The Las Vegas Aviators leaned on their pitching staff Friday and returned to the win column with a 4-2 victory over Tacoma at Las Vegas Ballpark.
Las Vegas improved to 64-46 after dropping its previous two games. Geoff Hartlieb set the tone with four scoreless innings before Gustavo Rodriguez closed the night with his first save of the season.
Brayan Buelvas supplied a home run, double and two RBIs as the Aviators built a 4-0 lead.
Hartlieb gives Las Vegas four strong innings
Hartlieb allowed two hits and one walk across four scoreless innings. He struck out two and faced 13 batters.
Tacoma put two runners aboard in the second, but Hartlieb escaped when Victor Labrada grounded into a double play. Miles Mastrobuoni doubled in the fourth before Bryan Lavastida caught him trying to steal third.
Hartlieb threw 45 pitches, including 29 strikes, and lowered his ERA to 3.32.
Hernaiz, Buelvas build the lead
Las Vegas broke through in the second after Lavastida was hit by a pitch and Buelvas and Cole Conn walked.
Darell Hernaiz followed with a two-run single to left, scoring Lavastida and Buelvas for a 2-0 lead.
Buelvas added another run in the fourth with his 12th home run. The 365-foot shot to left-center extended the advantage to 3-0.
Lavastida doubled to open the sixth before Buelvas drove him home with another double. Buelvas finished 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs and two RBIs.
Tacoma makes a late push
Ben Bowden followed Hartlieb and kept Tacoma scoreless through the fifth and sixth innings.
The Rainiers finally broke through in the seventh. Lazaro Montes walked and Brock Rodden singled before Spencer Packard delivered an RBI single.
Nick Hernandez entered with two outs and allowed an RBI double to Nick Raposo, cutting the lead to 4-2.
However, Conn helped prevent further damage. His throw from right field went through Swift to Lavastida, who tagged Packard at the plate to end the inning.
Bowden was charged with both Tacoma runs across 2 2/3 innings but earned the win, improving to 2-1.
Rodriguez shuts the door
Hernandez returned for a scoreless eighth before Rodriguez took over in the ninth.
Rodriguez struck out Connor Joe, retired Rodden on a fly ball and struck out Labrada to finish a perfect inning.
The right-hander needed 19 pitches to convert his first save opportunity of the season. Rodriguez recorded five saves in six opportunities for Las Vegas in 2025.
Overall, Aviators pitchers held Tacoma to six hits and struck out eight.
Up next
Matt Sauer is expected to make his Aviators debut after signing a minor league contract with the Athletics.
Sauer spent this season with the KT Wiz in the KBO, going 7-5 with a 4.88 ERA across 101 1/3 innings. He last pitched in the majors with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2025, posting a 6.37 ERA across 29 2/3 innings.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Las Vegas Aces, 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.
