Las Vegas rebounds with first five-win series of season

Las Vegas picked up its third series win of the season while taking the lead in the all-time series against El Paso this past week.

The Aviators took five of six games from inside Las Vegas Ballpark this past week for the team’s first five-win series of the season. Amidst the series win, the team put forth its longest win streak of the season at five games.

In addition, the team improved its home record to 16-11 this season while moving up in the Pacific Coast League standings. As of now, the club is 23-22 on the year and are currently six and a half games behind PCL leader, Sugar Land.

Next up, the Aviators will travel to Tacoma for six games with the Rainiers of the Seattle Mariners organization. That series is set to begin Tuesday, May 21.

Tuesday, W, 3-2

Las Vegas has secured a series opening win for the first time this season after a walkoff win against El Paso from Las Vegas Ballpark Tuesday night.

Left fielder Logan Davidson led off the ninth inning with a double followed by a single from second baseman Max Muncy and then a one-out walk to center fielder Daz Cameron to load the bases. The game-winning run was scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of shortstop Jacob Wilson to give the home team its first and only lead of the game.

Wilson has three RBI in five Triple-A games played this season.

Earlier in the contest, the Aviators trailed on two separate occasions beginning by falling behind by a run on a solo home run with two outs recorded in the top of the third. In the bottom half of the frame, Cameron tied the game with a solo shot of his own.

Cameron is batting .365 in the month of May with seven doubles, three triples, three homers, 16 RBI with 13 walks and just nine strikeouts.

The Chihuahuas took the lead again on back-to-back singles in the fifth off starting pitcher Jack O’Loughlin. He went six innings, giving up two runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Las Vegas clawed its way back into the game behind an RBI single from third baseman Aledmys Diaz to drive in right fielder Hoy Park, who tripled to begin the inning. Diaz is on a rehab stint from the Oakland Athletics.

Following O’Loughlin, the Aviator bullpen faced just two baserunners in its three total innings of work. The combination of Scott Alexander, Stevie Emanuels and Dany Jimenez combined to allow one hit over those three innings while tallying three strikeouts to just one walk.

Jimenez earned his first save of the season.

Wednesday, W, 9-7

Four straight wins now for Las Vegas after a fourth straight win in total and second straight win over El Paso from Las Vegas Ballpark.

Home runs in three straight innings set the early stage for the home team. Third baseman Armando Alvarez launched a two-run shot on the heels of a two-out walk to right fielder Ryan Noda.

Shortstop Logan Davidson duplicated the performance an inning later after entering the game as a pinch hitter in the first inning.

Noda got in on the action with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the fourth to make it 5-1 in favor of the Aviators.

In one quick inning, the Chihuahuas tied the game behind a five-run sixth inning. Pitcher Freddy Tarnok relieved starter Brady Basso, who worked five innings with three hits and a run given up with six strikeouts and three walks.

Tarnok coughed up an RBI triple two batters in before running into more trouble himself. Right-handed reliever Zach Jackson gave up a three-run double to the second batter he faced to tie the game at five apiece.

Jackson got the win but was assessed a blown save. Reliever Michel Otanez came in and closed the door for the save.

Las Vegas ultimately took the lead back on a two-run single by Davidson as he went 2-for-5 with a single, home run, four RBI, two runs scored and a strikeout.

Designated hitter Aledmys Diaz and first baseman Drew Lugbauer both plated runs on an RBI single to cap the three-batter stretch of run-producing hits.

Thursday, W, 7-3

For the first time since May 2nd, the Las Vegas Aviators are back at .500 in the standings. The team has taken the first three games of a scheduled six-game set against the El Paso Chihuahuas.

Designated hitter Miguel Andujar gave Las Vegas its first lead of the game on a three-run double after El Paso loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the third inning. Andujar was playing in his first game of a rehab stint from Oakland. He went 2-for-3 with a single, triple and three runs driven in.

Shortstop-turned-second baseman Armando Alvarez tied the game at two a piece on a two-run double in the bottom half of the first frame.

Original second baseman Jordan Diaz hit a solo dinger in the fourth to make it 6-2 Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is 14-5 when scoring at least six runs and the team is 10-3 if it tallies seven or more.

Pitcher J.T. Ginn made his second start of the season and El Paso got to him early in his outing. He yielded four straight one-out hits as two runs scored in the opening inning.

Ginn was pulled in the third inning favoring his right hand. He worked 2 ⅓ innings of work, giving up two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and a walk. Reliever Vinny Nittoli came in and gave the home team a much-needed boost from the bullpen.

Nittoli came in and began to coast for the most part until El Paso recorded a two-out single in the fifth inning. That counted as the team’s first hit since the first inning.

Nittoli got his first win of the season after working 2 ⅔ innings allowing just one hit with a strikeout and two walks.

Friday, W, 8-4

Las Vegas is over .500 for the first time this season.

