Las Vegas snapped right back Wednesday afternoon, blasting four homers and pouring in six runs in the eighth to beat Oklahoma City 11-5 at Las Vegas Ballpark.
The Aviators moved to 4-1 after getting a gritty outing from right-hander Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang, then leaning on the bullpen and a late offensive surge that turned a tie game into a runaway.
Early hole, quick response
Oklahoma City jumped in front right away, scoring three times in the first. Ryan Ward’s infield single brought home the first run, then Noah Miller followed with a two-run single to right. A throwing error by Henry Bolte on the play helped the Comets stretch it to 3-0.
Las Vegas answered with power. Brian Serven homered to center in the second, then Drew Swift lined an RBI single to cut it to 3-2.
In the third, the Aviators took the lead with aggressive baserunning. Henry Bolte and Zack Gelof both stole into scoring position, and Joey Meneses chopped a slow roller in front of the plate that allowed both runners to score, putting Las Vegas ahead 4-3.
Bolte ties it, bullpen steadies it
The Comets moved back in front in the fifth. They scored twice on a walk, a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring walk to take a 5-4 lead.
Bolte answered in the bottom half, launching his first homer of the season to right-center to tie it 5-5.
Zhuang went 4.1 innings and allowed five runs, four earned, on eight hits with three strikeouts and three walks. Jack Perkins followed with three scoreless innings and four strikeouts, and Wander Suero cleaned up the eighth to put himself in position for the win.
Six-run eighth buries Oklahoma City
The game broke open in the bottom of the eighth.
Serven reached on an error to start the rally and Junior Perez followed with a single. Swift drove in the go-ahead run with a single to center, then Euribiel Angeles brought home another on a groundout.
With two outs, Brett Harris crushed a two-run homer to left-center. Two batters later, Gelof drilled another two-run shot to left-center, pushing the lead to 11-5 and sending the crowd into a home run parade.
Numbers that mattered
Bolte went 2-for-3 with a homer, three runs scored and two walks. Gelof finished 1-for-4 with a homer, two RBI, a walk and two runs. Harris drove in two with his first homer of the season.
Serven went 2-for-3 with a triple and a homer, and Swift finished 2-for-4 with two RBI. Meneses drove in two on his third-inning groundout.
Perkins gave the Aviators a needed bridge out of the bullpen with three scoreless innings. Suero earned the win after throwing 1.2 scoreless innings.
Up next
The Aviators continue the series against Oklahoma City on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. PT at Las Vegas Ballpark.
Las Vegas (4-1) is set to send RHP Morris (1-0, 1.59 ERA) to the mound, while Oklahoma City (3-2) counters with LHP Cole Irvin (0-1, 5.40 ERA).
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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.
