Aviators look to be reeling after 3rd straight series loss, second straight at home

Las Vegas has lost a third straight series and a second straight at home.

Most recently, the team lost four of six games against the Sacramento River Cats of the San Francisco Giants organization this past week from Las Vegas Ballpark. This year’s team is 7-9 against Sacramento despite having beat out the team for the first half crown.

In total, Las Vegas has lost 13 of its last 17 games to fall to 22-23 on the year while just being four games above .500 at home.

Up next, the Aviators will travel to Albuquerque for a meeting with the Isotopes of the Colorado Rockies organization. That will be a six-game series which is set to begin Tuesday, Aug. 18 with first pitch for the first game set for 5:35 p.m.

Tuesday, W, 9-2

Las Vegas snagged a series-opening win as it grabbed the lead and never looked back. Pitcher Luis Morales had a bounce back game providing a strong start for manager Fran Riordan and company.

First baseman Joey Meneses tied the game at two apiece in the bottom of the first  on a two-run single. In the third inning, third baseman Michael Stefanic was the latter of back-to-back one-out doubles which resulted in an RBI to take the lead.

The River Cats would snatch its starter from the mound as Stefanic would steal a base and eventually come around to score on an error.

Left fielder Jack Winkler added to the lead on a fifth inning RBI single to run the lead to 5-2. In the seventh inning with the bases loaded, he showed up again with a two-run double. In the win, he went 2-for-4 with a single, double, three RBI and a run scored.

That seventh inning also saw right fielder Jared Dickey drive in a run on an RBI single before Stefanic showed up again with another run-producing hit, this time a single. Stefanic went 3-for-5 with two singles, a double, two RBI and a run scored.

Second baseman Darell Hernaiz recorded three hits through the first four innings of the game on his way to a 4-for-5 night with two singles, two doubles and two runs scored.

Morales was looking to go longer than an inning after having allowed 10 runs in his last two starts.

It didn’t look good early after the leadoff man for the game reached on an error. Right after that, he served up a two-run big shot as the visitors took the lead. Sacramento wouldn’t tally its next hit until a one-out single which would register as the team’s first hit since that homer.

Morales (2-4, 7.56 ERA) picked up the win after working five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits with two strikeouts.

Las Vegas’ bullpen pitched the final four innings and went scoreless on four hits with three strikeouts. As a collective, zero walks were issued by the Aviators’ pitching staff.

Relievers Gustavo Rodriguez and Ben Bowden recorded holds in the winning effort.

Wednesday, L, 7-3

Two games into a scheduled six-game series, the Aviators and River Cats have split the contests. Pitcher Dallas Keuchel’s home struggles continued as the visitors would eventually pump out home runs in three consecutive innings.

Keuchel made his fourth start of the season after posting an 0-1 overall record with a 9.00 ERA this season. In home showings, he had given up five runs on five hits in 2 ⅔ innings of work with four walks to just three strikeouts for an ERA of nearly 17 from Las Vegas Ballpark.

In the game’s first inning, he walked two of the first three batters he faced before an RBI double brought across the contest’s first run. Later in the inning, center fielder Brayan Buelvas completed a flyout double play by hurling a 270-foot throw from his position in the outfield. An inning later, first baseman Joey Menses snagged a line drive as part of another inning=ending double play.

Keuchel went three innings during his outing, giving up three runs on three hits with a strikeout and four walks. Those additional runs coughed by the former Cy Young Award winner came on a two-run home run in the third inning.

Sacramento made matters worse with a solo dinger off reliever Nick Hernandez in the fourth inning before pushing the lead to 5-0 on an RBI single with two outs.

Fellow reliever Jake Garland entered in the fifth frame and would serve up a leadoff homer upon entering. Additionally, right-hander Taylor Rashi made his Las Vegas debut, going an inning with one run surrendered on two hits with a strikeout and a walk.

Offensively, the Aviators didn’t tally their first hit until the fourth inning when third baseman Michael Stefanic ran his hit streak to eight games. Las Vegas got its first run of the game on a leadoff home run by left fielder Jack Winkler as part of his 3-for-4 night with a single, two homers, two RBI and two runs scored.

That second big blast came in the seventh inning in another leadoff spot. He now has five RBI in the series. Additionally, he led off the ninth inning with a single and would come around to score on an RBI walk by Stefanic.

Thursday, L, 4-3

Right-handed pitcher Matt Sauer suffered a second straight loss despite the bullpen being better as third baseman Michael Stefanic accounted for a good portion of the team’s offensive output. Additionally, both teams went scoreless over the final six innings of the game meaning all of the game’s offense came in the first third of the contest.

Sauer made his second start with Las Vegas after dropping his first one on the heels of giving up a run on two hits in two innings of work with a walk and hit batter.

Sacramento struck first in this one as well in the form of an RBI single with two outs on the board in the first frame. Moreover, the team added a solo home run to leadoff the third inning to break a 1-1 tie.

In that same frame, Sauer served up a two-run home run to River Cats’ left fielder Bo Davidson, who went 4-for-5 with three singles, that longball, three RBI and a run scored.

That effort sent Sauer to a second straight loss after working 3 ⅓ innings with four runs surrendered on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks. He now has an 8.44 ERA.

Las Vegas’ bullpen combined to toss 5 ⅔ scoreless innings with four hits allowed to go along with three strikeouts and two walks.

