The Las Vegas Aviators got back in the win column, beating the Reno Aces 12-7, after a long month of struggling on the diamond.
After winning the first half of the 10-team Pacific Coast League title and clinching a spot in the 2025 playoffs, the Las Vegas Aviators hit a mid-season slump in July. The Aviators lost 17 of the 24 games in the month. The team was at home for only nine games in the hot summer month and lost 7 of them. But tonight, Las Vegas flipped the switch and won with 18 hits and no errors.
Joey Estes started on the mound for Las Vegas, and Dylan Ray for Reno. The Aviators came out strong in the bottom of the first. Willie MacIver hit a sacrifice fly to score Alejo Lopez. Daniel Susac doubled to right field to score Zack Gelof, putting the team up 2-0.
The Aces hopped on the board in the second inning when Connor Kaiser hit an RBI single. Gavin Logan tied the game on a sacrifice fly, and Juan Corniel hit a three-run homer to put Reno ahead 5-2. The Aviators came back to tie the game 5-5. Cooper Bowman hit an RBI double, and Gelof hit an RBI single.
Reno took the lead back in the third inning, 6-5, with a solo homer by A.J. Vukovich. Albert Almora Jr. copied Vukovich in the fourth, and the Aces led 7-5. In the bottom of the fourth, the Aviators loaded the bases from a hit by pitch, a walk and a single. McIver hit an RBI single to score two runners, tying the game 7-7. The Aces swapped pitchers to Jake Rice, who finished the inning with two strikeouts.
Las Vegas replaced Estes with David Leal on the mound to start the sixth inning. Estes pitched 5.0 innings, struck out two, allowed seven runs, seven hits and three home runs. Anthony Gose took the mound for the Aces. In the seventh inning, Hogan Harris started pitching for the Aviators. Reno replaced Gose with Trevor Richards. Nick Martini hit an RBI single to put the Aviators in the lead 8-7.
The Aviator went soaring in the bottom of the eighth. Gelof and MacIver hit back-to-back doubles to put another run on the board. Henry Bolte and Euribiel Angeles also hit back-to-back doubles, scoring two more runs. Las Vegas took an 11-7 lead. With two outs, the Aces switched pitchers to Matt Foster. Bowman hit a hard grounder down the middle for an RBI single. The Aviators ended the inning 12-7.
Tyler Ferguson finished the game for Las Vegas on the mound. He struck out one batter, caused a pop out, a flyout and a single. Harris was the winning pitcher for the night. He pitched 2.0 innings, struck out five batters and walked one.
