Maza has career night in 51s' loss

Luis Maza found an impressive way to keep his hitting streak alive.

Maza cracked a two-run homer and a bases-loaded triple on his way to a career-high six-RBI night, but the Las Vegas 51s were outslugged by the Albuquerque Isotopes, 18-16.

The 27-year-old infielder fell a double short of the cycle while extending his hitting streak to 16 games and raising his batting average to .400. When the streak began on April 11, Maza was hitting .100. He's 20-for-42 (.476) with 10 RBIs in his last nine starts.

Las Vegas manager Lorenzo Bundy said Maza's play has been one of the most pleasing storylines of the season.

"[Maza] has been a valuable player for us. He's been a big part of getting us turned around after a slow start," Bundy said. "He's played five different positions for us and been one of our more consistent players."

On Wednesday, Maza's clutch hitting fueled another potent attack by a team that ranked second in the Pacific Coast League in batting with a .312 average. One night after posting season highs in runs (18) and hits (21), the 51s scored 10 times in the seventh inning, when Maza singled and tripled.

"This was as wacky a game as I've been involved with in 27 years of baseball," Bundy said. "We were down, 17-6, and all of a sudden, it's 17-16. It's pretty incredible."

Terry Tiffee had another monster night for Las Vegas (13-13), going 4-for-6 with a homer and three RBIs to raise his Minor League-leading average to .486.

"I've never seen anybody hit .486 in a month with as many plate appearances as Terry Tiffee's gotten," Bundy said. "He's had solid numbers in the past, but he is in a zone right now that you just don't see."

As productive as Tiffee and the 51s have been the past two nights, the Isotopes were better on Wednesday.

Dallas McPherson hit his PCL-leading 10th homer, a solo shot that followed Jason Wood's three-run blast in the bottom of the first. Brett Carroll also homered and drove in three runs for Albuquerque (15-10), which got at least one hit from every position player in the lineup.

Eulogio De La Cruz (3-1) recorded the win, despite giving up six runs on seven hits, including a pair of homers, in five innings. Marcus Gwyn was roughed up for eight runs -- two earned -- while retiring four batters. Joe Nelson worked two scoreless frames for his league-leading 10th save.

No one struggled as much as Las Vegas starter Miguel Pinango (1-1), who surrendered nine runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings as his ERA climbed from 4.08 to 6.12.