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Count ‘em up, that’s 10 straight wins for the Las Vegas Aviators.
A recent homestand saw Las Vegas add to its already energy-building win streak by adding six more to it.
Most recently, the team swept a six-game series away from the Sacramento River Cats.
The series included wins by the Aviators that equaled eight total runs with three one-run wins.
Additionally, Las Vegas scored double-digit run in three of the six games.
Now, the team is firmly secure in first place of the Pacific Coast League West for the present moment with a 32-21 overall record. The Reno Aces are the closest team in the standings, sitting three and a half games behind.
The nine-game homestand continues for the Aviators as the Round Rock Express roll into Las Vegas Ballpark for a three-game midweek series.
It's will be first non-six game series of the season for Las Vegas.
Tuesday, W, 8-7
An extra-inning win to start the series slid Las Vegas into first place in the PCL West, beating Sacramento, 8-7 in 11 innings.
In addition, it runs the team’s win streak to a season-long five games.
The win came after the team trailed 7-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth. Additionally, it turned out to be the team’s first win when trailing after eight innings.
Center fielder Billy McKinney hit an RBI double with nobody out to drive in left fielder Drew Jackson to make it 7-3 in favor of the River Cats.
Last series, McKinney batted .412 with three home runs, five runs batted in and five runs scored.
An inning later, he made his presence felt again when he smacked home four runs on one swing via a grand slam with one out.
That swing tied the game at seven apiece.
McKinney’s home run was the second of the night for Las Vegas as catcher Stephen Vogt hit a solo shot in the third inning.
It’s just the second game with the Aviators for Vogt, who is on a rehab assignment from the team’s major league affiliate the Oakland Athletics.
McKinney went 2-for-5 with a double, home run, five RBIs and five runs scored.
Vogt went 1-for-3 with that lone home run, RBI and run scored.
McKinney and Vogt were the No. 1 and 2 hitters in the Las Vegas lineup.
The pressure came in the 11th inning when shortstop Nick Allen, who started on second base to open the frame, stole third base for his eighth stolen base of the year.
From there, Sacramento opted to hand out back-to-back intentional walks, the latter of which was issued to a red-hot McKinney.
First baseman Dermis Garcia played hero as his RBI single proved as the game-winning hit for the walkoff win for the Aviators.
Garcia logged seven at-bats in the game, picking up two hits in the process, both of which were singles.
Starting pitcher Collin Wiles went five full innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits while striking two and walking none in a no-decision effort.
It’s the second straight start where he has failed to walk a batter.
Reliever Kirby Snead (1-0) got his first win of the year after pitching a 1.2 innings of shutout and hitless ball, picking up two strikeouts to just one walk.
Wednesday, W, 4-2
The Aviators added to a season-high win streak, following a 4-2 win over the River Cats Wednesday night.
The most recent win pushes Las Vegas to seven games over .500 amidst the season-high win streak of six games.
After the team scored its first run on a passed ball when shortstop Vimael Machín crossed home plate.
From there, the rest of the team’s production came from the No. 8 and No. 9 hitters in the lineup.
Number nine hitter and left fielder Dalton Kelly put Las Vegas up 2-0 after an RBI single.
Catcher Shea Langeliers scored but center fielder Vince Fernandez was thrown out going for home. He would later make up for it.
Sacramento fought back to tie the game after scoring runs in the third and eighth innings.
The tie was short-lived as Fernandez connected on a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to launch the Aviators back into the lead.
That was his fourth home run of the year and gave Las Vegas it's 20th win in 32 games when hitting a home run.
Kelly and Fernandez accounted for all three Aviator RBIs on the night.
Reliever Jacob Lemoine (2-0) blew a save but got his second win of the season. He gave up one unearned run on three hits in two innings of work, striking out two and walking one.
Starter Jared Koenig pitched six full, yielding a run on four hits while striking out five and walking two.
Koenig has now been given a no-decision in consecutive starts after posting four straight wins.
Left-handed reliever Adam Kolarek tallied a hold in between as Las Vegas used three pitchers en route to the victory.
Thursday, W, 10-6
Las Vegas got its PCL West standings lead up to 1.5 games over Salt Lake after securing its seventh straight win.
The Aviators beat the River Cats, 10-6, Thursday night behind four team home runs including two by the same person.
Las Vegas cut into an early 2-0 deficit with the day’s first home team home run. It was shortstop Nick Allen, who hit his second home run of the year and his first since April 9.
The team captured its first lead of the game in the fifth inning when right fielder Vince Fernandez hit a grand slam to put the Aviators up 6-4.
Catcher Shea Langeliers walked in a run for the first run of the inning.
Las Vegas never relinquished the lead after that. In fact, the lead was added to on home runs from designated hitter Matt Davidson in the seventh and eighth innings.
He has now hit 12 home runs this year.
Allen and Davidson were two of the three Aviators to turn in two-hit days including third baseman Jonah Bride.
Allen went 2-for-3 with a single, home run, RBI, two runs scored and two walks.
Davidson went 2-for-5 with a single, home run, two runs scored, a strikeout and he was tied for the game-high with four RBI.
