Tuesday, July 20, 2004 | 9:19 a.m.
Thanks in part to an unusual reversal of a call, another losing streak is over for the Las Vegas 51s.
This one, a six-game streak that started before the All-Star break, ended with John Barnes' walk-off home run in the ninth inning Monday night at Cashman Field, sending the surging Tucson Sidewinders back to their hotel 8-6 losers.
The reversal came in the eighth inning after Tucson pitcher Brady Raggio bobbled, then dropped, a toss while covering first base. Pinch-hitter Nick Theodorou was initially called out by first base umpire John McMasters, but after arguments by Theodorou, 51s hitting and first base coach George Hendrick, and eventually manager Terry Kennedy, the call was reversed by home plate umpire Jack Samuels.
The Sidwinders, already off the field, grudgingly returned to play defense while two runs eventually scored, tying the game at 6 and setting the stage for the 51s' comeback.
In the ninth inning, outfielder Cody Ross got his first hit after two months on the disabled list. A double play by Koyie Hill seemed to have the game headed for extra innings before Brian Myrow singled to right and Barnes delivered his home run.
It has been a year of high expectations for Ross, traded from Detroit for highly touted reliever Steve Colyer just before the season. He came in a year after being named the Tigers' minor leaguer of the year in 2003, struggled at the start of the season, then had just begun to find his stroke at the plate when an improbable accident sidelined him for more than two months.
Ross, from Carlsbad, N.M., was hitting .323 over the previous three series, heading into the third of four games at Albuquerque. His family drove four hours from Carlsbad to visit him during the series, and they were getting ready to go to dinner when Ross was getting out of the back seat of a car.
His 9-year-old nephew slammed the car door, thinking that Ross had gone out the other side of the car. He hadn't, and Ross' hand, caught in the door, was broken.
"At first, I thought it was OK, but 30 minutes later, I couldn't make a fist," he said.
He came off the disabled list July 16, and had been 0-for-14 before his hit in the ninth. But he's a streaky hitter, and neither he nor Kennedy is much concerned.
"He's a good player, but we need to get him in the one spot and leave him there," Kennedy said. "It's going to take awhile to work back his rhythm."
At Triple-A Toledo last year, Ross hit .287, hitting 20 home runs with a .515 slugging percentage. But the highlight -- and lowlight -- of 2003 for Ross came in a meaningless September game against the Cleveland Indians at Comerica Park last year. After the Indians, tied 2-2 in the third inning, walked Dmitri Young to load the bases, Ross hit a grand slam for his first career home run.
Five innings later, he injured his knee and was carried off the field. He did not fully recover from the injury until this season.
Back, struggling offensively and still working on his strength defensively, Ross won't put pressure on himself.
"It'll take me four or five games to get back into it," he said.
Still, Ross knows that the Dodgers have high expectations of him following his superior season last year with Toledo, and then his trade for a prized reliever in the Dodgers' farm system who most expected to be in Los Angeles' bullpen.
"(Paul) DePodesta (the Dodgers' general manager) called me and told me he wanted me for a couple years now," he said. "I knew Detroit wanted me, but they needed a guy at that point in time, so they were willing to give me up, and worked it out."
51s NOTES: The Dodgers activated outfielder Juan Encarnacion off the disabled list and optioned Chin-Feng Chen back to Triple-A. Chen went 0-for-4 with one run in three games with the Dodgers. ... With Chen's return, the 51s now have seven outfielders, with the Dodgers also having seven players who can work the outfield. ... Tucson came into Las Vegas having swept league-leading Sacramento in a four-game series.
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