Mills OK, but 51s sickly

Steve Addy

Thursday, May 2, 2002 | 9:57 a.m.

Manager Brad Mills returned to the 51s Wednesday after a health scare, embarrassed over the fuss, but with a thumbs-up prognosis.

The team he came back to could use similar reassurance.

After tests indicated that Mills' chest pains Tuesday were likely caused by indigestion, he arrived at Cashman Field just in time to see the 51s allow two ninth-inning runs and suffer their third straight loss to Colorado Springs, 5-3.

Las Vegas has scored 30 runs in the series, but lost by margins of one, one and two. Not even righthander Mike Johnson's seven strong innings could save the 51s in Wednesday's matinee, as they fell to 16-11 but maintained their overall lead in the Pacific Coast League.

That lead grows more tenuous every day -- no big deal in May -- but the 51s' confidence is taking a beating and their pitching staff has been knocked for a loop. Since five 51s relievers combined for 11 innings in Monday's 17-16 loss in 14 innings, their bullpen has been short-staffed and largely ineffective.

Mills believes the first loss directly led to the last two, and blames himself for burning up his staff in Monday's five-hour marathon.

"I allowed our guys to keep coming back and I kept putting pitchers in the game, instead of just (giving up on) that game and hoping that (conserving pitchers) might enable us to win two or three of the next three games," he said. "That's a decision you sometimes have to make."

Mills admitted that it's easy to make such determinations in hindsight. Concessions don't come as easily in the heat of the moment.

Besides, he said, "These guys go out and bust their tails every day. I want to give them a chance to win every game. I think I owe that to them."

Restoring his players' equilibrium and massaging the bullpen back into regular usage will be vital in the next few games, Mills said.

"That 17-16 game got us completely out of how we use our bullpen and how we do things," he said. "We've already lost two more games because of it. When your apple cart gets upset like that, it can take a while to get it back. The quicker we get back to that, the better."

Mills' first order of business Wednesday, after getting into uniform for the ninth inning, was to reassure his players of his health. In the sixth inning Tuesday, he suffered chest pains and was rushed to Mountain View Hospital.

"It was a sharp, stabbing sensation in the middle of my chest," Mills said. "I've never had that before. I can't say that it scared me, but I was puzzled because my family's healthy and I've been healthy my entire life."

Various tests revealed that acid reflux likely caused the pain and Mills was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon.

"I'm more embarrassed than anything," he said. "But I'm glad to get all those tests, which I've never had before. Watching the ultrasound (of your heart), you're glad to see all of those valves opening and closing like they should."