Strong pitching key to win

Victoria Sun

Monday, May 20, 2002 | 9:37 a.m.

For a second consecutive game, a Las Vegas starting pitcher delivered a solid performance.

This time, the 51s added some timely hits as well.

Las Vegas third baseman Rick Bell hit a solo home run in the eighth inning off reliever Rodney Myers helping the 51s to a 2-1 victory at Cashman Field Sunday afternoon.

Bell blasted Myers' 1-0 pitch over the fence in left-center for his fourth homer of the year.

"How huge was that?" Las Vegas manager Brad Mills said. "He has hit the ball very well. He's done a good job for us.

"(Saturday) night, he is one guy that had quality at-bats all night long. That was the purpose of me moving him into the second hole today, because of those quality at-bats."

The win improved the 51s to 25-19 and dropped the Beavers to 22-22.

Las Vegas starting pitcher Robert Ellis had one of his best days of the year, allowing one unearned run on five hits and striking out five in seven innings for a no decision.

Catcher David Ross said Ellis had command of all his pitches and established his fastball early, allowing him to use other pitches.

"His last two outings have been good and this one was better than his previous two," Mills said. "So yes, it is one of his better outings and hopefully he will continue to make that progress."

Reliever Shane Nance tossed two scoreless innings for his sixth win.

It was the second game in a row Las Vegas received outstanding pitching. The previous night, Phil Devey, who was called up from double-A on Friday, allowed one run on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings in the 51s' 2-1 loss to Portland.

In the first game of the series Thursday night, the 51s couldn't hang on to a 10-2 lead entering the eighth inning and lost 12-11.

On Sunday, the 51s tied the game 1-1 in the seventh inning. Right fielder Luke Allen led off with a single up the middle then went to second on a wild pitch. Two outs later, Ross singled in Allen.

"It was nice to see the guys come through," Mills said. "This was kind of a tough series for us.

"After the game on Thursday night, that hurt. Then we came back and played well the next night. Last night hurt us because we didn't have quality at-bats in key situations. Today we had better at-bats.

"Luke Allen came up big with that base hit up the middle. Ross, of course, had a big two-out hit."

Ross, who became the every day catcher when Todd Greene was granted his release last week, said the win was a boost for the team.

"It was key," Ross said. "This team, we've been battling.

"We scored a ton of runs the first night and some more the second night. Last night and today, they were 2-1 ballgames so it was good to come out ahead on the other end of that."

Prior to Thursday's game, Bell was in a slump going 1-for-20.

That night, he went 4-for-5 with three runs and four RBIs, including a grand slam in the first inning. Since then, he has had multiple hits in every game.

"Before that, I was struggling a little bit," Bell said. "I have been trying to work with Papa Jack (hitting coach Ron Jackson) on a few different things.

"The first night back I hit a couple balls hard and started to get a little confidence and feel more comfortable at the plate."