected to be in the lineup when the Dodgers host the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.

"I'm anxious (to get back to the big leagues), but patient, too, because the surgery I had wasn't simple," Beltre, who hit .290 with 20 home runs and 85 RBIs for the Dodgers last year, said. "It can get worse at any time."

On March 12, Beltre had surgery in Los Angeles to close a draining wound in his right lower abdomen that resulted from a ruptured appendix he had operated on early January.

Beltre thought what he had was a simple stomach ache while he was at home in the Domincan Republic, so he hesitated to see a doctor. A few days later, Beltre's mother, Andrea, took him to the hospital in the middle of the night.

"If I had waited 20 more hours at home, I probably wouldn't be here right now," Beltre said. "They say it was my fault because I spent most of the time in my house and when it really hurt me, I went to the hospital where it erupted.

"So they tried to fix it, but it was kind of late. They performed surgery on me and everything was infected inside."

After that procedure, Beltre did not heal properly and was forced to undergo the second surgery.

Beltre spent almost two months in both hospitals, where he lost 31 pounds.

51s manager Rick Sofield, said Beltre helped ignite the 51s' sputtering offense.

"When Beltre hit that first home run in the first inning, it was a beautiful sight," Sofield said. "Then, when he hit that 0-2 pitch for a single it was a big help.

"This is what a big leaguer does, he gets hits. I think the guys saw what he did and thought, 'I can do that.' In my opinion, he is the best young player in baseball and having him around us is an absolute great motivation."

Two batters later, pinch-hitter Keith Johnson doubled in Shawn Gilbert and scored on a throwing error. Geronimo Gil's RBI single capped the inning. The Sidewinders rallied for three runs in the ninth inning before 51s closer Jim Dougherty recorded the final two outs for his fifth save.

Las Vegas infielder Phil Hiatt hit a grand slam in the fifth inning to tie the game at 6-6. Onan Masaoka struck out three in two shutout innings for the win.