The Las Vegas Aviators opened up game one of five against the Oklahoma City Dodgers with a dreadful 5-12 loss bringing their season’s overall record to 62-60. This will be the last series at home for the Aviators for the remainder of the season.
The series goes all the way through Sept. 27. Aviator starting pitcher Brady Feigl (6.62 ERA) fell to Dodger Aaron Wilkerson (4.32 ERA) with a season record of 1-2.
Las Vegas failed to stop Oklahoma City’s hot bats as they put on a show with three home runs, four doubles, and one triple during the first two innings. Both Zach Reks and Zach Mckinstry hit three home runs during the game to pad the Dodger lead.
Despite the tough start, first baseman Fransico Pena drove in three of five runs for the Aviators. Pena hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning with an RBI single later in the game, finishing 2-for-5.
Nick Allen flipped the switch to go a perfect 3-for-3 regardless of hitting a subpar .191 before the game. Allen had a clutch RBI double in the sixth inning to keep the hope of a comeback alive in the Ballpark.
Las Vegas finished the game with a total of thirteen hits but could not cash in all their runs. They went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position while also grounding out into two double plays.
The Aviators are looking to take game two of the series to even things up with Homer Bailey (1-6, 7.06 ERA) taking on Ryan Pepiot (1-5, 7.12 ERA) of the Dodgers.
Las Vegas has an all-time winning record (60-49) against Oklahoma City after taking five out of six games during their last matchup in August. The Aviators averaged six runs a game during the series.
Game two of the series is Friday night with first pitch at 7:05 p.m., the game includes fireworks after the final inning for the fans in attendance.
