Aviators rally for wild 15-14 walk-off victory over Sacramento

It took 10 innings. It took 4½ hours. And it took 15 runs, 13 hits, 15 walks, six pitchers and numerous rallies, including an improbable one in the bottom of the ninth. But the Aviators finally found a way to get back in the victory column Sunday, winning one of the wildest, wackiest, back-and-forth games in the franchise’s 38-year history.

After erasing a three-run deficit with three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Aviators got a bases-loaded sacrifice fly from Jacob Wilson in the 10th to shock the Sacramento River Cats 15-14 before a Fourth of July crowd of 6,428 at Las Vegas Ballpark.

Las Vegas snapped a five-game losing skid with the walk-off win, which required three home runs (among multiple clutch hits), a lot of wildness from Sacramento’s pitchers and an outstanding performance from Domingo Acevedo, the only Aviators’ pitcher who was able to tame the River Cats’ lineup.

When Acevedo took the mound in the top of the ninth with his team trailing 14-11, he did something none of the previous six Las Vegas pitchers could do: He retired Sacramento in order. That set the stage for a dramatic bottom of the ninth, when River Cats closer Sam Selman walked the bases loaded with one out. Following the latter free pass, Cody Thomas ripped a two-run double down the right field line, scoring Pete Kozma and Wilson, and sending Austin Allen to third base.

Selman then intentionally walked Carlos Pérez — who started the Aviators’ scoring with a first-inning grand slam — to reload the bases in hopes of setting up a game-ending double play. Instead, Vimael Machín flew out to deep left field, allowing Allen to trot home with the tying run.

Francisco Peña then grounded out to end the threat and send the game to extra innings. Acevedo returned to the mound and immediately faced trouble, because per Minor League Baseball’s pace-of-play rules, Sacramento started the 10th with a runner on second base. That runner — Las Vegas native Drew Robinson — promptly took third on Acevedo’s wild pitch. Robinson would go no further, though, as Acevedo — pitching in his first game with the Aviators since being sent down this week from the Oakland A’s — struck out the side, working around a one-out walk.

With pinch-runner Marty Bechina starting the bottom of the 10th on second base, River Cats reliever Conner Menez intentionally walked Austin Beck, who earlier in the game hit a two-run homer for his first career Triple-A hit. Kozma then dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt that moved Bechina and Beck to second and third, respectively. Nate Mondou then drew his team’s 14th and final walk to load the bases, which brought up Wilson.

The veteran slugger, who followed Pérez’s grand slam in the first inning with a three-run blast in the second, hit Menez’s second pitch to medium right field. River Cats right fielder Joe McCarthy made the catch and fired the ball home, but Bechina easily beat it, sending the Aviators pouring out of their dugout.

Bechina’s run ended a crazy game that began in bright sunshine, ended under the lights and featured four lead changes in the first 2½ innings, 29 runs (including 13 in the first 2½ innings and 21 in the first five innings), 32 hits (including seven home runs) and 23 walks thrown by 12 pitchers.

More important than all of that: It ended the Aviators’ five-game losing skid.

GAME NOTES: Las Vegas is now 3-0 in extra-inning games this season and 8-4 in day games. … Pérez followed his grand slam with a second-inning single, and he also walked three times. He’s 5-for-10 with a homer, triple and six RBI in the series. … In addition to Pérez, Mondou (2-for-5, walk, run, RBI), Wilson (2-for-3, three walks, two runs, four RBI), shortstop Pete Kozma (2-for-4, two walks, three runs) and right fielder Cody Thomas (2-for-6, two RBI) had multiple hits for the Aviators. … Allen singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest for an Aviators’ batter this season. During the streak, the veteran catcher is batting .346 (18-for-52) with three home runs and 11 RBI. ... Sacramento infielders Mitchel Tolman and Peter Maris hit solo homers on consecutive pitches by Aviators starter Brian Howard in the second inning. Fellow infielder Arismendy Alcántara was responsible for the River Cats’ other two homers (a third-inning solo shot and a fourth-inning three-run blast). … With the victory, Las Vegas also snapped a four-game losing streak to the River Cats. The Aviators now lead the season series 9-7. … Sacramento, which finished with 19 hits Sunday, has pounded out 63 hits through the first four games of this series and has had at least one runner on base in 24 of 28 innings.

ON DECK: Aviators relief pitcher Miguel Romero (0-2, 8.20 ERA) is slated to come out of the bullpen and start a game for a third time when the right-hander takes the mound Monday against the River Cats. Sacramento is scheduled to counter with veteran southpaw Scott Kazmir (2-0, 1.10). First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.

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