PCL Albuquerque Isotopes

Isotopes Claim Series Victory with 6-5 Triumph over Aviators

July 31, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Albuquerque Isotopes News Release


Albuquerque, NM - An early offensive onslaught, a pair of mid-game homers and clutch relief pitching proved to be an excellent recipe for the Albuquerque Isotopes on Sunday evening. They claimed a 6-5 victory over the Las Vegas Aviators, clinching a series win of four games to two. The Topes (47-52) have won five of their last seven games, and this is their third series triumph of the season. The game got off to an ominous beginning for Isotopes starter Karl Kauffmann, as two of the first three Aviators tripled. Billy McKinney drove home Luis Barrera with his third triple in the last two games as Las Vegas led 1-0. Albuquerque made sure the Aviators advantage was short-lived. Wynton Bernard greeted Jared Koenig with a first-pitch double in the first inning before scoring on Ryan Vilade's single in his first plate appearance off the Injured List. An out later, Carlos Pérez and Sean Bouchard each singled, with Bouchard putting the Isotopes in front 2-1. Tim Lopes followed with a sacrifice fly before Coco Montes capped the four-run first with another RBI single. Vince Fernandez single-handedly tied the game for the Aviators (51-47), as he hit a solo homer in the second and two-run single in the third, bringing the contest to a 4-4 deadlock. The game was not tied for long, as Pérez launched his 22nd home run of the season in the third, making it 5-4 in favor of the home team. Vilade added to his impressive first night back in an Albuquerque uniform with his fourth Triple-A home run of 2022, giving the Isotopes an insurance tally at 6-4 after five. The Aviators plated a run in the seventh on a wild pitch, and the Isotopes did not produce any insurance, garnering only five baserunners after the first inning. Nursing a one-run lead, Zach Lee gave up a first-pitch single to McKinney in the ninth. Matt Davidson flied out before Lee punched out Shea Langeliers and induced Fernandez to fly out to right field, clinching the game and series victory.

Topes Scope: - All three of Albuquerque's series victories have come at home this season. They took four of six from Tacoma from April 12-17 and swept Salt Lake all six June 14-19 before claiming four of six from the Aviators this week.

- The Isotopes earned a series win over Las Vegas for the first time since taking three of four from Aug. 26-29, 2019 to close the home schedule.

- Albuquerque and Las Vegas split a season series for the seventh time out of 19 seasons the teams have been competing against one another (2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2019 and 2022).

- The Isotopes rank first in all of MiLB with 156 home runs hit, three ahead of El Paso's 153.

- Albuquerque slashed .280/.361/.506 in July with 161 runs scored in 23 games, an average of 7.0 per contest.

- After not homering in his first 51 games of the season, Vilade has now gone deep four times in the last nine contests he has played for the Topes. During those nine games, he is 16-for-34 with 10 RBI and 16 runs scored.

- Montes is 11-for-26 with a double, four homers and 14 RBI over his last six games.

- Pérez registered his fourth three-hit game of the season, and his 21st overall multi-hit contest which is second on the team behind Bernard. He finished July with a .315/.392/.652 slash line with nine homers and 20 RBI. He is tied for second in the Pacific Coast League with 22 home runs along with Oklahoma City's Jason Martin.

- Tonight was the 11th time this season that Albuquerque used the same starting pitcher in the first and sixth game of a series. On those occasions, the starter's ERA in Game 1 is a cumulative 6.48 and it has risen to 8.43 in Game 6. On the other hand, the opponent has also used the same starter in the opener and finale 11 times. The difference in ERAs is more drastic for the opposing starters: 4.32 in Game 1 and 10.02 in Game 6.

- Elehuris Montero saw his 32-game on-base streak with the Isotopes come to an end. During the stretch that started May 18, he slashed .333/.447/.826 with six doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 35 RBI and 16 walks.

- Taylor Snyder has struck out in 41 of his 91 plate appearances (45 percent) this season, including 12 of 21 trips to the plate since coming off the Injured List on July 14.

- Justin Lawrence became the third Isotopes pitcher to uncork two wild pitches in an outing this year (Ben Bowden, April 12 vs. Tacoma and Matt Dennis, April 26 vs. Sacramento).

On Deck: The Isotopes will open a six-game series against the El Paso Chihuahuas (AAA Padres) in West Texas on Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. # # # For more information, contact: Joe Traub, Baseball Information Coordinator (505) 222-4011 joe.traub@abqisotopes.com.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 31, 2022


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