Series finale loss caps 4-win week for Las Vegas in return to LVBP

A four-game win streak for the Las Vegas Aviators was snapped in a Sunday series finale from Las Vegas Ballpark against the El Paso Chihuahuas of the San Diego Padres organization.

Despite the series-capping loss, Las Vegas still won the series 4-2.

One hundred games into the season, the Aviators are 61-39 with a 17-10 mark in the second half. That puts the team two games behind the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (19-8) of the Houston Astros organization for first place in the Pacific Coast League standings.

Las Vegas already clinched the first half of the minor league baseball season and will participate in the playoffs for the second straight season.

Six games on the road against the Oklahoma City Comets of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization lies ahead for the Aviators. That series is set to begin Tuesday, July 28 from Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark with first pitch slated for 5:05 p.m.

Following that, Las Vegas will embark on a season-long 12-game homestand.

Tuesday, L, 11-7

A 3-3 game in the fourth inning got turned on its ear with eight consecutive runs by the visiting Chihuahuas in an 11-7 loss for the Aviators.

El Paso tagged reliever Andrew Bash for a two-run home run in the fifth inning to break the tie. During his outing, the right-hander gave up two runs on two hits with two strikeouts in three innings of work.

An inning later, it added three more runs on a solo homer and back-to-back RBI singles off relief pitcher Nick Hernandez. In total, he coughed up three runs on four hits in two innings on the mound to go along with two strikeouts and a walk.

The Chihuahuas got creative in the eighth inning when executing a double steal that resulted in a steal of home as the Aviators’ deficit was pushed to six runs. That hole would ultimately reach an eight-run difference following a two-run triple.

Those final runs were scored off left-handed reliever Domingo Robles, who gave up three runs on four hits in two innings coupled with two strikeouts and two walks.

Fellow pitcher Jake Garland made his first Triple-A start since 2024 and just his second career Triple-A start in total. In the second inning, he had three runs scored on an error, an RBI single and a passed ball as he lost an early 2-0 lead in the process.

Garland was pulled after those two innings of work, giving up three runs (an earned run) on three hits with a strikeout and two walks.

Las Vegas ultimately returned to the scoreboard in the eighth inning behind a two-run single by shortstop Drew Swift and a two-run blast by second baseman Darell Hernaiz.

Hernaiz’ longball was the Aviators’ second of the night while the first was a leadoff shot from right fielder Jared Dickey. In addition, Dickey plated a run in the bottom of the first on an RBI single as part of his 2-for-5 night with a single, a homer, two RBI, a run scored and a strikeout.

Wednesday, W, 5-1

The first win of the week is finally here for Las Vegas as it picked up its first home win since July 12 with a 5-1 win over El Paso. Its pitching staff collectively threw a one-hitter in this eventual win.

Shortstop Drew Swift had a couple of big swings that helped propel his Aviators to a win. In the third inning, he tied the game at a run apiece on a one-out RBI single. That came ahead of another RBI single, this time by recently-returned Joey Meneses who was designated for assignment last week.

Swift added another run-producing hit in the fourth inning in the form of a two-run double with two outs on the board. In the win, he went 2-for-3 with a single, double, three RBI, a run scored, two walks and a strikeout.

Relief pitcher James Gonzalez (3-1, 5.72 ERA) got the win after looking magnificent during his 3 ⅔ scoreless innings of work while avoiding being hit en route to four strikeouts and two walks. As a unit, the Las Vegas bullpen worked six full scoreless and hitless innings while tallying six strikeouts and four walks.

Starter Braden Nett was looking for his first win since late April after losing his last start on the heels of five straight no-decisions. In the first inning, he issued a walk with one out before second base got stolen ahead of an RBI single to open the scoring for the night.

Nett tossed 31 pitches in the first inning on his way to working three-plus innings of one run ball on one hit to go along with three strikeouts and six walks.

Thursday, W, 6-5

Las Vegas survived a seventh inning swing with a familiar face back in the lineup to secure a one-run win over El Paso. The team’s pitching staff had to work through some free passes en route to the narrow win.

Thursday’s seventh inning opened with Aviator reliever Domingo Robles issuing back-to-back walks before getting two groundouts and a flyout. In the back half of the frame, the home team loaded the bases with nobody out after a single, bunt single and another single.

First baseman Joey Meneses tied the game at five apiece on a two-run single, one-upping himself after returning to the team’s lineup last night. To lead off the second inning, he launched a solo home run to tie the game at one.

Meneses’ home run was followed up by a one-out solo homer by designated hitter Brian Serven as the team took a 2-1 lead.

In fact, Serven had an RBI hit-by-pitch in that game-changing seventh inning to go up 6-5, counting as the fourth lead change of the game.

The duo of Meneses and Serven went 3-for-6 with a single, two homers, five RBI, two runs scored and a strikeout.

Even in the loss, El Paso drew 10 walks off Las Vegas pitching.

Pitcher AJ Causey made his third appearance as an Aviator while making his home debut. He gave up a run in each of his first two showings before giving up three in this one.

In the sixth inning, the Chihuahuas tied the game after a leadoff double eventually came around to score on one of the two balks by Causey. That run tied the game at three apiece before the team launched a two-run home run following that second balk by the right-hander.

Entering the game, Las Vegas pitching had held El Paso to eight straight scoreless innings. In addition, the last two starters have now allowed 10 combined walks over the last two outings.

Pitcher Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang gave up a first-inning run on an RBI single after issuing a leadoff walk.

Friday, W, 15-9

It was an offensive explosion for the Aviators in a third straight win over the Chihuahuas this week, securing at least a split this week. The team scored 11 runs in two innings with the home run swing in full effect while showcasing a couple of different versions of debuts.

