Davis Diaz’s rapid climb through the Athletics organization reached another milestone Wednesday night.
Batting ninth, Diaz drove in six runs and hit his first Triple-A home run as the Las Vegas Aviators beat the Sugar Land Space Cowboys 11-5 at Las Vegas Ballpark.
Las Vegas improved to 73-53 with its third straight win and seventh victory in 10 games. The Aviators are 29-24 in the second half, two games behind Sacramento in the PCL West.
Meneses gives Las Vegas early lead
Joey Meneses put the Aviators in front before Sugar Land could settle into the game.
Johnathan Rodríguez singled with two outs in the first before Meneses launched his 15th home run of the season to left. The 433-foot shot gave Las Vegas a 2-0 lead.
Sugar Land answered with two runs in the fourth against Ryan Magdic. César Salazar doubled and scored before Lucas Spence drove in Matt Thaiss with a two-out single.
Rodríguez quickly put Las Vegas back in front.
He opened the fifth with his second home run, sending a 464-foot shot to center for a 3-2 lead.
Diaz starts six-RBI night
The Aviators kept going after Sugar Land changed pitchers in the fifth.
Brayan Buelvas, Cole Conn and Colby Halter drew consecutive walks before Drew Swift doubled home Buelvas and Conn.
Diaz followed with a two-run single to right that scored Halter and Swift, stretching the lead to 7-2.
It was only the beginning of his night.
The 23-year-old Diaz was selected by the Athletics in the eighth round of the 2024 draft out of Vanderbilt. He has moved quickly through the organization this season, playing in rookie ball, High-A, Double-A and Triple-A.
Through his first five games with Las Vegas, Diaz is batting .368 with seven hits, one home run and seven RBIs.
Magdic earns first win
Sugar Land cut the lead to 7-4 with two solo home runs in the sixth, but Magdic kept the Aviators comfortably in front.
Pascanel Ferreras homered to open the inning before Spence added another solo shot with two outs.
Magdic finished six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits. The left-hander walked one and struck out seven while throwing 93 pitches.
He earned his first win with Las Vegas and improved to 1-2.
James Gonzalez followed with two hitless innings, allowing two walks while striking out two.
Diaz delivers grand slam
Las Vegas put the game away in the bottom of the sixth.
Meneses walked before Conn singled. Halter later reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second before Swift drew a walk to load the bases with two outs.
Diaz then launched a grand slam to left-center for his first Triple-A home run.
The 409-foot shot gave Las Vegas an 11-4 lead and pushed Diaz to six RBIs from the No. 9 spot.
Diaz finished 2-for-5 with the grand slam and six RBIs. Meneses went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs, while Rodríguez finished 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
Conn also had two hits and scored twice.
Sugar Land added its final run on Cavan Biggio’s solo homer in the ninth before Yunior Tur finished the 11-5 victory.
Up next
The Aviators continue the six-game series against Sugar Land on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. PDT at Las Vegas Ballpark.
Right-hander Matt Sauer (0-2, 14.46 ERA) is scheduled to start for Las Vegas against Sugar Land right-hander Ronel Blanco (1-0, 1.59 ERA).
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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.
