Las Vegas leads PCL following 4-win week against Tacoma

The reigning Pacific Coast League champions are leading the PCL once again.

With an 18-13 overall record, Las Vegas sits a game better than Sacramento and Albuquerque. The Aviators have won seven of their last nine games including four of its six-game series this week against the Tacoma Rainiers of the Seattle Mariners organization.

As a result, the club is now 8-8 on the road this season.

Las Vegas returns home this upcoming week for a six-game series with the St. Paul Saints of the Minnesota Twins organization. First game is set for Tuesday, May 5 from Las Vegas Ballpark with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m.

Tuesday, W, 2-1

A narrow one-run win secured Las Vegas’ first four-game win streak of the season in a series opening win over Tacoma Tuesday night.

It was a two-run single from first baseman Joey Meneses in the top of the 6th inning that gave the Aviators their first lead of the game, enough for the win. His team lead in the RBI department is up to 24 this year.

Second baseman Michael Stefanic went 3-for-4 in the win with two singles and a double. Third baseman Tommy White made his 2026 debut for the Aviators, going 1-for-4 in the process with a single, a run scored and a strikeout.

Right-handed pitcher Kade Morris (1-1, 5.19 ERA) took the mound after four straight starts without a win. He’d follow up his latest performance where he walked a career-high four batters for the fifth time in his career by setting a new career-high in that department.

Morris issued a fifth walk in the sixth inning before being lifted after yielding a sixth walk.

Despite the walks, he did a good job working around baserunners which included leaving the bases loaded in the second inning. At that point, Tacoma had left four runners on base on the way to leaving 11 on the basepads while going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Morris picked up the win after going 5.1 innings of one-run ball on six hits to go along with those six walks. Over the last two games, he’s issued 10 free passes.

For just the third time in his Triple-A career, he finished a game without registering a single strikeout.

Las Vegas relief pitching retired the final four batters of the game while the reliever trio of Michael Kelly, Wander Suero and Nick Anderson combined to go 3.2 hitless innings with two strikeouts and a walk.

Anderson earned his second save of the season as a result.

Wednesday, W, 2-1

Back-to-back one-run wins to start this week’s series against Tacoma for Las Vegas has its season-long win streak up to five games. As a result, the Aviators (16-11) are now tied with the Sacramento River Cats for the top spot in all of the PCL.

A brilliant start from pitcher Joey Estes garnered his first win of the season in his sixth start of the campaign. Coming into Wednesday, he was 0-3 with a 6.20 ERA.

Estes issued a one-out walk in the bottom of the second inning which counted as the home team’s first baserunner of the game. He followed that up with a fielder’s choice out and a strikeout.

Through the first five innings of the game, Estes had yet to allow a hit. That would come with two outs tallied in the sixth inning in the form of a single.

An inning later, Estes was pulled after serving up a leadoff homer. He left the mound after six-plus innings with a run given up on two hits with six strikeouts and a walk.

Estes’ performance was followed up by a second straight strong outing by the Las Vegas bullpen. Over the first two games of the series, the collective has pitched 6.2 innings pitched with no runs or hits allowed to go along with six strikeouts and a walk.

In this one, the reliever trio of Geoff Hartlieb, Matt Krook and Tyler Ferguson combined to work three innings scoreless and hitless innings with four strikeouts to round out the stat line. Hartlieb and Krook each recorded their first holds of the season while Ferguson tallied his first save.

That pitching showing was needed as the offense was held to just three hits through the first six innings.

Left fielder Cade Marlowe went deep for just the second time this year with a solo home run with one out in the top of the first inning to open the scoring. An additional run was scored in the seventh inning on an RBI sacrifice fly from center fielder Junior Perez.

In total, there were seven total hits in the ball game.

Thursday, L, 5-1

A season-high five-game win streak for Las Vegas is no more following the first Tacoma win of the week. It’s the first time through the first three games that the Aviators gave up more than one run to their opponent.

Pitcher Yunior Tur was thrust into a starting role after a late switch forced right-hander Luis Morales out of the start. That didn’t appear to be a problem for the 26-year old who issued two walks in the second inning but would leave the mound without giving up a hit in his two innings of work.

Left-hander Ben Bowden relieved Tur and would serve up the first Rainier hit of the game on a two-out single in the third. He’d cough up the game’s first run an inning later on a one-out solo home run.

Tacoma hit another one-out solo shot in the sixth inning, this time off relief pitcher Nick Hernandez to put the home team up 2-0. He now has an 11.00 ERA this season.

The Rainiers biggest inning of the game came in the seventh with right-handed reliever Eduarniel Nunez on the mound. It began with a leadoff single followed by a double and a run that was scored on a wild pitch. After walking a batter and striking out a hitter, Nunez served up back-to-back RBI singles before being yanked from the bump.

Las Vegas’ reliever trio of Bowden, Hernandez and Nunez combined to give up five runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings with three strikeouts, two walks and two home runs surrendered to show for it. Bowden (0-1, 9.00 ERA) was saddled with the loss.

Third baseman Tommy White drove in the lone Aviator run in the loss in just his third game this season with the club. With two outs in the top of the seventh inning, he turned a late single and a walk into the team’s only run.

