Hanrahan does the job on hill, at plate

Nick Christensen

Thursday, June 17, 2004 | 9:01 a.m.

A remarkable feat occurred Wednesday night at Cashman Field -- a Las Vegas 51s pitcher hit for the cycle ... on the season, anyway.

"He said 'I hit for the cycle,' " said 51s manager Terry Kennedy of starter Joel Hanrahan. "I told him, 'Well, you need a home run and a single,' and he said 'No, I mean for the year.' "

But it wasn't Hanrahan's 2-for-2 performance that stood out -- it was Hanrahan's 4 2/3 innings of no-hit ball en route to a 5-1 Las Vegas win against the Portland Beavers in front of a crowd of 8,159.

Hanrahan ended up giving up three hits and one earned run in the six innings. He walked four Beavers and struck out three in 94 pitches.

"I was just throwing good pitches," he said. "I had a great defense behind me, and when you get both together, good things happen.

"I had a good game last game, and the game before that, so hopefully I keep staying that way. I felt good tonight, I'm getting results."

Hanrahan stayed strong until the seventh inning, when he gave up a leadoff triple to Portland's Jose Nieves. He then walked Tagg Bozied and Yamid Haad followed with a single to left that scored Portland's only run.

"I wanted to get the shutout, and I came close," he said. "That last inning, my legs were out of me. I'll take six innings with one run."

Kennedy was impressed with Hanrahan's outing, but still had concerns about the Dodgers' fifth-rated prospect getting behind in the count.

"He fell behind a lot," Kenmnedy said. "He was behind 2-0 seven or eight times, maybe 10. He threw good and made the pitches he had to."

Hanrahan was on a pitch count of about 90, but Kennedy said that number was flexible. But he wanted to be safe and make sure his starter's win was preserved after Hanrahan started to struggle in the seventh inning.

As for his performance at the plate, Kennedy said it's a tribute to the way the Dodgers work with their pitchers in development.

"The Dodgers pride themselves on making pitchers do everything," he said. "Anything a pitcher does for me is a bonus besides getting the bunt down."

Hanrahan's counterpart, Portland starter and former UNLV standout pitcher Donovan Osborne, gave the prospect credit for his work.

"He can hit," he said. "My hats off to him. He pitched well, and he hit well."