Slipping Aviators lose second straight road series, this time to Rainiers

For the second straight road series, the Las Vegas Aviators dropped four of six games to a division foe.

With the most recent outcomes, Las Vegas has dropped eight of 12 games on this past road trip. For the season, the team is now 11-16 away from Las Vegas Ballpark.

Now, the team will return to the friendly confines of LVBP. There, the AViators will be met with a six-game series with the El Paso Chihuahuas.

That series is set to begin Tuesday, May 30 with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. It will mark the first meeting this season between Las Vegas and El Paso.

Tuesday, L, 5-4

For the third straight series, Las Vegas lost a series opener and for the second straight time, it came in a one-run loss.

For the first inning and a half, the game was back-and-forth but a three-run fifth inning by Tacoma put it out of reach for good.

The bottom of the fifth inning, starter Colton Eastman served up a leadoff double and compounded things with a walk. After recording the inning’s first out, Eastman was tagged for an RBI single and two more runs on a triple to take a 5-3 lead.

Eastman (0-5, 5.59 ERA) went 4 ⅓ innings, yielding five runs on five hits with four strikeouts and five walks.

Las Vegas took the first lead of the game in the first inning after being issued three straight free passes with two outs. Things quickly fizzled out in the bottom of the first when two RBI doubles put the home team ahead, 2-1.

Right fielder Cody Thomas put the Aviators back ahead on a two-run single in the top of the second inning after back-to-back two-out walks. He added an RBI single in the top of the seventh brought Las Vegas to within a run but it would never get closer.

Thomas went 2-for-3 with two singles, three RBI, a strikeout and a walk.

Wednesday, L, 5-4

For the second time in four days, the Aviators lost in walk-off fashion while on the road. This time around, the Rainiers picked up the win in extras.

The loss drops Las Vegas to 0-4 in extra inning games this season.

Tacoma’s 10th inning ghost-runner was thrown out at third base in a fielder’s choice but the action of walking back-to-back batters to load the bases. Another walk tied the game at four apiece before an RBI single ended the game altogether.

Reliever Joseph Wieland (3-3, 6.26 ERA) blew his second save of the season after being touched up for two runs (one earned) on one hit but three walks.

An RBI single from first baseman Trenton Brooks in the top of the 10th inning counted as the first Aviator run since the sixth inning.

The sixth inning saw Las Vegas take its first lead of the game on a two-run home run by third baseman Jonah Bride. That went down as the second home run of the inning after right fielder Cody Thomas hit a solo homer.

Both dingers came with two outs recorded in the frame.

Bride went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, two RBI and a run scored. His double led off the fifth inning followed by a one-out hit-by-pitch to put two runners on-base. Back-to-back flyouts ended the scoring chance for the visitors.

Thursday, W, 14-6

Las Vegas exploded for eight runs in the sixth inning as the team overcame two deficits including being down 3-0 to Tacoma.

In the sixth inning, eight straight batters reached as all eight runs eventually scored with the first run coming across on an RBI walk to left fielder Trenton Brooks.

That netted the Aviators their first lead of the game at 5-4. An RBI single from shortstop Tyler Wade forced a Rainiers pitching change.

That didn’t change much as Las Vegas muscled out a two-run single, RBI single followed by a three-run home run by center fielder Conner Capel.

Eleven batters came to the plate in the sixth inning.

Las Vegas hit home runs in three straight innings to stay afloat in the early part of the game. First baseman Dermis Garcia, catcher Kyle McCann and second baseman Zack Gelof all hit blasts in the form of a solo, two-run and another solo dinger.

Gelof and Garcia combined to go 5-for-9 with three singles, two homers, two RBI, five runs scored, two strikeouts and a walk.

The Aviators were aided by a couple of chunk inning performances beginning with a four-inning outing from starter Adam Oller after giving up four runs on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks.

Pitcher Aaron Wilkerson (2-1, 6.75 ERA) got the win after working another four innings with a run on four hits while tallying five strikeouts and a walk. This went down as Wilkerson’s first win since late-April with four appearances in between.

Reliever Chase Cohen worked the ninth inning giving up a run on two hits with a strikeout in that lone inning on the mound.

Friday, W, 14-13

Las Vegas avoided a near collapse while scoring 14 runs for the second straight game while picking up its second straight win.

The Aviators were outscored 11-2 over the last four and a half innings by the Rainiers but two five-run innings saved the visitors.

Reliever Garrett Williams opened the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk, hit-by-pitch and another walk and would be snatched from the mound by manager Fran Riordan. Fellow reliever Rico Garcia would serve up two RBI singles coupled by a two-run single.

Garcia would get out of the jam with a strikeout, flyout and groundout to secure the win for Las Vegas.