The team has secured the series win through the first four games against El Paso from LVBP. The Aviators are now on a season-long five-game win streak while tying the all-time record against the Chihuahuas at 65 apiece.

Second baseman-turned-third baseman Logan Davidson was a single shy of the cycle during his 3-for-5 night with a double, triple, home run, three RBI and two runs scored. He blasted his homer in the first inning with a runner on-base to give the home team a three-run lead.

That was his second homer of the series before he added another run on a double in the fifth and tripled himself on-base in the sixth with two outs recorded.

Shortstop Nick Allen played in his first Triple-A game of the season and drove in two runs on a triple in the bottom of the second inning to really open up the game. Left fielder Lazaro Armenteros plated another run in the eighth inning on a double after entering the game as a defensive replacement.

Pitcher Colin Peluse made his first Triple-A start of the season and quickly had to remove himself from hot water. He loaded the bases before recording an out in the first inning but would be bailed out on a flyout-double play and strikeout.

Peluse settled in and retired seven straight at one point. That stretch was broken on a one-out walk that eventually came around to score on an RBI double for the visitor’s first run of the game.

A leadoff single in the sixth inning counted as El Paso’s fourth hit of the game. Two more runs would score in that inning to trim the deficit to four.

The Chihuahuas would add another run on a solo home run with two outs in the eighth inning to cut it to three. That would be the closest the road team would get the remainder of the game.

Reliever Scott Alexander got the win to go to 1-0 during this rehab stint.

Saturday, L, 11-3

The five-game win streak is a thing of the past after Las Vegas dropped its first game of this scheduled six-game home series against El Paso. It went down as the team’s first home loss since May 4th.

Pitcher Osvaldo Bido made his return to the mound to make his first Triple-A start since May 2nd. He entered play with a 4-1 record to go along with his 2.59 earned run average but would be on a 75-pitch limit as he deals with a blister.

The Chihuahuas jumped on Bido early with a two-run home run in the first inning with two outs on the board. That would be the first runs surrendered by Bido in 12 ⅓ innings.

By the fourth inning, El Paso had baserunners in each frame and would score two more runs off Bido with two outs recorded again.

Bido gave up four runs on five hits in four innings of work with three strikeouts and two walks on 74 pitches.

Following Bido, the bullpen got bullied as well. A leadoff triple would come around to score in the fifth on an RBI sacrifice fly. The first five reached in the eighth inning as two runs were plated. An inning later, the visitors pumped out three straight run-producing hits with two outs to push the lead to eight.

Nine of the 11 Chihuahua runs came with two outs recorded.

The offense was sporadic for manager Fran Riordan’s group with runs coming in the first, second and eighth.

Third baseman Drew Lugbauer opened the scoring for the home team with an RBI single to drive in center fielder Lawrence Butler, who doubled to leadoff the inning. 

First baseman Ryan Noda led off the second inning with a solo home run to tie the game at two apiece.

Las Vegas suffered its first 1-2-3 inning in the fourth inning but would not tally its first hit following Noda’s second inning homer until the sixth. The team wouldn’t score its first run since that moment until the eighth inning on an RBI single from second baseman Logan Davidson.

Sunday, W, 5-1

In Sunday’s finale from Las Vegas Ballpark, the Aviators put the finishing touches on their third series win of the season. The win in the finale nets the team its first five-win series of the season.

Pitcher Jack O’Loughlin got his first win of the year in his 10th appearance. The leadoff man reached in three of the five innings he was on the mound but none came around the score with no one making it past second base.

The only inning O’Loughlin faced real trouble was in the fourth when he faced two-on with one out. He’d induce a flyout and groundout to get out of the jam.

In his five scoreless innings of work, O’Loughlin allowed four hits while striking out five and walking two.

The bullpen picked up right where he left off, allowing just one baserunner between the sixth and ninth innings. The pitching duo of Stevie Emanuels and Freddy Tarnok were responsible for those three combined innings of work.

With reliever Gerson Moreno on the mound, El Paso would score its first run of the game after a leadoff triple came around to score on an RBI sacrifice fly.

Las Vegas’ offense did all of its scoring damage in two innings with a few guys making several game-changing swings. Left fielder Lawrence Butler and shortstop Nick Allen went back-to-back on doubles in the fourth inning to open the day’s scoring.

Designated hitter MIguel Andujar would follow up with an RBI single to plate Allen and give the home team a 2-0 lead before the first out of the frame was recorded. That same trio would make their presence felt two innings later.

Center fielder Daz Cameron added another RBI single in the fourth inning to give the Aviators a three-spot to start the middle innings.

To open the home half of the sixth, Butler lifted a solo home run over the outfield fence for his first Triple-A homer of the year. Allen would follow that performance with another run scoring on back-to-back doubles from himself and the aforementioned Andujar.