Season-long 9-game win streak launches Aviators to top of Pacific Coast League

From the first five-win series of the season to picking up the first six-game sweep of the season, the Las Vegas Aviators are clicking on all cylinders.

This year’s Las Vegas group just put the finishing touches on a six-game sweep of Tacoma this past week. As a result, the team has run its win streak to a season-high nine games.

Amidst the streak, the Aviators have moved into first place in all of the Pacific Coast League with a 23-10 overall record. That record is highlighted by a 16-5 home mark for manager Fran Riordan’s group.

The Oklahoma City Comets sit a game behind at 22-11.

Next up, Las Vegas will travel up north to take on Reno of the Arizona Diamondbacks organization for six games. That series is set to begin Tuesday, May 6 with first pitch slated for 11:05 a.m. from Greater Nevada Field.

Tuesday, W, 5-4

The win streak is now four games for Las Vegas following a series-opening win over Tacoma in the desert.

This season’s team is winless when it trails after eight innings in six instances. It was an out away from entering the ninth in a hole before the comeback and eventual walk-off saved the day.

Shortstop Darell Hernaiz smacked a two-out double in the eighth before right fielder Colby Thomas followed it up with a two-run home run to tie the game at four apiece.

An inning later, the frame opened with back-to-back walks before the bases were loaded with just one out. Left fielder Drew Avans drove in the winning run on an RBI single.

The late tie meant another no-decision for starting pitcher Mason Barnett. His second inning started in a shaky way by giving up two straight homers. Another run would score on an RBI single to push the visitors’ lead to 3-0.

Even when Barnett needed a break, he couldn’t get one. After a lead off single in the fourth, the runner was caught in a rundown situation but managed to escape without being tagged out. That runner would later score on a two-out RBI single to make it, 4-2, in favor of the Rainiers.

By the bottom of the sixth inning, there had been 14 straight retired batters between both teams. That would ultimately get as high as 15 straight batters.

Aviator pitching stood strong when it needed to, behind an inning-ending strikeout in the ninth after dealing with some adversity in the frame. It opened with a single before retiring the runner as part of a double play. Two walks with two outs set up the game-saving strikeout for reliever Matt Krook (3-1, 3.09 ERA), who also got the win.

Wednesday, W, 7-5

Las Vegas produced a base runner in each of the eight innings it came up to bat as part of a, 7-5, win versus Tacoma Wednesday night.

Though runners reached base, the Aviators weren’t able to scratch many across. Their first time with two baserunners on the pads, first baseman CJ Alexander walloped a three-run blast to tie the game at first.

Soon after, the inning would end on a double play with the bases loaded.

It wasn’t really until the seventh inning when it finally broke through with three straight one-out hits as a run scored on an RBI double to bring the home team within a run of tying the game at five.

Alexander tied the game again, this time on a fielder’s choice in the seventh. He’d tally four RBI amidst his 1-for-5 night.

Las Vegas would capture the lead on an RBI sacrifice fly by catcher Daniel Susac. Designated hitter Colby Thomas added an insurance run in the eighth behind an RBI single.

Thomas was one of two players to record at least three hits on the night. Teammate Max Muncy added four hits from his No. 2 spot in the lineup.

Relief pitcher Michel Otanez made his first appearance as part of a rehab stint from the Athletics. His outing didn’t go as planned as he’d cough up two runs (one earned) on a hit while failing to record an out.

The seventh opened with a walk, single and a run scored on an error. Another run would cross the plate on a force out. Ten of the 12 total runs scored in the game were scored in the sixth inning or later.

Pitcher Joey Estes made his fourth start of the season and would leave with another no-decision. Two runs scored in the second inning off Estes behind an RBI double and RBI single. The inning would end on back-to-back strikeouts with two on and one out.

A leadoff homer in the sixth inning served as the final run scored off Estes during his six-inning outing with three runs allowed on seven hits with five strikeouts and no walks.

Reliever Angel Perdomo got his first win of the season after recording four outs in the seventh and eighth innings. Fellow reliever Elvis Alvarado added his third save of the season.

Thursday, W, 10-3

The season-long win streak continued Thursday night for Las Vegas as it picked up a third straight win over Tacoma. The win pushes the team 10 games over .500.

Pitcher Jack Perkins made his Triple-A debut and had a strong showing on the bump. Even when it appeared he was in trouble, he found a way to wiggle out of it.

In the second inning, he served up a double and then hit a batter with two outs recorded before inducing the inning-ending groundout. An inning later, he gave up a single to start then proceeded to pitch into a flyout and a double play.

In his final inning of work, Perkins opened the fourth inning with back-to-back strikeouts. He’d leave his debut with four scoreless innings tallied on three hits allowed with four strikeouts.

As a result, all three Rainiers runs came off the Aviators bullpen on a two-run single in the seventh and a leadoff homer in the eighth. Albeit, righty Jake Walkinshaw got the win to improve to 3-1 on the year. It’s his first win since April 18.

Right fielder Colby Thomas knocked in the first and final runs of the game for Las Vegas in the victory. He got things started with an RBI sacrifice fly in the game’s opening inning to take a 1-0 lead. He’d later knock in two more on a single in the eighth inning as part of a five-run frame.