Fernandez was the other with four RBI amidst his 1-for-3 outing with that grand slam swing and a run scored.
Also, it was back-to-back outings where Las Vegas only used three pitchers to get the win.
Starter Adrian Martinez (2-2) got his second of back-to-back wins after starting the Triple-A season 0-2.
He pitched seven full and gave up four runs on eight hits while striking out eight and walking none.
Reliever Grant Holmes was roughed up for two runs on four hits in his one inning of work but got his third hold of the year.
Finally, right-handed reliever Norge Ruiz picked up his first save of the year, striking out two in his one inning pitched.
Friday, W, 11-10
Another high-scoring affair saw the Aviators take a final lead in the eighth inning of a game that featured six lead changes.
Las Vegas scored in double-digits for the second straight game after beating Sacramento, 11-10, Friday night from the Las Vegas Ballpark.
The Aviators came back from being down 2-0, 4-3 and 9-5.
Heading into the bottom of the second, down 2-0, Las Vegas was treated to RBI singles from outfielders Nate Mondou and Christian Lopes.
In addition, an RBI double from shortstop Nick Allen put the home team up 3-2. That was his fifth double of the season.
Now trailing 4-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth, Allen reached on a sacrifice bunt while Mondou came across to score.
First baseman Matt Davidson put the home team on top, 5-4, after a sacrifice fly.
Davidson would add more RBIs to his ledger after hitting two crucial home runs to put Las Vegas back into contention.
He hit a three-run home run to deep center field in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Aviators deficit from four to one.
He struck again in the eighth inning when he went deep again, this time for two runs for his 14th longball of the season.
Davidson turned in six RBIs during his 2-for-3 night with three runs scored and a walk. He’s totaled 10 RBIs in the last two games.
The ultimate game-deciding run also came from a longball but this time from third baseman Vimael Machín.
His home run put the Aviators up 11-10 for good and came with two outs in the eighth inning.
Reliever Kirby Snead eventually got the win in a wild game that featured eight total pitchers with no one going more than 4 ⅓ innings.
Both of his wins have come in this series against Sacramento.
Las Vegas starter Adam Oller went four innings and allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 10 hits while striking out five and walking two.
He is still 3-0 this year with a 3.91 earned run average.
Saturday, W, 9-7
The win streak for the Aviators is up to nine games after a 9-7 win over the River Cats Saturday night.
Las Vegas used three three-run innings to help fight off an eventual feverous run from Sacramento late in the game.
The road team used five unanswered runs to come within two runs of tying the game but the early seven-run lead built by the home team was just too much to overcome.
Pitchers Ryan Castellani and Aaron Brown combined to go an inning and a third but would give up four runs on five hits as a unit.
Brown also issued two walks while the pair failed to record a strikeout.
Their performance came after manager Fran Riordan and company was given 5 ⅔ innings from starting pitcher Zach Logue, where he gave up three runs on eight hits.
He struck out four while walking three in addition to giving up two home runs.
All was forgiven after left-handed reliever Adam Kolarek got his first save of the year after pitching two complete innings, giving up just one hit and striking out one.
Second baseman Vimael Machín and first baseman Dalton Kelly both recorded three RBI apiece in the win.
Machín hit a three-run double in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the home team its largest lead of the day. That was his second double of the night.
Kelly hit the only home run of the day for the Aviators when he put them up 6-2 via a three-run home run in the fourth inning.
Both combined to go 4-for-8 with a single, two doubles, a home run, six RBI, two runs scored and two strikeouts.
Sunday, W, 11-10
Another walkoff win gave the Aviators their 10th straight win after an, 11-10, win over the River Cats in the series finale from Las Vegas Ballpark.
Las Vegas trailed, 7-6, heading into the bottom of the eighth only to take a brief lead before Sacramento snatched it back in the top of the ninth.
Overall, 15 of the game’s 21 runs were scored in the sixth inning or later.
It came down to bases loaded with one out for the Aviators as first baseman Dermis Garcia scored on a wild pitch to make it 10-9 in favor of the River Cats.
Garcia entered the game as a defensive replacement in the sixth inning and picked up a hit in two at-bats on the night, singling to open the ninth.
The game-deciding swing came off the bat of pinch-hitter Billy McKinney, who’s two-run single that drove in shortstop Nick Allen and second baseman Nate Mondou.
That game-winning hit gave him seven RBI in four games played this series.
McKinney and Mondou were the only Las Vegas players to record multi-RBIs on the night.
Third baseman Matt Davidson and left fielder Dalton Kelly also hit home runs with Davidson launching his 15th of the year and seventh as an Aviator.
Kelly’s blast was his fourth of the year.
Reliever Norge Ruiz (3-0) picked up his third win of the season and his first since mid-May.
He got the nod after giving up two runs on three hits in one inning of work while striking out two and walking three.
His rough outing came after reliever Kirby Snead blew his first save of the season.
Starting pitcher Parker Dunshee got another no-decision after working 5 ⅓ innings, yielding four runs on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
He is still without a Triple-A home win with Las Vegas.
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