White went 2-for-3 in the loss with two singles, an RBI and a walk.

The only time White was turned away was when he grounded into a double play with one out and the bases loaded in the fifth inning. Something similar happened an inning later when teammate Michael Stefanic grounded into another inning-ending double play with two runners on.

As a team, Las Vegas left nine men on base while going 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position. In addition, the club didn’t log an extra-base hit in the loss.

Friday, W, 11-7

Las Vegas is back into the win column and have claimed at least a split of this week’s series with Tacoma. The offense finally popped, led by the top of the order.

After loading the bases with nobody out in the first inning, the Aviators had two runs driven in on a double by first baseman Joey Meneses. An additional run would score in the inning on a wild pitch.

Center fielder Junior Perez plated another run on a triple in the fourth inning with one out recorded. That forced a pitching change from the home team that would be answered by an immediate RBI single by right fielder Henry Bolte and third baseman Tommy White’s two-run home run.

Second baseman Michael Stefanic would get in on the action with a two-out RBI single before the inning closed for a 8-1 Las Vegas lead.

The aforementioned White added another RBI in the fifth inning while Bolte plated two more runs in the seventh inning on a single to reach double-digit scoring. White and Bolte were the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in manager Fran Riordan’s lineup and combined to go 7-for-12 with five singles, a double, a homer, six RBI, five runs scored to go along with three strikeouts and a walk.

Starter Mason Barnett came into the contest with a perfect 2-0 record coupled with a 2.29 ERA. He’d get into the third inning before giving up his first run in this one which came on an RBI single.

An inning later the Rainiers scored three more runs with Barnett on the mound via a wild pitch and a two-run double with two outs. The 25-year-old was charged with another run after leaving the bump as well.

In the outing, Barnett would go 3.2 innings with five runs allowed on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Through his first four starts this season, he allowed just five runs.

Relief pitcher Michael Kelly (1-0) would get the win after working 1 ⅓ scoreless and hitless innings with two strikeouts to show for it. In total, the bullpen gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits in 5 ⅓ innings of work. It also tallied six strikeouts versus three walks.

Saturday, L, 4-3

A walkoff loss sends Las Vegas back under .500 on the road as it suffered its second loss in the last three days. A loss tomorrow in the series finale would result in a series split while a win will secure a series win this week.

Starting pitcher Gage Jump entered the weekend still looking for his first win of the season with a 0-1 overall record saddled with a 6.38 ERA. In the first inning, two runners reached with nobody out but Jump didn’t find himself in real trouble until he walked a batter with two outs before a run came across the plate after a hit-by-pitch.

Jump’s last inning came in the fourth after he got out of a two-on, one out situation by catching a runner stealing and a strikeout. In his four innings pitched, he gave up a run on two hits with six strikeouts and four walks.

At that time, he left with a 2-1 lead.

That lead would soon be gone after reliever Geoff Hartlieb gave up a game-tying RBI triple with two outs tallied in the fifth inning. An inning later, Tacoma smacked a solo homer off Hartlieb to take the lead.

Las Vegas would never regain that lead.

In the ninth inning, relief pitcher Nick Anderson had the walkoff run scored off him, which accounted for the first run he’s given up this season. That game-winning run was scored on a fielder’s choice attempt at home plate that went array.

Anderson is now 2-1 with a 0.77 ERA this season. Prior to Saturday, he had held batters hitless through 31 at-bats in his first nine appearances this season (10 ⅓ innings pitched). During that time, he had a WHIP of 0.19 ERA.

First baseman Joey Meneses tied the game at a run apiece after a solo home run to lead off the top of the fourth inning. That counted as his 27th RBI this season.

Three at-bats later, right fielder Junior Perez grounded into a double play as another run crossed home plate. That gave the Aviators their first lead of the game.

Center fielder Henry Bolte smacked an RBI single in the top of the seventh, tying the game 3-3. That would be the team’s final hit as the 22-year-old went 4-for-5 with three singles and a double while raising his batting average to .302.

Sunday, W, 3-0

Pitcher Kade Morris made up for his first start of the series with a beautiful performance as Las Vegas claimed this week’s series over Tacoma, 4-2. The team has now won seven of its last nine games.

Through the first three innings of the game, Morris tallied 37 pitches including 24 strikes. That came after the contest started with a 1-2-3 first inning with three strikeouts.

In the fifth inning, the Rainiers loaded the bases with nobody out. Morris would get out of the jam with a groundout, flyout double play that saw the runner get tagged out at home plate. The throw came from right field where Junior Perez was playing in order to keep the game scoreless.

An inning later while logging a new season-high in innings pitched, Morris got another 1-2-3 frame with two groundouts and another strikeout.

By the end of his outing, he pitched seven scoreless innings of five-hit ball with six strikeouts and a walk.

The reliever duo of Brooks Kriske and Michael Kelly went the final two innings with no hits or runs allowed to go along with three strikeouts and two walks.

Las Vegas secured the win in the sixth inning with an RBI single from catcher Brian Serven to open the day’s scoring. Shortstop Drew Swift added two more runs on a two-out single.