Center fielder Denzel Clarke knocked in the first run of the inning on an RBI double to score catcher Willie MacIver, who homered earlier in the game. The other runs in the inning were driven in by right fielder Drew Avans and third baseman Darell Hernaiz on a RBI single and RBI walk respectively.

In his second rehab game, second baseman Zack Gelof recorded an RBI in the win.

Friday, W, 5-2

The Aviators’ season-high win streak is up to seven games as the team has secured yet another series victory. Four of those wins have come in succession against the Rainiers as part of this six-game series.

Las Vegas leads the PCL West with a 21-10 overall record but still trail Oklahoma City by a game.

Starting pitcher Jack Cushing provided a strong outing on the mound and it resulted in him keeping his perfect record to start the season. The two runs he allowed came in the third and fourth innings on an RBI double and solo home run. Both runs came with two outs recorded in each inning.

Cushing moved to 3-0 on the year after working five innings of six-hit ball with two runs allowed to go along with two strikeouts.

Between the fourth and eighth innings, Aviators pitching retired 12 straight batters. Right-handed reliever Elvis Alvarado recorded his fourth save and his second in the last three games.

Las Vegas retired 16 of the last 17 batters faced.

The Aviators took the lead in the fourth inning after entering the frame down 2-0. Right fielder Colby Thomas hit a leadoff homer to cut the deficit in half. Last night, he tallied three RBI in the win.

In that same inning, center fielder Denzel Clarke and catcher Daniel Susac added runs on an RBI double and RBI single respectively. Clarke would later add another RBI to his stat line after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Saturday, W, 8-5

The recent win streak for the Aviators has propelled the team into the first spot in all of the PCL.

Saturday night the team secured its first five-win series of the season with a fifth consecutive win over the Rainiers. In total, the club has reeled off eight straight wins.

A big first inning helped aid Las Vegas in the win. Seven of the team’s eight runs came in the first inning beginning with four straight hits to start the game including RBI doubles from outfielder Drew Avans and Colby Thomas.

First baseman CJ Alexander kept things going with a two-run single amidst a 2-for-30 slide for the former Kansas City Royal. Two at-bats later, designated hitter Carlos Cortes hit a three-run home run to make it 7-0.

In total, 10 men came to the plate as Tacoma starting pitcher Luis F. Castillo threw 34 pitches in the opening inning. During the seven-run frame, his ERA jumped from 0.69 to 5.02.

For comparative purposes, Las Vegas starting pitcher Jason Alexander threw 32 total pitches in the first two innings combined. Entering his fourth start of the season, he had endured three straight no-decisions and had still yet to go more than four innings but still sported a 1.59 ERA.

Alexander allowed just two baserunners through the first 2 ⅓ innings of the game. The first hit would come following a one-out walk in the third. The lone run allowed by him came on a leadoff homer in the fourth.

That counted as the first home run hit against Alexander this season. In the outing, he pitched a season-high five innings of one-run ball on two hits with two strikeouts and three walks.

It was a good night for the pitching in an instance where the offense would soon go cold after that first inning. After being sat down in order in the fifth inning, Las Vegas had its ninth, 10th and 11th consecutive batters sat down.

The Aviators tallied just two hits in their final 20 at-bats of the game while an error helped produce a third baserunner.

Sunday, W, 6-4

A rather illusive six-game sweep has been captured by Las Vegas as its impressive win streak has reached nine straight games. That win was coupled with a loss by Oklahoma City as the former has officially moved into first place in all of the Pacific Coast League.

In this low-scoring affair, a lot of the offense came in the latter third of the contest. The Aviators opened the bottom of the sixth inning with a single and a double. Not long after designated hitter Willie MacIver drove in both runs on a single to give the home team its first lead of the game.

Teammate Max Muncy plated two more runs on his fifth double in 10 games with Las Vegas this season.

In order to capture the win, the Aviator offense had to endure former Major League all-star Geroge Kirby, who got the starting nod from the Rainiers as part of a rehab stint. It started with three straight strikeouts by the Mariners’ star. At one point of the second inning, 18 of Kirby’s 21 pitches had gone down as strikes.

Right fielder Carlos Cortes hit a solo home run with one out tallied in the third inning to count as the team’s first hit of the night. He now has homered in back-to-back games for Las Vegas.

Two innings later, first baseman CJ Alexander homered to lead off the fifth for his second blast of the series. Coming into the game, he was batting just .133 in the series but had recorded six RBI.

Starting pitcher Mason Barnett made his second start of the series and entered with a 1-0 overall record in six starts. In four of those six games, he worked at least five innings on the mound including three straight outings.

During his start, Barnett offered up a longball on a two-run homer in the game’s opening inning. Tacoma would take Las Vegas pitching deep again in the eighth inning as part of the, 6-4, finish.

Barnett pitched five full innings, giving up three runs on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Reliever Jacob Lopez got the win out of the bullpen to move to 3-0 on the year. Fellow reliever Ben Bowden got the save as the streak continued.