Las Vegas’ half of the third inning began with a one-out RBI single by first baseman Joey Meneses and an RBI double by left fielder Michael Stefanic to put the home team up 2-0. Soon after, designated hitter Chad Wallach brought in another run via an RBI walk.

The biggest swing of the third frame came off the bat of right fielder Jack Winkler in the form of a grand slam that saw the ball go 432 feet, hitting the team’s huge scoreboard in the process. In total, 11 men came to the plate in that third inning with seven men scoring.

Things kept going that way in the fourth inning with another run scoring on a wild pitch. Soon after, catcher Brian Serven popped a two-run dinger off his bat as his team went up 10-2. Even after a pitching change, teammate Brayan Buelvas launched a solo homer of his own.

That was just the beginning for Buelvas as he added a three-run moonshot in the bottom of the sixth inning. He now has two multi-home run games in the last two weeks.

In total, Las Vegas rocketed three home runs in the win while improving to 40-20 when hitting a longball this season.

Third baseman Jonathan Ornelas made his team debut and went 2-for-5 in the process with a single, double, two runs scored and two strikeouts.

In addition, pitcher Ryan Magdic made his Triple-A debut and he’d get out of some trouble early in the showing. After allowing a two-out single to load the bases in the third inning, he got out of the jam with an inning-ending groundout.

Magdic wouldn’t be as lucky in the fourth inning behind back-to-back RBI singles with one out recorded. Ultimately, he was pulled in the fourth inning with 72 pitches to his credit to go along with a stat line of two runs allowed on eight hits in 4 ⅔ innings pitched coupled with three strikeouts and a walk.

Reliever Nick Hernandez (4-1) got the win after pitching 1 ⅓ inning with a run given up on a single hit.

Saturday, W, 5-1

Four straight wins for the Aviators after securing a series win this week against the Chihuahuas. Starting pitcher Jake Garland is still in search of Triple-A win No. 1 but a great team pitching performance saw the team give up just one run for the second time this week.

In his second start this season, Garland saw the third inning before giving up his first run of the game. He allowed the game tying RBI sacrifice fly after coughing up a one-out triple. He’d be done after that frame as part of his three-inning outing with one run surrendered on four hits with two strikeouts versus zero walks.

Las Vegas didn’t record its first 1-2-3 inning until the fifth inning. Eventually, it’d tally consecutive 1-2-3 innings as part of eight straight El Paso batters being sat down in order.

Left-hander James Gonzalez picked up his second win of the week to improve to 4-1 on the year. He pitched 2 ⅔ scoreless innings with just one hit allowed to go along with two strikeouts.

In total, the Aviator bullpen tossed six scoreless innings with relievers Andrew Bash and Gustavo Rodriguez with the former recording his third hold of the year.

The tandem of position players Bryan Lavastida and Joey Meneses supplied more than enough offense amongst themselves to guarantee the win.

Lavastida helped the team score its first two runs of the game on an RBI single in the second inning before adding an RBI walk in the fourth frame. On the other hand, Meneses drove in two runs on a two-run single with the bases loaded in the seventh inning.

That pair went 3-for-7 with three singles, four RBI, a run scored and a walk. The latter now has seven RBI this series after not playing in the series opener on Tuesday night.

Sunday, L, 15-9

Even starting a former Cy Young award winner wasn’t enough to secure the series finale from Las Vegas Ballpark. The four-game win streak comes to a stop in a game that saw El Paso post a .380 batting average while the story was ultimately told three innings into the game.

Left-hand pitcher Dallas Keuchel saw live action on a baseball diamond for the first time since August of last year after recently signing a minor league deal with the Athletics organization. Entering play, the plan was for him to throw 50 pitches or less.

Keuchel would stay under his pitch count threshold but ran into immediate trouble. The first inning opened with a walk coupled with a steal only to be followed by an RBI triple for a fast start for the Chihuahuas. After going down 2-0 on an RBI double, he tallied his first strikeout on the heels of it.

El Paso had Las Vegas in a 3-0 hole by the conclusion of the top half of the first. To make matters worse, the visitors opened the second inning on a leadoff home run.

Keuchel would be done after two innings on the mound as he left with an 18.00 ERA and the loss. He gave up four runs on four hits in those two innings to go along with two strikeouts and a walk on 45 pitches, 26 of which were strikes.

Reliever Yunior Tur’s outing was even rougher as he didn’t make it through the third inning. That frame opened with a single, strikeout and a two-run homer immediately after. A pair of walks would come next before a three-run blast that really broke the game open.

Pitching coach Paul Abbott executed three mound visits in the first three innings, one for each frame.

Tur would be pulled after three more runs scored in the inning while the ninth run of the third was charged to him as well. In just ⅓ of an inning, he coughed up nine runs on seven hits with one strikeout versus three walks.

Las Vegas pitching wouldn’t get its first 1-2-3 inning until the fifth inning.

Despite the game being out of reach early, recently-signed infielder Jonathan Ornelas continued to impress in his new threads. He muscled his first home run as a member of the Aviators in the third inning for three runs. Teammate Chad Wallach would also homer later in the game.

Ornelas wasn’t done there, adding an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. In his first series with the team, he went 5-for-13 with three singles, a double, a home run, five RBI, three runs scored, three strikeouts and a walk.

First baseman Joey Meneses added an RBI of his own for his eighth hit and eighth RBI of the week. He now has a 10-game hit streak that originally began June 19 and has included a promotion to the A’s, a demotion back to the Aviators and being designated for assignment before returning to the franchise.