Eight series wins on the year for Las Vegas after taking 4 of 6 in Omaha

Las Vegas is now 13 games over .500 which is a new season-high for the reigning PCL champions. As a result, it lands the team in the top spot of the Pacific Coast League standings.

The Aviators are 40-27 on the year after a four-win week in Omaha and now, the club has won eight of its last 10 games. In addition, it’s the franchise’s eighth series win of the first half of the minor league season.

After winning the first half last year, this year’s Las Vegas team is in a perfect position to repeat the accolade. June 22 marks the end of the first half this season.

Up next, the team will head back home for six games against Round Rock beginning Tuesday, June 16 from Las Vegas Ballpark. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m.

Tuesday, W, 8-5

The win streak is up to five games for the Aviators as the team moves 12 games over .500 amidst this PCL playoff race.

Las Vegas was up 6-0 in a blink while relief pitcher CD Pelham earned another victory.

Pitcher Joey Estes was originally listed as the starter for Tuesday’s series opener, only to have fellow right-hander Yunior Tur replace him. Tur would be making his fourth start in his 18th appearance this season while he’s given up two runs in each of his last three outings.

Tur was aided by a fast start by the offense that began with an RBI double from third baseman Joshua Kuroda-Grauer in the first inning. It continued with RBI singles from designated hitter Michael Stefanic and catcher Brian Serven before an RBI groundout by left fielder Jared Dickey putting up four runs in the opening frame.

Center fielder Cade Marlowe knocked in another run in the second inning with one out recorded on an RBI triple. First baseman Joey Meneses put the team up 6-0 with an RBI single.

With Tur facing runners on second and third in the second inning, a run would come across the plate on an error with two outs tallied. That would be the home team’s first run of the contest as Tur went four innings with one unearned run allowed on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

The aforementioned Pelham moved to 3-0 on the year with a perfect earned run average. In this one he went two scoreless and hitless innings with one strikeout versus two walks.

Omaha’s biggest swing of the game came in the form of a seventh inning grand slam off reliever Stevie Emanuels to cut the deficit to one.

Ninth inning runs from Marlowe and second baseman Drew Swift pushed Las Vegas to the finish line. Marlowe led off the frame with a homer while Swift added an RBi single after the bases were loaded with one out.

That opened the door for the fifth save of the year for relief pitcher Michael Kelly.

Wednesday, L, 11-6

The win streak is over for the Aviators after they gave up 10 or more runs for the 12th time this season. It was a fast start for the Storm Chasers as they ended even faster in the five-run win.

Starting pitcher Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang (1-3, 7.11 ERA) was looking to get his first win in a start after beginning the year 0-3. In the game’s first frame, he coughed up three straight singles to open the contest. An initial run would score on an RBI sacrifice fly.

An inning later, Omaha hit a leadoff homer before adding another solo blast with two outs. Another run wouldn’t come until the bottom of the fifth inning when the home team added an RBI single.

Zhuang wouldn’t pick up his win in this one after giving up four runs on eight hits in five innings of work with four strikeouts to show for it.

Even with the shaky start, Las Vegas’ offense snatched a temporary lead and it began in the fifth inning with a leadoff double from left fielder Jared Dickey. He later scored on a wild pitch to open the scoring for his team.

In the seventh inning, third baseman Joshua Kuroda-Grauer and center fielder Cade Marlowe added back-to-back RBI singles with two outs on the board. The Aviators would get their first lead of the game on a two-run single by designated hitter Michael Stefanic.

That lead quickly evaporated with reliever Brady Basso on the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning. Three consecutive RBI singles flew off the bats of the Storm Chasers with two outs recorded.

Basso (2-2) was given the loss after allowing three runs on six hits in two innings of work with four strikeouts and a walk.

With left-hander reliever James Gonzalez in the game, Omaha added four additional runs starting with an RBI ground-rule double before another run scored on a wild pitch. The biggest blow of the frame came in the form of a two-run home run.

In that lone inning of work, Gonzalez gave up four runs on four hits.

Thursday, W, 5-2

Pitcher Aaron Civale starred in his rehab start as Las Vegas allowed four hits total in the three-run win Thursday night. The team had another early lead that lends to the win as first baseman Joey Meneses made a huge difference.

Civale came to the Aviators on a major league rehab stint after dealing with right shoulder tendinitis. One may not have been able to tell that after he struck out the side in the third inning. By that point, he had five strikeouts in his outing.

That would be part of a run that saw Civale turn away 12 straight Omaha batters including his sixth strikeout through the fourth inning. In fact, he opened the fifth frame with a strikeout.

Civale would be done after 4 ⅓ scoreless innings while not giving up a hit and striking out seven. That stat line was done on just 56 pitches with 38 of them going for strikes.

Right-hander Wander Suero entered the game in a relatively new spot after being used as a late-game reliever. He’d go onto get the win in this one to improve to 2-1 after pitching ⅔ of a scoreless inning while walking one batter.

With relief pitcher Luis Morales on the mound, the Storm Chasers recorded their first hit of the game on a one-out single in the seventh. That came on the heels of a 1-2-3 frame for Morales in the sixth.

