Wednesday, May 25, 2005 | 9:40 a.m.
Two days ago, Las Vegas 51s manager Jerry Royster offered sharp criticism of his team's play.
Tuesday at Cashman Field, his 51s continued to play a whole new score, and Royster was singing a totally different tune.
"It's as good as we've played," Royster said of his team's 8-3 win against the Round Rock Express. "I'm looking for results of the things that we talk about it. I'm not one to correct a lot of things during the course of a game - I'm more of one to take notes and bring them back. Then we recap it and hopefully it doesn't happen again."
Of course, it doesn't hurt that the heart of Royster's lineup consists of Jayson Werth, Jason Grabowski and Norihiro Nakamura - the first two on major league rehab and the latter a perennial Japanese All-Star.
It was that heart of the order, particularly Werth, who carried the 51s on Tuesday. Werth went 4-for-4 with 5 RBIs and was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning.
Joe Thurston, batting eighth, went 2-for-3 with three runs.
On Monday, the 51s beat Round Rock - then holders of the PCL's best record - 7-4 with Dodgers owner Frank McCourt in attendance. McCourt wasn't among the crowd of 1,862 on Tuesday, but the 51s' strong effort continued.
Royster said he doesn't think McCourt's visit explicitly inspired his players, but the owner's presence certainly didn't hurt.
"You should always be able to grab a hold of something," he said. "That's something that Pete Rose taught me. He said, 'grab a hold of anything to make you better that day. Be able to pick something out that made you mad enough to do better. That way you're always playing the game hard.'"
The team's offensive performance the past two days complemented a strong start by Edwin Jackson, who has been struggling recently.
Jackson pitched five innings, giving up six hits and two earned runs while striking out three Express batters.
"He had a very good night," Royster said. "He's able to talk about things in between innings now that make more sense. He does the correct thing now."
Royster cited Jackson's approach to pitching to Round Rock catcher Humberto Quintero. He said he and pitching coach Roger McDowell had talked to Jackson about how to pitch to Quintero, and Jackson at first disregarded their advice. Quintero wound up hitting a shot to Thurston that the veteran second baseman bobbled, leaving runners in scoring position rather than ending the inning.
"Then the next time up he went about it the correct way," Royster said. "After the second time, he walked in and, 'Isn't that the guy we talked about yesterday, and you let him hit a double on something other than what we told you to get an out on?' ... Don't tell me you duck. You're afraid. That's not a word you get to use around here."
McDowell said Jackson's recent struggles have come in large part because of an old problem - lack of fastball command. In his past four starts prior to Tuesday, Jackson's given up 28 hits and 22 runs in 17 innings.
"When he struggles like that, the other pitches, his slider and changeup - he's not able to make any pitches," McDowell said. "He's going to have long innings and short outings."
Still, McDowell said Jackson has improved from last year.
"He's still very young in his development but made some good adjustments," he said. "He's starting to learn his delivery, starting to learn how to pitch more consistently."
Prior to the slump, Jackson had given up 13 hits and five runs in three starts.
Royster said he still thinks Jackson will be ready for the big leagues by the end of this season.
"If he's good enough once, he's going to be good enough again," Royster said.
archive
