Kelly continues power surge for Las Vegas
51s salvage final game of series at Isotopes Park
Windswept Isotopes Park was not especially friendly to the home team Thursday afternoon.
The ’Topes misplayed some fly balls in the breeze, mishandled a couple more on the infield and just never seemed in sync during a 10-3 loss to visiting Las Vegas. Albuquerque won the abbreviated threegame series but did not bring its ‘A’ game to the finale.
Ty Kelly brought his. The 51s outfielder capped a remarkable two-game stretch in the Duke City by going 3-for5 with a home run, two triples and three RBIs. The matinee performance came after Kelly went 4-for-5 with a double, a triple and two homers Wednesday night.
Making Kelly’s sizzling hitting all the more impressive was that it came from both sides of the plate. The switchhitter batted exclusively lefthanded Wednesday night, then tripled and homered from the right side Thursday.
Kelly was at something of a loss to explain the power surge but conceded he’s comfortable playing at Isotopes Park.
“I had a four-hit game here in 2013,” he said, “but they were all singles. I’d never hit a home run here until (Wednesday) night, but it is good to know that if you barrel one up at this park it’ll go.”
Kelly said he has never hit for a cycle but he came painfully close in Wednesday’s 17-11 Albuquerque win. His seventhinning double left Kelly just a single short of the cycle and he was scheduled to bat fourth in the ninth inning.
“I’d actually forgotten about it until I went to the on-deck circle,” Kelly said. “(Teammate Zach) Borenstein was telling me, ‘You might want to swing for a single.’ I probably would have swung for a home run anyway because I feel like hitting stupid sometimes is the best thing to do.”
Kelly never got the chance as the 51s went down 1-2-3 against rehabbing Colorado Rockies reliever Carlos Estevez in the ninth. Any disappointment Kelly may have felt did not carry over to Thursday’s contest.
After tripling to left-center in the first inning, Kelly trotted home on a Borenstein homer that bounced off a light tower beyond the right-field fence. Kelly later smashed a two-run shot to center that increased Las Vegas’ lead to 6-1 in the fifth inning.
Those were the game’s only long balls, which was a bit surprising with a stiff wind blowing out to right field and the two teams coming off a nine-homer slugfest Wednesday night.
But the Isotopes simply couldn’t manage much opposition on a day that started with leadoff hitter Raimel Tapia getting ejected for arguing after a called third strike. Albuquerque’s 2-3-4 hitters went a combined 0-for-11 Thursday, and Las Vegas starter Chris Flexen (1-1) allowed just two runs in six solid innings.
Josh Fuentes went 2-for-3 with a run-scoring triple to pace the ’Topes, who open a four-game home series against Salt Lake today at 6:35 p.m.