Second six-game series sweep secured by Las Vegas

Las Vegas is now even closer to clinching the first half of the minor league baseball season next following a rare six-game sweep this week.

Most recently, the Aviators took all six away from the Salt Lake Bees of the Los Angeles Angels organization this past week from Las Vegas Ballpark. It’s the team’s second six-game sweep of the season as the team continues its best overall record run this season.

This year’s Las Vegas team is now 20 games over .500 with a 44-24 record. It also sports a run differential of +160 this year as it rides this seven-game win streak.

Oklahoma City, who sits in second place, will finish its series with Albuquerque later tonight.

The Aviators will now prepare for another rarity in the form of a seven-game series up next. They will head to Sugar Land for a seven-game series with the Space Cowboys.

Thursday will feature a doubleheader following a rescheduled game from the pair’s series last month.

Tuesday, W, 19-3

Las Vegas is now 8-2 in Tuesday series openers after a big win over Salt Lake to kick off a scheduled six-game series from Las Vegas Ballpark.

The home team belted four homers but it was a record-setting inning that catapulted the team to the big Tuesday win.

Left fielder Carlos Cortes walloped the team’s first homer of the night with a two-run shot in the second inning to give the home team a, 2-1, lead. In his next at-bat, he doubled before scoring on an RBI single from teammate Alejo Lopez.

Following Cortes in the second inning, catcher Daniel Susac hit a solo dinger for the Aviators’ second longball of the frame.

Right fielder Nick Martini kept things going in the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff homer. He was playing in just his fourth game with Las Vegas last season after returning to the place he helped win a PCL Championship in 2019.

Tuesday was Martini’s first home game from Las Vegas Ballpark since that championship-winning season.

Pitcher Luis Morales made his fourth start and was in search of his first win since May 24. Over his last two starts, he had given up eight runs on 10 hits in 10 ⅔ innings of work with nine strikeouts and seven walks.

Salt Lake hopped on Morales early with a solo home run in the top of the first inning. Two innings later, the visitors would add another run on an RBI single to climb to within a run of tying the game.

From there, Morales continued to rely on his strikeout pitching to muscle through his start. By the time he left the mound, he worked five full innings of two-run baseball on four hits with seven strikeouts versus zero walks.

Las Vegas’ bullpen backed Morales in order for him to get his first win of the month. By the midway point of the seventh inning, the team collectively retired 11 straight including five by the bullpen.

Despite the pitching numbers, a big eighth inning for the Aviators not only set franchise records but also put the game far out of reach.

In total, 19 men came to the plate in the frame with a franchise-record 14 runs crossing the plate. There were 11 hits tallied, which is the franchise’s second-most hits in a singular inning as well as producing 16 base-runners.

Eight different players recorded hits in the inning highlighted by a grand slam by Susac to complete his 3-for-3 night with a single, two home runs, five RBI, three runs scored, a walk and a hit-by-pitch.

Center fielder Colby Thomas compiled two hits in the eighth inning which extended his hit streak to 12 games.

Wednesday, W, 8-7

Forty wins through the first 64 games of the season for Las Vegas as it has taken the first two games of a scheduled six-game series. The team scored in each of the first five innings but had its lead challenged late in a tight finish.

Reliever Jake Walkinshaw struck out the side in the sixth inning as part of turning away six of the first seven batters he faced.

In the seventh inning, Salt Lake loaded the bases before the first out was recorded. Walkinshaw would allow an RBI single before being yanked from the mound. With pitcher David Leal on the bump, he would pump out a strikeout and then run right into trouble with a two-run single in a frame where the visitors bat around.

Back-end bullpen righty Elvis Alvarado entered the game in the eighth inning after back-to-back walks by teammate Gustavo Rodriguez. He’d enter and load the bases with another walk before a force out got the team out of trouble.

Alvarado secured a 1-2-3 ninth inning to preserve the win for the home team. In doing so, he picked up his seventh save of the year while Walkinshaw, Leal and Rodriguez notched holds.

Pitcher JT Ginn got the start and entered with just one decision under his belt at 1-0 coupled with a 2.11 earned run average. Much like last night, Ginn offered up a big blast in the first inning to fall behind 2-0.

The Bees would take another lead in the third inning behind an RBI single off Ginn. His fourth inning began with a single and walk followed by a wild pitch. Soon after a run would score on a balk and Ginn would be pulled after issuing his second walk of the inning.

Ginn pitched 3.1 innings with four runs (three earned) on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks.

Reliever Jack Cushing moved to 6-1 this season after recording just two outs in his short outing.

The Aviators scored in each of the first five innings beginning with a leadoff homer from right fielder Nick Martini on the second pitch of the bottom of the first. He now has homered in back-to-back games in his second Las Vegas stint.

An inning later, teammate Carlos Cortes did his best impression of Martini’s solo dinger. He made his presence felt again in the third inning behind an RBI walk to tie the game at three apiece.

A run scored on a wild pitch gave Las Vegas its first lead of the game.

Cortes went 2-for-3 with a double, homer, two RBI, two runs scored and a strikeout in the win.

Designated hitter Gio Urshela knocked an RBI single around the park off the first pitcher out of the Salt Lake bullpen to take a 6-4 lead. Leaving the inning, the home team was up three.

Thursday, W, 8-1

A three-game win streak was pushed to four games as Las Vegas has already secured at least a series split against Salt Lake this week.

Pitcher Jack Perkins was dominant once again as he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning.

It didn’t start trouble-free for Perkins as he led off the second inning with a walk. By then, it was his second walk issued of the game. He’d get out of the frame with back-to-back strikeouts and popout.

Perkins’ first 1-2-3 inning came in the third inning and that would spark a significant stretch. Ultimately, he retired 15 straight batters turned away with 11 total strikeouts tallied.

