.png)
After dropping two of the first three games to the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Las Vegas Aviators won the last three games to end their road trip 8-4.
Vegas will return home after a season-long 12-game road trip to host the Reno Aces.
It will be the first time the team can host a full Las Vegas Ballpark since before the coronavirus pandemic.
With the Aviators eight wins, the team improves to 16-14 on the year and are now second place in the Western Division of the Triple-A West.
That means this upcoming series with the Aces has huge first place implications as Vegas sits three games out of first place.
Albuquerque is now 9-21 and remain at the bottom of the standings in all of Triple-A baseball.
Thursday, L, 2-1
For the third time in five series, the Las Vegas Aviators have dropped game one of a six-game series.
This time, the team fell 2-1 to the Albuquerque Isotopes.
Vegas has now lost back-to-back games by one run.
Reliever Jordan Weems walked shortstop Eric Stamets, who came in batting .190 on the year.
Weems followed with a wild pitch that moved Stamets to second base.
Fellow reliever A.J. Puk was called in to hopefully prevent the game-winning score but did, however, on another wild pitch that brought Stamets home after a groundout sent him to third.
Second baseman Rio Ruiz, who came in batting .136 on the year, was at the plate when the wild pitch was delivered.
Albuquerque came into the game with a team batting average of .209.
This wild bottom half of the ninth came after the Aviators tied the game in the top half of the frame.
Outfielder Luis Barrera tied the game with an RBI single with two outs, staring at an 0-1 count.
That hit by Barrera broke a 3-for-26 stretch for the 25-year-old.
Starter Daulton Jeffries continued his stretch of good pitching as he went 5.1 innings, allowing a run on five hits.
He also struck out three while walking none.
Jeffries now has a 0.66 earned run average for the year.
Friday, W, 4-2
Outfielder Greg Deichmann continued his power stretch in this road trip adding another home run to his belt.
Deichmann hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning of Las Vegas’ 4-2 win over Albuquerque.
His home run extended the one-run lead to 3-0 as he finished the night 1-for-4 with that home run, two runs batted in, a run scored and two strikeouts.
Deichmann is now 6-for-26 on the road trip but has three home runs, two doubles, nine RBI and 19 total bases.
Fellow outfielder Cody Thomas appears to have found his Triple-A swing.
Thomas is up to a .259 batting average in his first year at the Triple-A level after going 3-for-4 with a home run, double and RBI.
He is now 8-for-19 with two home runs, two doubles and 4 RBI in five games on this road trip.
The Aviators were up 4-0 before the Isotopes cut the lead in half in the bottom of the sixth.
However, it wasn’t enough to keep starter Brian Howard from capturing his first win of the season (1-2).
Howard pitched five scoreless innings, allowing three hits while striking out five and walking three.
Reliever Domingo Acevedo recorded his third save of the year.
Saturday, L, 5-3
Wearing their Reyes de Plata uniforms, the Aviators lost game three to the Isotopes after two unanswered runs in the seventh inning.
Reliever A.J. Puk dropped to 2-2 on the year after pitching two innings, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out one and walking one.
It was the first time this season he’s pitched two innings.
The start to the game was delayed by rain but starter Matt Milburn coasted through the first two innings.
His coasting was largely based on spectacular fielding plays from third baseman Jacob Wilson and shortstop Edwin Diaz.
However, it was Diaz who struck out on a 99-mph fastball with two runners on to end the game.
As a team, Vegas went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Outfielder Cody Thomas is on a hot streak like no other as he added to his road trip totals with an RBI double in the second inning.
He was later driven in on a sacrifice fly from second baseman Nate Mondou.
The other Aviator run came off the bat of catcher Francisco Peña, when he hit a solo home run in the top of the 6th inning to tie the game at 3 apiece.
It was Peña’s second home run of the road trip.
Reliever Reymin Guduan pitched an inning, allowing one hit, after being sent down on a rehab assignment.
Sunday, W, 11-8
After the first three games of the series provided 17 total runs, game four of the series produced 19.
The Aviators got the best of the Isotopes, 11-8, to move to 6-4 on this road trip; ensuring nothing less than a 50/50 split.
Outfielder Cody Thomas got right to work again as he connected on a three-run home run in the top of the second inning to open the scoring.
Thomas is now batting .400 on this road trip with six extra-base hits including three of his four home runs.
That was responded to with a 6-run bottom half of the inning by Albuquerque.
Trailing 7-6, with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning, designated hitter Nate Mondou hit a two-run double to take the lead.
It was his first extra-base hit of the year.
A sacrifice fly from outfielder Luis Barrera pushed the Vegas lead to 9-7.
Catcher Austin Allen provided a Kodak moment when he sent a moonshot to right field to grow the lead to 11-7.
It was Allen’s third home run of the year.
Monday, W, 9-8
Las Vegas avoided disaster after allowing back-to-back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the ninth before escaping with a 9-8 win over Albuquerque.
Reliever Miguel Romero was called upon to get the last out of the game after right-hander Jordan Weems allowed four runs on three hits in just â…” of an inning.
First baseman Frank Schwindel got the day off yesterday after playing every game of the road trip.
He returned to the lineup going 3-for-4 with two home runs, three RBI and three runs scored including a solo home run that proved to be the game-winning run in the top of the ninth.
Schwindel now leads the team with seven home runs.
Shortstop Pete Kozma and catcher Austin Allen both got in on the home run action as well.
Kozma hit a three-run shot in the fifth inning for his first long ball of the season.
Allen homered for the second time in as many nights when he put the Aviators up four in the seventh inning.
Manager Fran Riordan was also ejected in the fifth inning after arguing a called third strike on Allen.
Outfielder Greg Deichmann also left the game that inning with an apparent hamstring injury.
Starter Paul Blackburn had the wheels come off after an error. Two batters later first baseman Greg Bird went deep to give Albuquerque the 2-1 lead.
Blackburn later settled down and got three big groundouts after a leadoff single in the sixth inning.
Tuesday, W, 5-4
The Aviators finished off another 4-2 road series, this time against the Isotopes after a 5-4 win in the series finale Tuesday, June 9.
Vegas got the scoring going early when catcher Francisco Peña and first baseman Frank Schwindel went back-to-back with solo dingers in the first inning with two outs.
It was Peña seventh of the season and his third of the road trip.
For Schwindel, he took back the team lead with his 8th home run a few moments later.
Albuquerque tied the game at two by the bottom of the second inning only to have Vegas create more separation in the fourth inning.
Second baseman Vimael Machîn drove in a run on a ground out followed by an RBI single from outfielder Cody Thomas.
Thomas now has hits in eight of the last nine games played.
Starter Daulton Jefferies got his first win of the year in his second start of the series.
Jefferies went six full, allowing two runs on three hits with six strikeouts along the way.
He now has a 1.37 earned run average for the season.
Reliever A.J. Puk was credited with his second hold of the year before closer Domingo Acevedo secured his fifth save of the season.
Comments