Aviators take 4 in rare 7-game rivalry series

With its most recent outing, the stretch of not losing a series for the Las Vegas Aviators will now surpass a month.

Las Vegas took four of seven at home inside Las Vegas Ballpark this week from intra-state rival Reno. The series featured a makeup game from an inclement weather postponement that resulted in a Wednesday doubleheader that would both be claimed by the home team.

The Aviators won three games in the middle of the series while also claiming the series finale on Sunday on the way to a 16-17 overall record. Currently, that is good for third place in the Pacific Coast League West standings.

A week on the road lies ahead for Las Vegas as it gets ready to head to Texas for six games against Round Rock of the Texas Rangers organization.

Tuesday, L, 10-6

After trailing by as many as six runs early in the game, the Aviators fell just short of fully making the comeback resulting in a 10-6 loss.

Already down 6-0, Las Vegas opened the bottom of the second with a single, walk, RBI single from left fielder Stephen Piscotty, single and an RBI walk from right fielder Hoy Park. That added the first two runs of the game for the home team.

Soon after, the team would pump out home runs in two straight innings with a total of three being hit in the two frames. Shortstop Logan Davidson hit his first blast of the year with one out recorded in the bottom of the fourth. An inning later, catcher Tyler Soderstrom duplicated the feat for his seventh longball of the year which leads the Aviators.

Soderstrom would later leave the game in the sixth inning after being hit by a pitch. Earlier in the contest, he had already been hit by a foul tip.

In that same fifth inning, first baseman Drew Lugbauer went yard for two runs on the first pitch from relief pitcher Francisco Morales to get within a run of tying the game.

Starting pitcher Aaron Brooks went through the fire early in the contest, giving up seven runs in the first three innings. Seven straight batters reached with one out in the second inning before four run-producing hits opened the day’s scoring. Two of those hits were two-run doubles and the other two were separate RBI singles for a 6-0 advantage as 10 men in total came to the plate.

Brooks would settle in before he left the mound for good. At one point, he retired nine straight batters in the middle innings before leaving the mound after six-plus innings, giving up seven runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

He has now tallied three quality starts this season and has gone at least five innings in four of his six games started. Additionally, the veteran pitcher has gone at least four innings in every start.

Relief pitching picked up right where Brooks left off combining to retire 19 of 20 Reno batters at one point.

Right-handed reliever Stevie Emanuels was called on for the ninth and produced back-to-back flyouts in three-ball counts. He’d follow that up with back-to-back walks before a two-run triple added insurance runs for the Aces along with a run that scored on a throwing error.

Wednesday, W, 2-1 (Doubleheader Game #1)

For the first time this season, the Aviators have beaten the intra-state rival Aces as the first part of a Wednesday doubleheader.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Las Vegas turned its fifth walk of the game into its first run of the game on an RBI triple by second baseman Armando Alvarez. With the game tied at a run apiece, designated hitter Jordan Diaz gave the team its first lead of the game against Reno on an RBI sacrifice fly.

That actually marked the first lead of the season against the Aces for the Aviators.

On the other end, Las Vegas pitching worked its way around some walks. Starter Hogan Harris allowed two walks in the third inning for a total of three up to that point. He has allowed three or more walks in five of the six games he’s started this season.

The first walk of the third inning eventually stole second base and scored on an RBI double to open the day’s scoring.

By the fourth inning, Harris had issued a walk in three straight innings. He went four innings giving up a run on two hits with six strikeouts and four walks.

Relief pitcher Tyler Ferguson started the top of the sixth inning with back-to-back strikeouts before allowing his first walk of the game. That runner would reach as far as third base on an error. Ferguson would call for an infield popup and record the final out of the frame himself.

Fellow reliever Vinny Nittoli recorded his first save of the year.

Wednesday, W, 9-6 (Doubleheader Game #2)

That makes two straight games where Las Vegas needed to come-from-behind from an early one-run deficit to pick up a perfect sweep of Wednesday’s doubleheaders. The Aviators trailed, 1-0, early in both contests that turned out to be wins after seven innings.

With two-on and one out in the bottom of the third, catcher Yohel Pozo drove in the first run of the game for the home team on an RBI double. That would be followed up with a two-run triple from designated hitter Carlos Perez.

The duo of Pozo and Perez went a combined 0-for-5 with a walk in the first installment of the doubleheader. As a team in this one, Las Vegas hit everything but a home run in the bottom of the fourth while adding three more runs to the board on an RBI single by left fielder Logan Davidson, RBI double from Pozo and a run that scored off an error.

Davidson, along with Pozo and Perez, combined to go 5-for-9 with two singles, two doubles, a triple, five RBI, five runs scored with three walks.

Las Vegas pitching had limited baserunning activity for the vast majority of the early going of the game following an unearned run in the top of the first inning.

At one point, Aviator pitching had retired eight straight Aces batters before a 1-out walk in the top of the fifth gave the visitors their first baserunner since the second inning.

Reliever Alex Speas had the roughest outing of any Las Vegas pitchers, giving up five runs in the top of the sixth inning. Reno used a two-run home, two-run triple and another run that was scored off a wild pitch to climb within a run of tying the game at seven apiece.

In the bottom half, right fielder Hoy Park plated two runs on a single to give the home team some much needed insurance runs.

Thursday, W, 8-0

Las Vegas has tallied its second shutout in the last five outings in an 8-0 win over Reno Thursday night.

Starting pitcher Osvaldo Bido put forth a masterful performance as he helped blanked its opponent for a third straight win.

He got things started with three straight strikeouts to open the game, not allowing his first hit until there was one out recorded in the third inning. Another strikeout would end the third as well.