Tacoma got back into the game with a four-run fifth inning with all four runs coming with two outs on an RBI single and three-run home run. More trouble came in the bottom of the eighth inning as the first five reached via back-to-back singles, a reach-on-error and back-to-back RBI singles.

The Aviators bullpen gave up seven runs (six earned) on eight hits over four innings of work with one strikeout and two walks. Starter Zach Neal (2-0) got the win after pitching five innings, yielding six runs (one earned) on nine hits with three strikeouts and a walk.

Las Vegas’ use of contact early in the count loomed large as the team tallied two five-run innings in the second and fourth.

Third baseman Jordan Diaz and catcher Tyler Soderstrom hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the first inning. Diaz’s blast came on the first pitch he saw while Soderstrom went deep on a 1-1 count.

Diaz was playing in his third game back from the Oakland Athletics while Soderstrom made his first big splash since being ejected from Wednesday’s game including hitting a second homer later in the game.

Diaz and Soderstrom combined to go 4-for-8 with a single, three home runs, five RBI, six runs scored, two strikeouts and three walks.

First baseman Dermis Garcia also went deep for his ninth home run of the season. Right fielder Cody Thomas led the offense with four RBI.

Saturday, L, 11-3

Following a 11-3 loss to Tacoma, Las Vegas can only manage a split if the team can win Sunday’s series finale.

The Aviators found themselves down, 10-1, after the first four innings as the Rainiers scored in each of the first four innings including two or more in three of three of those frames.

A one-out walk became an added run after a two-run home run started the day’s scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Another walk, this time a leadoff pass, came across to score in the bottom of the second on a two-out RBI double for a 3-0 lead.

With two outs recorded in the bottom of the third inning, Tacoma hit for three-fourths of the cycle on a single, RBI triple and two-run home run to take a 6-1 lead over Las Vegas. The Rainiers would add another home run, this time a three-run blast in the fourth inning.

Pitcher Kyle Muller made his Aviator debut after spending the first near two months in Oakland with the Athletics. Muller was roughed up for 10 runs (six earned) on seven hits, including all three home runs given up, in 3 ⅔ innings with six strikeouts and three walks.

In 10 starts with Oakland, Muller went 1-4 with an 8.04 ERA.

On offense, Las Vegas couldn’t string good things together as four of the first six innings the leadoff man reached. However, the leadoff man would only come around to score twice.

Right fielder Cody Thomas led off the second inning with a single but would be rung up in a fielder’s choice for the third out of the inning. An inning later, catcher Kyle McCann doubled to start the frame followed by a walk to shortstop Tyler Wade. The lone Aviator run of the third inning came on a fielder’s choice.

McCann hit his second double of the game to start the fifth inning followed by another free pass to Wade. In order Las Vegas would be turned away on a flyout, fielder’s choice and strikeout to come away scoreless in the opportunity.

McCann drove in a run with two outs in the top of the sixth inning. Thomas led off that same frame with a solo home run.

Both McCann and Thomas combined to go 5-for-9 with two singles, two doubles, a home run, two RBI, two runs scored and a strikeout.

Third baseman Jonah Bride was the only other Las Vegas player to record an RBI during his 1-for-5 night.

Sunday, L, 10-8

A back-and-forth game in which Tacoma got the last laugh resulted in the second straight series loss for Las Vegas.

Originally, things went sour when the Aviators coughed up a lead in the sixth inning. Things were compounded when the team regained the lead but still couldn’t hold onto it.

Reliever Chad Smith entered in the sixth inning and would promptly serve up a single followed by back-to-back walks and an RBI single before recording the first out. Immediately after tallying that first out, Smith gave up a two-run single and would be snatched from the mound by manager Fran Riordan.

With fellow reliever Chase Cohen on the mound, Tacoma scored runs on a fielder’s choice and another RBI single to take a 7-4 lead after entering the frame down two runs.

On the comeback trail, Las Vegas added two more runs in the top of the seventh off the bat of third baseman Jonah Bride on a red-hot night for him. Bride plated a run on an RBI double in the third inning to tie the game at two.

Two innings later, Bride went yard for his eighth moonshot of the season while giving his Aviators two more runs.

By the end of the night, Bride had gone 4-for-4 with two singles, a double, a home run, five RBI and three runs scored.

Infielder Jordan Diaz hit a pinch-hit homer with two outs, entering the game for center fielder Tyler Wade in the top of the eighth inning. His blast gave the Aviators an 8-7 lead.

That lead was short-lived as Tacoma added three more runs in the bottom half of the eighth inning on one swing on a 2-2 count.

Las Vegas reliever Joseph Wieland (3-4, 7.13 ERA) earned the second blown save of the game along with Smith after giving up three runs on two hits in an inning pitched while recording a strikeout and a walk.