Aviators Pull Off Miraculous 10-8 Win Over Oklahoma City in 10 Innings
The Aviators have had their fair share of impressive comebacks, thrilling finishes and astonishing victories during their inaugural season. But nothing comes close to matching the incredible Houdini trick they pulled off Friday night.With his team trailing the Oklahoma City Dodgers 8-7 and down to its final out in the
The Aviators have had their fair share of impressive comebacks, thrilling finishes and astonishing victories during their inaugural season. But nothing comes close to matching the incredible Houdini trick they pulled off Friday night.
With his team trailing the Oklahoma City Dodgers 8-7 and down to its final out in the 10th inning, infielder
To understand just how improbable of a finish it was would require understanding the entire backstory: Loehr started this week at Class A Stockton, where he had been all season until Wednesday, when he was promoted to the Aviators who were short on position players because of injuries and call-ups to the Oakland A's. And when Loehr stepped into the batter's box in the 10th inning Friday, it not only was the first Triple-A at-bat of his career, it was the 24-year-old's first at-bat above Single A.
So right away, the odds were stacked against him. And that stack would get even higher, given that the left-handed hitting Loehr was facing Dodgers southpaw reliever
Desperate to throw a strike, Nunn (0-1) tried to sneak a slider past Loehr, but the pitch was elevated and Loehr was ready for it. He uncoiled, got the barrel of his bat square on the baseball and launched it onto the Hangar Bar beyond the Oklahoma City bullpen in right-center field.
It was the Aviators' fifth homer of the night, and by far the most majestic, not to mention important.
"We're down to our final out, down a run in extra innings, and you're looking at a guy about to take his first Triple-A at-bat against a really good left-handed pitcher," Aviators manager Fran Riordan said after the game. "The at-bat he had, the discipline to get the count into a 2-0 hitter's count - what a swing he put on that pitch to give us the win. Such a great moment - I mean, it was one of the coolest things I've seen and definitely the moment of the year. What a great night for the kid."
Before Loehr even reached second base on his home-run trot, his entire team was already waiting to greet him at home plate. When he finally arrived, Loehr was mobbed, doused with a bucket of water and had his jersey ripped off.
The scene of utter exuberance was understandable for a number of reasons: First, the Aviators (64-47) trailed most of the night, including by late-inning deficits of 4-3, 6-4, 7-6 and 8-7. Second, the victory allowed them to remain two games back of first-place El Paso in the Pacific Coast League's Pacific Southern Division. Third, it came exactly one week after the team's historic victory in El Paso, when Las Vegas rallied from an 11-4 deficit to prevail 20-11 on the strength of a PCL-record 11 home runs.
And lastly, well, all the Aviators who mobbed Loehr knew just how truly unfathomable this moment was.
In fact, the only reason Loehr even had a chance to be the hero was because he came in to pinch-run for
Of course, as magical as the ending was, it wouldn't have happened had the Aviators not battled back time and again against Oklahoma City (51-59). After Las Vegas took a 1-0 lead on
They cut the deficit to 4-3 with two runs in the sixth, highlighted by
The seesaw affair continued in the ninth, when
Because of Minor League Baseball's pace-of-play rules, teams must start every bonus inning with a runner on second base, and the Dodgers quickly took advantage of that when
With Rupp starting the inning on second base, Nunn retired
"There's still a lot of baseball yet to be played," Riordan said. "But those two wins - just the improbability of them where the chances of us coming back to win weren't really high - well, every game matters right now. And the fact these wins came down the stretch run of the season is huge for us."
GAME NOTES: Las Vegas racked up 16 hits, and everyone in the lineup had at least one … Campbell, who entered the game in a 1-for-15 slump, finished 3-for-4 with four RBI. …
TRANSACTION ACTION: Bolt was activated from the injured list prior to Friday's game and started in right field, going 1-for-4 with a walk. Bolt had been sidelined since July 24, when he dove for a ball in right field, fell awkwardly and sprained thumb ligaments in his left hand. To make room for Bolt on the 25-man roster, left-handed pitcher
In other roster news, the Oakland A's optioned pitcher
Meanwhile, Barreto struggled during his time in Oakland, battling just .106 (5-for-47) with two home runs, a double and four RBI in 17 games. At the time of his promotion, Barreto - who was the PCL Player of the Month for June - was batting .306 with 18 doubles, three triples, nine homers and 55 RBI in 70 games with the Aviators.
Riordan said both Barreto and Mengden are expected to join the team Saturday, but he's unsure when Barreto will play or when Mengden will make his next start.
INJURY UPDATES: Besides Bolt, the Aviators got some other good news on the injury front:
Murphy was forced to leave Tuesday's game against New Orleans in the seventh inning after hurting the same knee that required surgery in early May and sidelined the 24-year-old for nearly three months. Moments before departing Tuesday, Murphy hit a two-run double, his eighth hit in 15 at-bats since being activated from the injured list July 25. During that 15 at-bat stretch, Murphy had six homers and 13 RBI.
As for another catcher on the mend,
ON DECK: The Aviators and Dodgers continue their four-game series at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Las Vegas Ballpark. Las Vegas right-hander
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