6/4/2013-
By Karen Boehler
Pecos League writer

LAS VEGAS -- Two pitchers with solid early-season records squared off in Las Vegas Monday, and after all was said and done, it was Train Robber Atsushi Hebisawa who helped his team to an 8-5 victory over Austin Carden and Santa Fe.

While the home team scattered its runs across four innings, the Fuego had one big inning and a late solo run.

Singles by Matt Grosso, Randy Wells and Adam Kam and a double by Jon Hotta put the Robbers up 3-0 in the bottom of the first. A single by Wells and back-to-back doubles by TedLeMasters and A.J. Alexander made it 5-0 Robbers in the third, but a big Santa Fe inning in the fifth closed the gap.

With the first two batters out, the Fuego came alive, starting with singles by Bryson Sims and Charlie Calamia; an error by the Train Robber third baseman; a double by Jimmy Maxwell and another Vegas error.

But after that tough inning, both Hebisawa and the defense mostly settled down, allowing only one final Santa Fe run, in the ninth on another error. The Robbers added another two runs in the bottom of the fifth on singles by Wells and Will Walsh and a final run in the eighth when Hotta walked, stole second and came home on a Hebisawa single.

Asked to comment, Santa Fe coach Bill Moore was succinct.

"We have some issues we need to clean up. No excuses. The Train Robbers scored eight. We scored five. Bottom line."

He was mostly happy with Carden, blaming a lack of offense for the loss.

"He threw pretty well. Hes been better, but he threw pretty well. If we gave him a little bit more run support, maybe we could have kept him out there longer."

Gil Tussey came in in relief of Carden in the fifth.

Besides the game loss, the Fuego also suffered an injury to catcher Kellen Lee, who was hit on the wrist when a Vegas batter over-swung.

"Hes got a pretty good knot on there," Moore said. "I think Kellan, hes a tough guy. Hes a real tough guy. He went out there and finished the inning and I know he was hurting. Im going to give him a day off tomorrow regardless of what he tells me."

Santa Fe heads north to Raton to face the much-improved Osos, and Moore isnt too concerned.

"I expect well bounce back," he said. "I really expect well bounce back. I dont think this loss will dictate our season for us. I think its just a learning experience for us and something we can clean up and become a better baseball team because of it."

Las Vegas plays at home, but Taos will be the home team for games Tuesday and Wednesday at Rodriguez Park.

Phil Grondin contributed to this story

Las Vegas coach Casey Dill did not return calls for comment, and PointStreak statistics and play-by-play were not available for the game. Books provided by the Fuego helped with the story