That first hit would come around to score as the team’s first run via an RBI sacrifice fly. Omaha’s final run of the game came on an RBI double in that same frame.

Reliever Michael Kelly earned his sixth save of the season despite manager Fran Riordan being tossed just before the bottom of the ninth inning.

Meneses led the offense largely inspired by a three-run homer with one out recorded in the seventh inning. That swing gave Las Vegas a 5-0 lead. Earlier in the game, he scored on a wild pitch as part of his 2-for-4 night with a single, homer, three RBI, two runs scored with a strikeout and a walk.

After that showing, Meneses’ RBI count for the season is up to 62.

The other lone run for the Aviators came on a two-out RBI single by designated hitter Chad Wallach.

Friday, L, 3-1

Pitcher Kade Morris got stronger but wasn’t strong enough after an early Omaha lead stayed intact.

Morris made his way back after a major league stint though his debut was unlike anything he’d expect. In four innings of work, he gave up nine runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and three walks for a 20.25 ERA in his first appearance.

In the second inning of this one, a leadoff walk was compounded by a two-run home run to open the day’s scoring. An inning later, the home team added another longball for a third run in the first three innings.

Morris only coughed up one hit the rest of hit outing as he went seven full, giving up three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and a walk. He is now 5-4 on the year.

Fellow right-hander Braden Nett came out of the pen for the second time this season as part of his fourth appearance of the year. He pitched a scoreless eighth inning with one hit surrendered versus two strikeouts and two walks.

Las Vegas’ offense was dealing with an Omaha team that would go on to use five arms in the win, with none going more than 2 ⅔ innings of work. Through the first three innings, the team had been sat down in order against three different pitchers.

Three straight one-out singles in the fourth inning accounted for the Aviators’ first hits of the game. Third baseman Darell Hernaiz scored the team’s lone run on an error in that same frame.

Saturday, W, 9-6 F/10 innings

Las Vegas will get at least a split this week after a third win against Omaha. The team improved to 39-2 when it leads after the eighth inning while collecting its third extra-inning win this season. It was a four-run 10th inning that created the necessary distance.

Third baseman Michael Stefanic gave the Aviators their first lead of the game with an RBI single as they went up 6-5. Soon after, pinch hitter Brian Serven drew a bases loaded walk before catcher Bryan Lavastida drove in two more on a single.

That last minute performance helped lift starter Wei-En Lin, who’d only make it through an inning. In his Triple-A debut, he gave up five runs on three hits in ⅔ of an inning.

Lin ran into trouble after opening the first inning with a walk, hit-by-pitch and a single to load the bases. Two runs would come across to score on a two-run single with an additional run scoring on a double play.

In that lone inning of work, he gave up three runs on three hits with a walk as his ERA jumped to 43.20 ERA.

Pitcher Nick Hernandez entered in the second inning and gave up two RBI singles for a 5-0 Storm Chasers start.

Las Vegas scored its opening run in the third inning on an RBI groundout by second baseman Darell Hernaiz. The team would add three more runs in the fifth inning on an RBI double by Hernaiz, an RBI single by shortstop Joshua Kuroda-Grauer and an RBI groundout by designated hitter Joey Meneses.

First baseman Brett Harris tied the game at five apiece on an RBI single in the eighth inning.

When the Aviators took the lead, reliever Geoff Hartlieb was on the mound. As a result, he moved to 3-0 on the year after working three scoreless innings without allowing a hit with a strikeout to show for it.

In the bottom of the 10th inning, reliever Michael Kelly had an unearned run scored on him via an RBI groundout.

Sunday, W, 12-7 F/11 innings

Las Vegas has earned its eighth series win of the year after collecting a fourth win over Omaha this week. In addition, it was the team’s second straight win in extra innings as the club scored six runs in the two extra frames.

Once again, designated hitter Michael Stefanic got things started again, this time with a one-out RBI double as the Aviators took a, 7-6, lead. In the bottom half of the frame, the Storm Chasers tied the game at seven apiece.

The defining distance was created with two runs scoring on a fielder’s choice. Second baseman Brett Harris and center fielder Cade Marlowe both added RBI singles as the team took an, 11-7, lead.

Originally, Las Vegas lost a 6-2 lead beginning with an RBI groundout in the fifth inning by Omaha to begin chipping into the deficit. Two innings later, the home team added two more runs on a single before tying the game on an RBI double in the ninth inning.

That went down as the third blown save of the year for reliever Matt Krook.

The Aviators’ early lead was built largely on a big day from first baseman Joey Meneses, who went 4-for-5 with two singles, two doubles, two RBI and a run scored. It was a fast start overall in the form of a three-run first inning including runs driven in by Harris, Marlowe and catcher Brian Serven.

Pitcher Yunior Tur made his second start of the week and would eventually go five innings with three runs scored on four hits with strikeouts to show for it.

After not giving up a run in his first showing of the week, he gave up a two-run homer with two outs on the board in the first inning. Two innings later, he struck out of the side for his third, fourth and fifth strikeouts of the game.