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PCL Las Vegas Aviators

Wilson's Two HRs Not Enough, as Aviators Fall 11-7 to Tacoma

June 18, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Las Vegas Aviators News Release


The Aviators have struggled mightily this week to notch a victory at Las Vegas Ballpark, and those struggles continued Thursday - despite the best efforts of their hot-hitting third baseman.

Jacob Wilson made life miserable for Tacoma Rainiers pitchers, going 4-for-5 with two home runs, four RBI and three runs. Unfortunately for the 6,907 fans who visited Las Vegas Ballpark on $2 Beer Night, Wilson's performance wasn't enough, as the Rainiers clubbed four homers of their own en route to an 11-7 victory in the opener of a six-game series.

Since pounding Reno 18-9 on Saturday, Las Vegas (18-19) has lost four in a row - matching a season high - to drop one game below .500.

As was the case in the team's previous three defeats, the Aviators' offense held up its end of the bargain, pounding out 15 hits - including two doubles, a triple and three home runs - against four Tacoma pitchers. In fact, eight of the nine hitters in the lineup recorded at least one hit, with four collecting multiple hits. Vimael Machín, Austin Allen and Cody Thomas all went 2-for-4, while Pete Kozma went 2-for-5.

No Aviator soared higher than Wilson, though, who went deep in his first two at-bats - a solo shot in the second and a three-run blast in the fourth - and singled in his next two. Although he popped out in his final at-bat in the bottom of the ninth, Wilson is still 10-for-21 (.476 average) over his last five games with four homers, 11 RBI and seven runs.

The 30-year-old veteran was so good Thursday that he almost singlehandedly dragged his team out of a 5-0 hole. After the Rainiers (20-15) scored five times in the first two innings on the strength of home runs by Dillon Thomas (two-run shot) and Jantzen Witte (three-run shot), Wilson went to work with the lumber.

With one out in the second inning, he took Tacoma starting pitcher Ian McKinney deep over the left field wall to cut the Aviators' deficit to 5-1. Las Vegas got another run back when Kozma led off the bottom of the third with a solo homer that flew over the left-field wall and completely out of the ballpark.

Two singles and an out later, Wilson returned to the batter's box and annihilated McKinney's 0-2 pitch over the fence in left-center field to tie the game at 5. When he came up again with one out in the sixth, Wilson singled sharply to left field and scored on catcher Carlos Pérez's two-out double off the top of the center-field wall.

Pérez then tallied his team's seventh run when Thomas followed with a triple. However, by then, the Rainiers had put up four runs of their own (three in the fourth and one in the fifth), so Las Vegas still faced a 9-7 deficit after five innings - a deficit that grew to 11-7 when Tacoma's Jared Kelenic blasted a two-run homer in the seventh.

The Aviators did threaten to mount a comeback when they put two runners on with no outs in the seventh, then did the same with two outs in the eighth. However, the big hit proved elusive for the home team, and as a result, Wilson's big night went for naught.

GAME NOTES: Wilson now ranks second on the team with nine homers and 27 RBIs. He trails first baseman Frank Schwindel in both categories. ... Perez extended his hitting streak to four with his RBI double. Since returning to Las Vegas from an Olympic tryout with the Venezuelan National Team, Perez is 8-for-19 with three doubles, a homer and five RBI. ... Schwindel (0-for-5, run) was the only Aviators player not to record a hit. ... Eight of the nine batters in the Rainiers' lineup had at least one hit. ... Both teams had plenty of opportunities to light up the scoreboard even more than they did, as Tacoma went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and Las Vegas went 3-for-12. Each squad left 11 runners on base. ... Aviators starting pitcher Matt Milburn lasted just 1 2/3 innings, yielding five runs on six hits. After Milburn departed, Las Vegas manager Fran Riordan used eight relievers to get the final 19 outs. ... Aviators pitchers have surrendered 63 runs (including 15 homers) during the team's four-game losing skid. The pitching staff also has allowed at least one run in 15 of its last 21 innings.

TRANSACTION ACTION: Outfielder Skye Bolt was optioned back to Las Vegas on Wednesday after the Oakland A's (the Aviators' parent club) activated outfielder Ramon Laureano from the injured list. Bolt went 1-for-13 in nine games with the A's, with the one hit being his first career major-league home run.

In other moves, Oakland released Aviators right-handed relief pitcher Tanner Anderson on Thursday and officially promoted right-handed reliever Zach Jackson from Double-A Midland (Texas) to Las Vegas. Anderson - who spent the majority of the 2019 season with the Aviators - appeared in 15 games out of the bullpen this season, going 3-0 with a 3.60 ERA.

Also, Las Vegas outfielder Buddy Reed, who hasn't played since June 8 because of an injured hand, was placed on the seven-day injured list. Finally, A's relief pitcher J.B. Wendelken, who has been sidelined since May 2 with a left oblique strain, joined the Aviators on a rehab assignment.

ON DECK: Miguel Romero (1-0, 9.24 ERA), who has spent the entire season in the bullpen, will make just his second start since 2017 when he takes the mound for the Aviators on Friday in the second game of the six-game series against Tacoma. The Rainiers are expected to counter with fellow right-hander Darren McCaughan (2-2, 5.33). First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.

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