51s rally to win fourth straight

Victoria Sun

Wednesday, April 10, 2002 | 9:41 a.m.

Four the hard way.

The Las Vegas 51s, who have made an early-season habit of rallying from late-inning deficits, did it again Tuesday night en route to their fourth consecutive victory, a 6-5 see-saw contest over the Edmonton Trappers before an announced crowd of 1,927 at Cashman Field.

Trailing 5-4 with one out in the seventh inning, Las Vegas first baseman Chin-Feng Chen singled, then scored on Mike Kinkade's triple to left. Two batters later, designated hitter Mark Whiten doubled in Kinkade for the go-ahead run.

The 51s are in first place in the Central Division at 5-1 while Edmonton dropped to 2-4 in the North Division.

"It's nice we have the opportunity to start a rally every inning, that's the big thing," Mills said. "When you have guys that hit like that, you're not two batters away every inning so that's what's nice."

Chen, one of six 51s players hitting above .300, went 2-for-4 with a double and one run scored while Kinkade followed his four-hit game the previous night by going 2-for-4 with one run scored.

Last season Kinkade hit .275 with four home runs in 61 games with the Baltimore Orioles before having wrist surgery in October.

He entered the game leading the Pacific Coast League with 10 hits.

"I'm just finding holes right now, that's all you can do," Kinkade said. "It's always helpful when you've got guys who can swing the bat one through nine.

"Our lineup is pretty solid. That's real nice when you've got guys that can hit the top part of the order, the middle part of the order."

So far, there is no glaring weakness in the Las Vegas offense.

For instance, shortstop Felix Martinez, hitting .313, batted ninth Tuesday. In the second inning, he belted Edmonton starter Adam Johnson's 3-2 pitch over the right-field wall for a two-run homer to give the 51s a 3-2 lead.

Martinez has six hits in six games.

"It's tough to lock in guys with one lineup," Mills said. "It's early and we've got to see who fits where."

Edmonton right fielder Michael Cuddyer went 4-for-5 with one run scored.

After 51s reliever Shane Nance pitched a perfect sixth inning, reliever Guillermo Mota entered the game, but couldn't protect a 4-3 lead.

Mota gave up a leadoff double to Michael Ryan, got the next two batters to ground out, then struggled to get the last out of the inning.

Todd Sears doubled in Ryan and Michael Restovich got his third hit of the game, a single which scored Sears. Mota finally forced designated hitter Javier Valentin to hit a playable ball to Chen to end the inning, leaving Edmonton with a 5-4 lead.

Mota recovered to retire the side in the eighth and picked up the win.

51s starter Mike Johnson gave up eight hits, three runs, one walk and struck out three for his second no decision.

"He's still not the Mike Johnson he can be," Mills said. "He's coming, but he's still not there.

"He's getting much better, but he was fighting a little cut on his finger. I'm not going to say it's a reason (why he struggled). I just think he was thinking about it."

Las Vegas catcher Todd Greene hit a solo home run to left for a 4-3 lead in the third inning. It was Greene's fourth home run of the season and third in two days.

Edmonton right fielder Michael Cuddyer went 4-for-5 with one run scored.

The teams were to resume their series with an afternoon game today.