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 10^th inning, infielder Trace Loehr blasted a three-run homer to give Las Vegas a 10-8 walk-off victory, simultaneously stunning and thrilling what remained of a sellout crowd of 9,528 at Las Vegas Ballpark.
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 10^th 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 Chris Nunn. But with Cameron Rupp standing on third and Jorge Mateo on first, Loehr took Nunn's first two pitches for balls.
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 Corban Joseph, who homered in the seventh, finished the night 3-for-5 and raised his batting average to .381, which ranks second in the entire PCL. That's right: A guy who had never played in a game above Class A prior to Friday - a guy who had only 12 home runs in his six-year professional career, including three in 333 at-bats in Stockton this year - was subbing for the PCL's second-best hitter who hit his 13^th homer of the season an hour earlier.
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 Dustin Fowler's third-inning homer, the Dodgers scored once in the fourth, twice in the fifth and once more in the sixth to grab a 4-1 advantage. From that point on, the Aviators were forced to play catch-up, and they did it using the long ball.
They cut the deficit to 4-3 with two runs in the sixth, highlighted by Seth Brown's solo homer, his team-leading 28^th of the season. Then Oklahoma City scored twice in the seventh to take a 6-3 lead, but that lead evaporated on Joseph's homer in the seventh and Eric Campbell's two-run blast in the eighth.
The seesaw affair continued in the ninth, when Austin Barnes hit a solo homer to right to give Oklahoma City a 7-6 lead, only to see Campbell come through again with a two-out RBI single that sent the game to extra innings.
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 Keibert Ruiz stroked a leadoff single to right off Las Vegas reliever J.B. Wendelken that scored DJ Peters. But Wendelken (5-1) got out of the inning on a flyout and double play, setting the stage for Loehr's theatrics in the bottom of the 10^th.
With Rupp starting the inning on second base, Nunn retired Skye Bolt on a flyout. Jorge Mateo, playing on an injured ankle, then reached on an infield single, but Nunn struck out Fowler for the second out. That's when Loehr strode to the plate for the first time in Las Vegas and did what so few people do in this city: He beat the odds, setting off a wild celebration for the second consecutive Friday night.
"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. … Sheldon Neuse and Mark Payton, both of whom went 2-for-5, extended their hitting streaks to 10 and seven games, respectively. During their hot runs, Neuse is 19-for-45 (.422) with three doubles, two homers, nine RBI and 10 runs, while Payton is 16-for-30 (.533) with four homers, eight RBI and nine runs. Payton has had multiple hits in six of the seven games during his streak. … Mateo, who normally starts at shortstop, was the designated hitter for the second straight night. Riordan said Mateo remains day-to-day with his ankle injury. … Aviators starting pitcher Parker Dunshee gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out four in 4 2/3 innings. Including the right-hander's performance Friday, the Aviators' last five starting pitchers have amassed a 22-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. … Friday's sellout was the 37th of the season at Las Vegas Ballpark.
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 Tyler Alexander - who had spent the entire season with the Aviators - was sent to Double-A Midland, Texas.
In other roster news, the Oakland A's optioned pitcher Daniel Mengden and infielder Franklin Barreto back to Las Vegas on Friday. Mengden, who has been back and forth between Las Vegas and Oakland all season, was most recently promoted to the A's on June 26. The right-hander made six starts during his monthlong stint with the big-league club, going 4-1 with a 4.68 ERA. In nine appearances (seven starts) with Las Vegas this season, Mengden is 4-2 with a 3.47 ERA.
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: Sean Murphy's injured left knee isn't as bad as initially feared, and while the catcher was placed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday, Riordan said it's not expected to be an extended absence.
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, Jonah Heim ran the bases prior to Friday's game and Riordan said the 24-year-old is close to being activated, possibly in time for Monday's homestand finale.
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 Paul Blackburn (8-3, 4.56 ERA) is scheduled to oppose Oklahoma City southpaw Rob Zastryzny (3-3, 6.05). The game is officially sold out.
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