The Las Vegas Aviators won their fifth straight game Friday night, defeating the Tacoma Rainiers 2-1 at Cheney Stadium.
Four of the five victories during the streak have been decided by one run. Las Vegas improves to 30-23 and has taken the series with two games remaining in Tacoma. The Aviators now sit two games behind first-place Sacramento in the PCL West first-half race.
Tacoma falls to 23-32.
Gonzalez Perfect Since Promotion
James Gonzalez earned the win in relief, improving to 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA since being promoted to Triple-A on May 25.
Gonzalez has now won both games in which he has appeared for Las Vegas. He has thrown 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing no hits and no runs while striking out two.
Before his call-up, Gonzalez went 3-2 with a 6.00 ERA in 13 appearances at Double-A Midland, posting 18 strikeouts over 18.0 innings.
On Friday, he entered in the seventh inning with two inherited runners and two outs. He struck out Alejo Lopez to escape the jam and later retired the side in order in the eighth to keep the game tied.
White Opens the Scoring
Tommy White provided the first run of the night in the fourth inning. After Michael Stefanic reached and advanced, White lined an RBI double to left to give Las Vegas a 1-0 lead.
Tacoma answered in the bottom half when Connor Joe hit a solo home run to left-center, tying the game at 1-1.
Joey Estes started for Las Vegas and allowed one run on four hits over five innings. He walked three and struck out one.
Ninth-Inning Breakthrough
Las Vegas managed just five hits on the night but capitalized in the ninth.
With two outs, Brayan Buelvas delivered the decisive blow. His single to center deflected off shortstop Leo Rivas and skipped into the outfield. Bryan Lavastida scored from first on the play, and an error by center fielder Victor Labrada allowed Buelvas to advance to second.
The RBI was Buelvas’ sixth of the season.
Bowden Locks It Down
Ben Bowden handled the ninth inning and recorded his first save of the season. He allowed a one-out single but retired the next two hitters to seal the win.
Tacoma stranded 10 runners and went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Tight Baseball, Big Results
Las Vegas has now won five straight and seven of its last eight games. The pitching staff has allowed two runs or fewer in three of the five victories during the current streak.
Despite collecting only five hits Friday, the Aviators continued their trend of finding timely offense in late innings.
Up Next
The series continues Saturday night at Cheney Stadium.
Neither starting pitcher had been announced before press time. First pitch is scheduled for 9:05 p.m. EDT.
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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.
