5/22/2013-Trinidad and Las Vegas -- two teams on the opposite ends of the standings -- squared off in Central Park Tuesday and tightened the standing just a bit. (Photo by Andrew Dunn)

By Karen Boehler
Pecos League writer

TRINIDAD, Colo. -- Two Pecos lead teams did something Tuesday they havent done all season.

For one, that was a plus and the other a minus, as Las Vegas got its first victory of the season, handing Trinidad its first loss, 13-6. And according to both coaches, the difference came down to timely plays and errors.

"If you give a good baseball team multiple opportunities, theyre going to take advantage of them, and they made two or three errors in one inning and we exploited them," said Train Robber manager Casey Dill. "We took advantage of them and thats what a good baseball team does."

"We almost outhit them two to one but we made four errors," agreed Trinidad manager J.D. Droddy.

Accurate stats and play-by-play were not available after the game, so details are scarce. But according to the line score, the first three innings were a pitchers duel, with Robber Edison Alvarez and Trigger Grant Leadbetter keeping the game scoreless through three.

It was still close after four, as Trinidad took a 1-0 lead on singled by Frank Florio and Mike Goldy and a Will Leonard double.

But Las Vegas broke the game open in the fifth and sixth, scoring five runs on two hit and three errors in the fifth and three runs on two hits -- including a 2 RBI homer by Chris Wilson -- in the sixth.

Those eight runs were enough to win the game, but after going scoreless in the seventh, the Train Robbers scored another five runs on five hits in the eighth.

"We threatened them every inning," Dill said. "We had runners in scoring position every inning and were going to hit the baseball. Were going to hit and if our pitching is there out of our bullpen, were going to win a lot of baseball games. If the bullpen can be decent, were going to win a lot of baseball games."

Droddy said his starter pitched will, but couldnt overcome the mistakes.

"He pitched fairly well but errors got us behind and I think hell take the loss, but it was in large part due to some errors. We played hard. We kept playing to the end as always. We scored some runs late to tighten it up and just couldnt come back."

The Triggers tallied four runs in the eighth off Alvarez and Eddie Medina, and one in the ninth off Ben Runton -- a triple by Sam DiMatteo led off the eighth and Frank Florio homered in the ninth -- but it was too little, too late.

Las Vegas 12 hits came from pretty much across the board, with A.J. Alexander and Andrew Lopez 2-for-4; and Ryan Lauer, Matt Grosso and Wilson 2-for-5. Goldy led Trinidad with a 3-for-4 night. Bryce Miller and Matt Hunt were 2-for-4 and Florio and Leonard 2-for-5.

The loss was the seasons first for the Triggers, and Droddy knows it wont be the last, but he said theyll just come back out Wednesday.

"Edison Alvarez pitched pretty well for them although we had plenty of hits," the manager said. "After he left we got even more. But they made plays. They made some great plays to stop some scoring opportunities for us. Overall, Im disappointed we lost but thats baseball. Well come back tomorrow and go again."

For Vegas, the goal is to stay on the winning track.

"Long ways to go," Dill said. "Weve got 64 games to go so were going to take it one game at a time. These guys are hungry and were going to continue to try to win baseball games."