Aviators lose second outright series of season, second to Comets

From entering the week on a five-game win streak that was extended to six games to back-to-back losses to drop a second series this season.

That was exactly the outlook for the Las Vegas Aviators as they dropped two of three at home against the Oklahoma City Comets of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. Again, it counts as just the second outright series loss of the year for Las Vegas but both dropped sets have come against Oklahoma City.

This year’s Aviator group is 3-6 against the Comets. Both teams currently sit atop the second half standings with identical 6-3 records. All nine games have come on this season-long homestand for Las Vegas.

It will now be 15 days before the Aviators return home but the team will now look to complete the home-and-home series with the Comets, as both teams head to Oklahoma City.

Game one of that three-game series is set to be played Friday, July 4 as part of a Fourth of July celebration.

Tuesday, W, 10-3

Playing through the rain, Las Vegas picked up a sixth straight win as part of capturing the series opener against Oklahoma City from Las Vegas Ballpark.

With emerging star Kade Morris on the mound, the Aviators provided more than enough offense to get him a win on the night. Entering the game, he had posted back-to-back starts of at least seven innings of work while going 2-0.

While he didn’t go seven innings in this one, Morris went six innings with three runs allowed on seven hits to go along with three strikeouts and a walk.

The Comets had a baserunner reach in each of the first three innings against Morris with two coming across to score in the third frame. Those runs were scored on a two-run single to give the visitors a, 3-2, lead.

Former Las Vegas outfielder Esteury Ruiz shined in his old home ballpark with a solo homer in the sixth inning just before Morris was lifted from the game. Even with the mistakes in this one, Morris improved to 3-1 on the year with a 4.15 earned run average.

A five-run third inning by the Aviators provided some serious cushioning following three runs in the first two innings of the game. With the bases loaded and one out recorded in the third inning, catcher Jhonny Pereda plated two runs on a single. In the second inning, he was responsible for taking a 2-0 lead behind a solo blast.

In the win, Pereda went 2-for-3 with a single, homer, three RBI, two runs scored, two walks and a strikeout.

Pereda’s two-run single was just the beginning in the home half of the third. The bases were loaded again with two outs tallied before shortstop Darell Hernaiz scored one on an RBI single and teammate Carlos Cortes added two more on a two-run single.

Hernaiz leads the entire PCL in hits with 93 hits.

Third baseman Brett Harris started the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning. In the sixth inning, he showed up again in the form of a solo home run to put the team up, 9-3.

The final run of the game came off the bat of center fielder Alejo Lopez on an RBI single.

Wednesday, L, 13-7

Battling back from being down 7-0 to force extra innings wasn’t enough as the win streak for Las Vegas was halted at six. Everything went south in the 10th inning when the Aviators saw the Comets send six guys around to touch home plate en route to the win.

With reliever Anthony Maldonado on the mound, the extra frame opened with a leadoff single before he came around to score on an RBI single with two outs to go up, 8-7. Maldonado would eventually be charged with the loss to fall to 0-2 on the year despite a 2.05 ERA.

Maldonado was relieved by left-hander David Leal and things didn’t get any better. Right after taking the mound, Leal walked a batter, gave up a two-run single and three-run home run. All of which came with two outs still tallied in the inning.

Down 7-0, the comeback effort for Las Vegas began in the sixth inning behind an RBI double by third baseman Brett Harris. He homered in the eighth inning for two more runs, an inning that began with a leadoff dinger from pinch-hitter Brennan Milone.

While an additional run scored on a fielder’s choice, left fielder Carlos Cortes and first baseman Logan Davidson both recorded RBI singles with the latter tying the game at seven apiece in the ninth inning.

Pitcher Mason Barnett was on the bump to start the game and coughed up a two-run home run to open the game’s scoring. He’d still muscle his way to the sixth inning before seeing another run score on an RBI double and RBI single.

Barnett posted a final stat line of 5.1 innings of work with four runs allowed on three hits with five strikeouts and five walks. He still hasn’t lost a game since May 16 and has now made 18 starts on the year.

Thursday, L, 9-5

Las Vegas endured a second straight failed comeback in a series finale that featured dual rehab starts. By losing the rubber match against Oklahoma City, it marks just the second lost series of the season for manager Fran Riordan’s group.

Aviator starter Ken Waldichuk would be out after giving up a leadoff triple in the fourth inning. Prior to that, he pretty much coasted on the way to a single run allowed on a hit in three-plus innings scored with three strikeouts and two walks.

After Waldichuk was removed from the mound, a walk and sacrifice fly followed him as another run scored to give the visitors their first run of the game after falling behind, 3-0. Soon after, the game would be tied behind a run scoring on a double steal and another run coming across on an RBI single.

Righty Joey Estes gave up his ninth home run of the season in the fifth inning to give Oklahoma City its first lead of the game at 6-3.

Las Vegas’ offense gained that early lead while facing normal-Dodger Tyler Glasnow. He struck out back-to-back batters after finding himself in a two-on, one out situation in the first inning.

The three runs scored against Glasnow all came on one swing of the bat from left fielder Carlos Cortes on a three-run moonshot in the third inning. He now has 15 homers on the year.

Center fielder JJ Bleday did a lot of heavy-lifting in the final third of the ball game. He led off the sixth inning with a home run to cut the deficit to two runs. He’d trim it down to a single run an inning later on the heels of an RBI double with two outs.

However, the next inning saw the Aviators miss a golden opportunity with the leadoff runner on third behind a single, stolen base and advancement on a wild pitch. The home team would go down in order via back-to-back strikeouts and a flyout to leave the frame empty-handed.

Things were really compounded when Oklahoma City added a three-run homer of its own in the ninth inning.