In the seventh inning, the Bees launched a leadoff triple off Perkins which counted as the team’s first hit of the game. He is now 2-2- on the year with 6.1 innings of work with one run allowed on two hits with 12 strikeouts versus just two walks.

Offensively, it was another fast start for Las Vegas as it found itself up, 5-0, after the second inning.

Third baseman Gio Urshela hit a one-out double in the first inning which set the stage for center fielder Colby Thomas, who cracked a two-run dinger with two outs.

An inning later, the Aviators opened the second with back-to-back singles and an RBI sacrifice fly. Urshela had the biggest hit of the second inning with a two-run home run of his own.

He went 2-for-4 with a double, homer, two RBI, two runs scored, a walk and a strikeout in his second rehab game with the team.

Eventually, the team would go up 8-0 behind another late push, this time by a couple of outfielders.

Right fielder Nick Martini drove in two runs on a fifth-inning triple to go up 7-0. In that same inning, teammate Carlos Cortes plated Martini on an RBI double for the 8-0 start.

Cortes went 2-for-4 with a single, double, RBI and a walk.

Friday, W, 5-3

Las Vegas’ Jack Cushing earned his second win of this scheduled six-game series against Salt Lake as his club has already secured a series win this week. He picked up starter Kade Morris along with the offense as the bats scored five of the last six total runs in the game.

Morris made his second home start this season after taking the loss in the first one. He saw a ball leave the park off the bat of former Aviators player JD Davis on a 2-2 count in the second inning. The team would add to matters with a solo homer with two outs to make it 2-0 in favor of the visitors.

Trouble was averted in the third inning after Morris issued a leadoff triple before a strikeout, walk and double play got him out of danger. He couldn’t duplicate the effort in the fourth and after three straight two-out walks, he was lifted from the game.

Morris went 4.2 innings on the mound with two runs allowed on five hits to go along with three strikeouts and four walks.

Cushing came in and strong-armed the Bees batters to the tune of four strikeouts to start and finish his outing. He got the win while fellow arms Dylan Floro and Ben Bowden earned holds in the fifth and seventh innings.

Reliever Anthony Maldonado picked up his fourth save of the season by shutting the door.

After falling behind early, Las Vegas’ bats got the team back in a prime spot. Catcher Daniel Susac drove in two runs on a two-out triple in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game at two apiece.

In the bottom of the fourth, shortstop Darell Hernaiz gave the team its first lead of the night with a solo home run.

Things began to bubble in the fifth inning after the bases were loaded with just one out recorded. Center fielder Colby Thomas and first baseman Logan Davidson went back-to-back on RBI singles to run the home team lead to three runs, its largest of the game.

Saturday, W, 9-3

The focus for Las Vegas may have shifted from securing the series win to pursuing the team’s second series sweep of the season following a fifth straight win over Salt Lake and sixth straight overall.

Pitcher Mason Barnett took to the mound in hopes of continuing his streak without a loss. He hasn’t loss since May 16 this season and has gone 2-0 in three starts since.

Barnett compiled his first 1-2-3 inning in the third inning but he had his strikeout pitches working. By the fifth inning, he recorded his ninth strikeout.

Salt Lake finally got to Barnett in the sixth inning behind a two-out walk, double and then a three-run homer. He’d leave after completing the sixth inning with three runs allowed on four hits with nine strikeouts and a walk.

Barnett had wiggle room behind a six-run third inning by the home team. A leadoff walk in the frame would serve as the team’s first baserunner while the club’s first hit loaded the bases with nobody out.

Right fielder Nick Martini was hit by a pitch, third baseman Gio Urshela cracked an RBI single and left fielder Carlos Cortes smacked a two-run double to break the game open.

Two more runs came across in the inning on an RBI sacrifice fly and a groundout as the team batted around.

Insurance runs came in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings beginning with an RBI single from second baseman Alejo Lopez.

Shortstop Darell Hernaiz added another run on a leadoff homer just after the seventh-inning stretch. The game’s final run came on an RBI sacrifice fly from center fielder Colby Thomas.

Sunday, W, 16-5

Las Vegas has its second six-game sweep of the season following a perfect week against Salt Lake. In total, the team has won seven straight games as it looks to wrap up the first half of the minor league baseball season.

Left fielder Carlos Cortes continued cracking in the series finale and he got going early with a solo home run in the game’s first inning. The opening-inning dinger counted as his third of the week and his first since Wednesday.

In the finale, he tallied two more hits, three more RBI and two runs scored. This series, he went 11-for-23 with those three homers, 12 RBI as he extended his win streak to 11 games.

Las Vegas had a big fourth inning which saw the team score 10 runs. The team batted around before the first out was recorded in a frame where everybody scored en route to 10 runs on 11 hits as 14 total came to the plate.

It opened with back-to-back singles before a three-run home run by third baseman Brett Harris to give the home team a, 5-3, lead.

Designated hitter Gio Urshela drove in another run on an RBI single before the aforementioned Cortes added two more runs on a double.

Center fielder Colby Thomas and first baseman Logan Davidson continued their tandem attack with back-to-back RBI singles to push the lead to 10-3. Harris added more icing on the cake with another homer in the frame, this time a two-run shot.

The Aviators hit a season-high five home runs in the win. Catcher Jhonny Pereda hit the final dinger for three runs in the sixth inning.

Pitcher Luis Morales got the win on Tuesday and proceeded to follow that up with a win in the series finale in another strong showing. He raced out of the gate with six strikeouts through his first three innings pitched. He did offer up a solo home run to lead off the third to tie the game at one apiece.

Salt Lake got to Morales again with back-to-back shots in the fourth inning with two outs recorded. Sunday’s game featured nine total homers.

As a unit, Las Vegas pitching settled down to allow just one hit over the last five innings of the contest.