First baseman Joey Meneses was responsible for tying the game at one apiece via an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning. The other two home team runs came in the third inning on an RBI double from second baseman Darell Hernaiz and another one from Stefanic.

The aforementioned Stefanic went 3-for-4 with a single, two doubles and an RBI. As a team, the Aviators could only muster five total hits.

Friday, W, 10-5 (Concluded Saturday as part of Doubleheader)

A weather delay that featured both rain and lightning prolonged the Friday night installment of this six-game series from Las Vegas Ballpark. Just under 24 hours later, Las Vegas put the finishing touches on the winning effort to avoid losing three straight contests by posting a five-run fifth inning after the restart.

This year’s team is 22-21 in the second half.

Two innings after restarting, Las Vegas put forth its best showing of the first half of the night. Catcher Cole Conn got things started with an RBI double to climb within a run of tying the game at four apiece. Teammate Jack Winkler surpassed that with one swing after smacking a grand slam with two outs on the board.

Winkler was a restart replacement and would proceed to go 2-for-2 with a double, home run, four RBI, a run scored and a walk.

Right fielder Jared Dickey began and ended the fifth inning with flyouts. In the first inning, Dickey got the team on the board with a two-run single.

Additionally, Las Vegas scored a run in the sixth inning as designated hitter Bryan Lavastida was the latter of back-to-back doubles to start the frame. The team’s final runs of the game came in the eighth inning when Dickey led off with a single and center fielder Brayan Buelvas brought him home on a two-run blast.

The duo of Dickey and Buelvas combined to go 6-for-10 in the win with four singles, a double, a homer, four RBI, four runs scored and a strikeout. Buelvas now has 46 RBI in 70 games played with the Aviators this season as he finished a triple-shy of the cycle in this one.

Relief pitcher Andrew Bash picked up his first win in a Las Vegas uniform despite allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks.

Sacramento snagged its first lead on an error in the fifth inning on an error. In the same inning, the team added another run on an RBI double with two outs tallied.

Starting pitcher Ryan Magdic (0-2, 7.06 ERA) was coming off his second loss of the season while still in search for his first Triple-A win. He got out of a bases loaded situation in the first inning by inducing a popout. Once again in the third he got out of a jam when two runners reached before the first out was recorded. A strikeout, groundout and strikeout got him out of the pickle.

Magdic went three scoreless innings with six hits given up to go along with two strikeouts and a walk.

Saturday, L, 3-2 (Game 2 of doubleheader)

Las Vegas lost the second installment of a Saturday doubleheader which included a quick start from pitcher Kade Morris, reliever Jared Johnson being burned by wild pitches and an offense that had its early lead lost.

Morris made his second straight start after losing his last outing. It was only his second appearance since returning from the Athletics.

It started rocky for Morris when the first inning opened with back-to-back singles before a double play would help to settle things despite a run coming across to score.

Morris ended up going three innings with one run scored on three hits coupled with two strikeouts and a walk on 45 pitches. All three hits surrendered came in the first inning as he retired the final five batters he faced.

Johnson retired the first three men he faced before running into some trouble of his own.

The fifth inning was rough for him after the frame began with a leadoff double coupled with a wild pitch. He’d follow that up with an RBI single given up along with another wild pitch. An RBI sacrifice fly with one out gave the River Cats the, 3-2, lead.

Johnson would be yanked from the mound after another single and a walked batter. He’d be given the loss after posting a stat line of two runs allowed on three hits in 1 ⅔ innings of work with a walk.

Half of Las Vegas’ offensive production came in the first inning when the frame opened with a leadoff single and an RBI triple by center fielder Brayan Buelvas and an RBI groundout by third baseman Michael Stefanic.

Later in the contest, Stefanic would have his hit streak pushed to 11 consecutive games after a single. In the home half of the fifth inning, Stefanic flew out with two runners out to end the scoring threat.

As a team, the Aviators went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.

Sunday, L, 15-11

Las Vegas lost the series finale and subsequently lost the series. The 12 runs needed to beat the Aviators came in the five innings of the eventual loss to the River Cats while featuring another quick stint from starter Luis Morales.

In fact, it was the third start of the homestand for Morales (2-4, 7.56 ERA), who showed two different versions of himself through the first two with a five-inning performance and a showing where he lasted just ⅔ of an inning.

With the bases loaded in the first inning, Morales gave up a three-run double followed by an RBI single with two outs. With that, his night was done in another ⅔ of an inning outing. In that short stint, he gave up four runs on four hits with a strikeout and two walks as he fell to 2-5 on the year with an 8.08 ERA.

During this homestand, Morales yielded 12 runs (11 earned) on nine hits in 6 ⅓ innings of work with four strikeouts and a walk.

Additionally, the Aviators were burned by a trifecta of errors including two in the fifth inning. Relief pitcher Jake Garland entered the game in that frame and had two runners cross home plate as a result of an error. That sparked a run that included an RBI single and a grand slam as the home team fell behind, 12-1.

Second baseman Jack Winkler walloped a pair of home runs in the loss beginning with a leadoff blast in the sixth inning, a frame that saw the home team score eight runs.

Catcher Cole Conn and third baseman Michael Stefanic plated runs on an RBI double and a hit-by-pitch respectively with another run coming across on a force play.

Winkler would show up again in the frame, this time with a grand slam for his second big blast of the inning. He had five RBI in the loss and now has five home runs in the series.