Las Vegas kept rolling Saturday night, piling up walks, extra-base hits and five stolen bases to beat the Salt Lake Bees 13-4 at Las Vegas Ballpark.
The Aviators improved to 2-0 and stayed perfect in the early PCL West race, even after Salt Lake made a brief push in the eighth. Las Vegas finished with 13 runs on 12 hits, drew 11 walks and then answered immediately with a four-run bottom of the eighth to slam the door.
Fast start in front of the home crowd
Zack Gelof put Las Vegas in front in the first, crushing a solo homer to right-center. The Aviators added on in the second after Michael Stefanic doubled and later scored on a pickoff throwing error by Salt Lake starter Sam Aldegheri.
Junior Perez followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0, then Euribiel Angeles stole second, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a Brett Harris bases-clearing double that pushed the lead to 6-0 before the inning ended.
Estes flirts with history
Joey Estes gave the Aviators exactly what they needed on the mound, working 4.1 hitless innings while walking three and striking out three. Brooks Kriske finished the fifth to earn the win, and Las Vegas took a 7-0 lead in the fourth when Harris lined an RBI single to center.
Salt Lake’s rally, then Angeles ends it
The Bees finally broke through in the eighth, scoring four times. Niko Kavadas delivered the big blow with a three-run double, and Yolmer Sánchez followed with an RBI single to cut the margin to 9-4.
Las Vegas responded immediately.
Bryan Lavastida and Perez opened the bottom of the eighth with singles, Cade Marlowe worked a walk to load the bases, and Angeles launched a grand slam to left-center to restore full control at 13-4.
Numbers that mattered
Gelof had a loud night at the top of the order. He went 2-for-2 with a homer, three walks, an RBI, three runs scored and a stolen base.
Angeles went 2-for-4 with a homer, a walk, four RBI, two runs and a steal. Harris finished 2-for-4 with four RBI and a walk.
Lavastida went 2-for-5 with two runs. Perez finished 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Stefanic added a double and an RBI.
Las Vegas swiped five bases. Henry Bolte had two, while Angeles, Gelof and Harris each stole one.
On the mound, Estes allowed no hits over 4.1 innings. Kriske earned the win with 0.2 scoreless innings. Aldegheri took the loss after allowing seven runs in four innings.
Up next
The Aviators continue the series against Salt Lake on Sunday at 12:05 p.m. PDT at Las Vegas Ballpark.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
