Bullpen struggles as LV tumbles

Steve Addy

Thursday, May 23, 2002 | 9:25 a.m.

While the 51s' starting pitchers struggled for the first month, manager Brad Mills insisted they would eventually become one of the team's strengths. Turns out he was right.

But when the bullpen falls apart, as it did in Wednesday's 8-4 loss to the Omaha Royals, there is little the skipper can do except hope his reliable relievers do better next time.

Starter Kevin Beirne pitched six solid innings, continuing a recent 51s trend, and handed the bullpen a 4-3 lead. Two innings later, team win leader Shane Nance got hammered for five runs on six hits and Las Vegas couldn't recover.

While going 9-3 since May 9 to solidify their PCL South lead, the 51s (27-20) had been getting strong starting pitching. Seven of the nine wins went to starters, compared to only eight starters' wins in their first 34 games. In their previous six games, starters had averaged more than six innings.

Beirne overcome a two-run second inning to face the minimum number of batters in the third, fourth and fifth, then escaped a two-on, no-out jam in the sixth. He wasn't unhittable, but deserved a better fate than the bullpen delivered.

"After the rough start, Kevin came back strong and started making some good pitches," said Mills, who is growing accustomed to solid starters' outings.

"The last two times through the rotation, the guys have done a really good job. It started on the last road trip with (Victor) Alvarez and (Dennis) Springer giving us some key outings, and then everyone else chipped in. (Robert) Ellis is throwing much better, too."

But the bullpen didn't hold up its end of the equation Wednesday. With Dodgers GM Dan Evans among an announced crowd of 1,932 at Cashman Field, Craig House struggled badly in the seventh inning and Nance let the game get away in the eighth.

House loaded the bases with one out on two walks and a hit batsman, but held the lead by striking out Joe Espada and flagging down Aaron Guiel's grounder.

Nance found even bigger trouble. With one out he allowed a single by Brandon Berger, a double by Dee Brown and a long three-run homer to left by Kit Pellow for a 6-4 Omaha lead. After Jed Hansen tripled, Mike Rose doubled him in, and one out later Espada singled home Rose.

Mills took the blame for Nance's performance, saying Omaha hits lefthanded pitching too well to have brought in the southpaw. The Royals are hitting .249 overall, but .273 against lefties, including Pellow's .355 (11-for-31). Both of his homers are off lefthanders.

"I put Nance in a situation that was tough, because they hit lefthanders really well," Mills said. "They were true to form; they swung the bats well. It's my fault, because I did not put (Nance) in a good position to be successful."

Until Wednesday, Nance had allowed only eight earned runs in 29 innings for a 2.48 ERA. That figure ballooned to 3.90 and his record sagged to 6-2.

The 51s scored all of their runs in the fifth inning, with a leadoff homer by Rick Bell (fifth), a two-run double by David Ross and an RBI single by Chris Clapinski.