Competitive 51s staring up at Sacramento powerhouse

First things first: It doesn't help that the 51s are chasing the '27 Yankees, that when these crazy River Cats from Sacramento lose a baseball game it's a bigger story than Jimmer coming to town or the Orange Freeze stand closing early on a hot day.

Billy Beane sure lives a charmed life. Brad Pitt plays him in an upcoming movie about the Oakland Athletics general manager and the team's Triple-A affiliate wins Pacific Coast League division titles like Costco hands out samples.

"Billy and them really do a good job up there," 51s manager Marty Brown said. "But I think we can hit with anyone in this league."

Brown has been around the basepaths for decades, which means when it's just now getting toasty outside and July isn't a few days old, no manager worth his lineup card will give an inch to his chief rival.

Even one going for a fifth straight division championship and who trots out relievers who consistently hit 95 to 96 mph.

Brown also knows that while his team might have the offense to remain close enough to Sacramento that August could for the first time in years mean more around Cashman Field than heat exhaustion and record beer sales, Las Vegas doesn't have a prayer of contending if its pitchers don't catch the consistency bug.

What a strange, unpredictable world. The 51s never have been better since becoming the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2008 and yet still trail Sacramento by 6½ games.

Las Vegas has twice offered winning streaks of eight this season and yet also one of 10 straight losses.

It went 22-8 in May and 11-15 in June.

It ranks second among PCL teams in batting average.

It recently allowed 56 runs in a four-game stretch.

"You either get the job done or you don't," Brown said. "That's not a threat to the players -- that's the reality of this business. We've talked about that. They're accountable at this level and the next.

"If you can't get it done because you're trying to do too much and not staying within yourself, you're telling everyone you're not a good enough player and feel you have to do something different to perform. Guys who make it at this level and the next perform to the best of their ability and are consistent doing so."

Change isn't probable at Triple A. It's constant. A team could make 120 to 130 transactions in a year. The 51s have made more than 100 this season.

Tacoma, which recently won three of four games from Las Vegas, hasn't yet made 55. Maybe it's something in the water up there. Rain does a baseball team good.

But it's the reality of this level, the uncertainty of who might be available on a given day, that says a lot about Brown and his staff having the 51s over .500 and still within reach of that juggernaut in Sacramento despite the abundance of moves.

They have preached over and over about pitching to the bat and not trying to be so darn perfect.

Do you know what comes with the latter? Walks. Too many of them.

The 51s are good enough offensively to overcome solo home runs. They aren't always good enough to overcome two walks and three-run home runs. When that happens too often, 10 other PCL teams offer better ERAs and all but three allow fewer homers.

There might not be a better hitter in the PCL than the 51s' David Cooper (.382 average, 56 RBIs), and Toronto's top prospect remains third baseman Brett Lawrie, who was hitting .354 with 15 homers before breaking his left hand May 31. Brad Mills (6-6, 3.72 ERA) continues to eat innings for Las Vegas.

So there is talent, enough to keep Brown's team in a playoff mindset through the next few months, assuming those transactions don't continue to grow daily. There is enough to remain within earshot of the '27 Yankees.

Who, by the way, have lost four in a row after Friday's 7-3 defeat by Tucson.

And you thought Sacramento mourned when it almost lost the Kings to Anaheim.

"I feel really good about us when we have all the parts clicking," Brown said. "We've had our share of call-ups and injuries, all the things you deal with at this level. That's part of development. More than winning and losing, we want to play good baseball. That's what the front office wants to see. That's what we're here for.

"But, sure, you always want to win."

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday and Thursday on "Monsters of the Midday," Fox Sports Radio 920 AM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.