On Star Wars Night at Las Vegas Ballpark, the offense had plenty of force. The pitching did not.
Despite collecting 15 hits and getting four RBIs from Joey Meneses, the Aviators fell 13-11 to Albuquerque on Saturday night. The loss drops Las Vegas to 25-23, while the Isotopes improve to 28-22 and move into first place in the PCL East.
Early Hole Too Deep
Joey Estes took the loss, allowing 11 runs on 12 hits over 4.1 innings. He walked two and struck out one as Albuquerque scored in four of the first five innings.
The Isotopes struck quickly in the first on back-to-back two-out solo homers from Vimael Machín and Charlie Condon. They added two more in the second, highlighted by Nic Kent’s RBI single and a sacrifice fly from Drew Avans.
Kent and Andrew Knizner each homered in the fourth, and the Isotopes pushed across four more runs in the fifth to reclaim control after briefly losing the lead.
Meneses Powers the Offense
Las Vegas answered throughout the night and briefly led 6-4 after a five-run third inning.
Meneses delivered the biggest swing, launching a three-run homer to center in the third for his seventh home run of the season. He finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a sacrifice fly.
Eight of the nine Aviators starters recorded at least one hit. Jared Dickey went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer in the second. Joshua Kuroda-Grauer had two hits and scored twice. Michael Stefanic and Cade Marlowe each added multi-hit efforts, while Bryan Lavastida drove in a run.
Las Vegas went 7-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left only four men on base.
Bullpen Settles It Down
After Estes exited in the fifth, the bullpen gave the Aviators a chance.
Ben Bowden, Geoff Hartlieb and Michael Kelly combined to allow two runs over the final 4.2 innings. The offense closed within two in the eighth on an RBI double by Stefanic, but TJ Shook recorded the final five outs for his sixth save.
Up Next
The six-game series concludes Sunday at Las Vegas Ballpark as the Aviators look to even the set at three games apiece before heading out on a six-game road trip to close out May in Tacoma.
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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.