Bido had his longest outing of the year, the longest of any Aviator pitcher this year, going seven scoreless innings allowing just two hits with eight strikeouts and a walk. He has now tallied at least seven strikeouts in four of his six outings this season.

Center fielder Daz Cameron pieced together the first four-hit game of any Las Vegas player this season, going 4-for-5 with two singles, a double, a home run, three RBI and two runs scored. His solo shot came on the first pitch of the home half of the first inning.

Additionally, he added RBI singles in the sixth and eighth innings respectively as Las Vegas pulled away from Reno. He also flashed the leather in the outfield with a diving catch to close the top of the fourth inning.

First baseman Drew Lugbauer was the other Aviator to go yard in the win, hitting a solo roundtripper with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Las Vegas really put the game out of reach by scoring runs in three straight innings totaling six runs highlighted by a three-run fifth inning. Shortstop Logan Davidson and catcher Carlos Perez were responsible for the offensive punch with a two-run single and RBI single respectively.

Seven of the nine Aviators in the lineup recorded at least one hit in the game.

Friday, L, 13-10

Las Vegas fought back to take the lead after trailing by as many as six runs but would lose the lead again and eventually the game, ending a three-game win streak. The team had a chance to secure a series win with a victory Friday night.

Already down 6-0, designated hitter Drew Lugbauer launched a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth. Lugbauer only has three hits in this series and all of them have left the yard.

Two innings later, the Aviators had the bases loaded with nobody out before an RBI single and RBI walk would plate two more runs. Now trailing by three, center fielder Daz Cameron had one of the bigger swings of the night with a three-run triple to tie the game at seven apiece. He’d soon come across to score on a throwing error to give the home team its first lead of the game.

Cameron is 8-for-14 so far in the series.

That midgame switch for Las Vegas came on the heels of a rough start from pitcher Jack O’Loughlin. Just two batters into the game, O’Loughlin found himself down, 1-0. An inning later, he’d offer up a solo shot to lead off the second inning.

The fourth inning was the worst as an RBI sacrifice fly would make it 3-0 for the visitors. The wheels fully came off after an RBI double, RBI groundout and RBI single came in succession resulting in the six-run deficit.

O’Loughlin allowed six runs on eight hits over 3 ⅔ innings pitched with four strikeouts and a walk.

Despite coming back to take the lead, Aviator pitching out of the bullpen gave things away in the game’s two final innings.

Reliever Gerson Moreno led off the eighth inning with a walk followed by a double and game-tying three-run home run to tie the game 10-10.

Fellow reliever Vinny Nittoli found himself in a bases loaded situation with just one out recorded in the ninth inning. After calling on a pinch-hitter, the Aces would plate the game-winning runs beginning with a two-run double.

Nittoli recorded his first decision of the year, falling to 0-1 on the season.

Saturday, L, 9-6

Las Vegas scored first and would endure nine unanswered runs by Reno resulting in a three-run loss. That makes back-to-back losses for the Aviators after previously having been on a three-game win streak.

Starting pitcher Joey Estes fell under .500 after tying his shortest outing of the season at just four innings. It was a fast start for him however, striking out the side in the first inning before running it to four straight in the second.

To leadoff the third inning, the Aviators committed an error to give the Aces their first baserunner of the night. The first hit for the visitors came just after on a double followed by a two-run triple to erase an early 1-0 lead for Las Vegas.

That lead for Reno would be pushed to 3-1 after another run scored, this time on an RBI single.

An inning later, the inability to turn a double play would later result in two runs scoring on a two-run double.

Estes went four innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on six hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

Self-inflicted wounds bit the Aviators when a hit-by-pitch came around to score on a two-run home run in the fifth inning. In addition, home pitching issued eight walks in the game, two came around to score. Both scored in the sixth inning after three straight one-out walks to load the bases.

Las Vegas started its rally a little too late beginning with a walk to open the bottom of the eighth inning. That baserunner served as the team’s first since the third inning. Moments later, the team would tally its first hit since the second.

Left fielder Daz Cameron drove in two runs on a single while the first two outs of the inning also produced runs for a 9-6 finish.

Sunday, W, 6-4

Las Vegas flirted with a shutout but was able to produce enough offense to withstand a late rally from Reno. The win wipes away back-to-back losses for the Aviators.

Left fielder Daz Cameron continued his red-hot streak from inside the batter’s box beginning with a leadoff double to open the bottom of the first inning before being left stranded. He’d double again in the third inning for his 11th two-bagger of the season for the team’s first run of the game. He is now tied for second in the PCL in doubles.

Cameron would later score after tallying his third hit of the day with a fifth inning single. His final stat line was 3-for-4 with a single, two doubles, an RBI, a run scored and a strikeout. Over the series, he went 13-for-22 inside the batter’s box.

Third baseman Drew Lugbauer powered out his fourth home run of the series with a two-run blast in the bottom of the fourth inning. Four of his five hits in the series went yard. 

Right fielder Hoy Park extended his hit streak to seven games with an RBI single in that same fourth inning. Designated hitter Tyler Soderstrom also added an RBI single for himself.

Pitcher Aaron Brooks got his first win of the season after going six innings for the fourth time this year. It wasn’t until the fourth inning that Reno had a baserunner reach past first base.

He’d hurl six shutout innings from the mound while giving up four hits, relying on his defense every step of the way with just one strikeout recorded to no walks.

The Aces scored all four of their runs in the final two innings of the game including a two-run double with one out recorded in the eighth inning. It was a three-run eighth for the visitors following an RBI single to cut the six-run lead in half.

Reno would creep no closer than 6-4 after a leadoff home run in the ninth inning on an 0-2 count.