Aviators stun Sacramento 4-3 on Cody Thomas’ walk-off HR

For the second time in a little more than 24 hours, Cody Thomas came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning Monday night with the Aviators needing a big hit to stay alive against the Sacramento River Cats at Las Vegas Ballpark. And for the second time, the 26-year-old outfielder delivered — in even more dramatic fashion than he did the day before.

With his team trailing by a run and down to its final out, Thomas crushed a two-run homer over the swimming pool in center field to give the Aviators their second straight come-from-behind walk-off victory, this one by a score of 4-3 before a crowd of 5,967.

Thomas’ moon shot came one day after he ripped a two-run double with one out in the bottom of the ninth, trimming the River Cats’ lead to 14-13. Las Vegas went on to tie the game one batter later and win it 15-14 in 10 innings.

This time, Thomas made sure there wouldn’t be any extra baseball.

After catcher Francisco Peña led off the ninth by drilling Sacramento reliever Trevor Gott’s first pitch for a single, Luis Barrera entered the game as a pinch-runner and promptly stole second. Barrera remained there after Gott retired Nate Mondou and Austin Beck on a flyout and strikeout, respectively.

That set the stage for a one-on-one battle between the hard-throwing Gott and the hard-swinging Thomas. It took three pitches for the reigning Triple-A West Player of the Month to win that battle, as he destroyed Gott’s 97 mph fastball for a no-doubt home run that carried the Aviators to their second straight win following a five-game losing streak.

As impressive — and timely — as Thomas’ 14th homer of the year was, it wouldn’t have meant anything had the Aviators’ bullpen not done the seemingly impossible and completely shut down a torrid Sacramento offense. The River Cats entered the game having scored 60 runs in the first four games of a six-game series, and they ran that total to 63 when they scored once in the first inning and twice in the third to take a 3-2 lead.

However, Las Vegas starter Miguel Romero pitched a clean fourth inning, then handed things over to relievers Ben Bracewell, Jesús Zambrano and Reymin Guduan, who yielded just three hits and no walks over five scoreless innings. The trio retired 12 of the final 13 Sacramento hitters they faced.

Guduan was particularly dominant. The flame-throwing southpaw didn’t allow a single baserunner in his 2 1/3 innings of work, and he struck out the final five River Cats who came to the plate.

“Our pitchers did a tremendous job tonight keeping the game close,” Aviators manager Fran Riordan said. “That allowed Cody Thomas to come through once again for us, delivering one of his trademark majestic homers when we needed it most.”

Monday’s game was a complete reversal from Sunday’s Fourth of July spectacular, when the teams exploded for 29 runs, 32 hits (including seven home runs), 23 walks and just two scoreless innings. This time around, the pitchers dominated most of the night.

After Sacramento took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, the Aviators answered in the second when Beck — who hit a two-run homer Sunday for his first career Triple-A hit — belted another two-run shot that scored Mondou, who had singled. Las Vegas’ lead was short-lived, though, as the River Cats sent seven batters to the plate against Romero in the third and scored twice to go ahead 3-2.

Given that the teams had scored 12, 15, 22 and 29 runs in the previous four games of the series, it seemed more likely that snow would start falling from the sky before a 3-2 score would hold up. Yet it did, as eight pitchers shockingly put one zero up on the scoreboard after another … giving Thomas the chance to once again play hero at the last possible moment.

GAME NOTES: Thomas also had an infield single in the fifth inning, finishing 2-for-5. Peña (2-for-3, walk) and Mondou (2-for-4, double) also had multiple hits for the Aviators, who finished with 10 hits. … Designated hitter Austin Allen doubled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. During the streak, which is the longest for an Aviators’ batter this season the veteran catcher is batting .339 (19-for-56) with three home runs and 11 RBI. … After pounding out 63 hits over the previous four days against Las Vegas, the River Cats managed just five singles and two doubles. … Las Vegas outfielder Greg Deichmann missed his second straight game because of a hamstring injury he suffered in Saturday’s game. He remains day-to-day. … The Aviators lead the season series against Sacramento 10-7.

SPARKS FLY ON THE FOURTH OF JULY: The Aviators’ 15-14, 10-inning walk-off victory over Sacramento on Sunday was one for the history books. Among the statistical oddities:

• Not only did the teams belt a total of seven home runs — all in the first five innings — but they hit for the home-run cycle: The River Cats hit three solo home runs (two of which came on back-to-back pitches by infielders Mitchel Tolman and Peter Maris in the second inning); Beck hit a two-run shot; Aviators left fielder Jacob Wilson and River Cats shortstop Arismendy Alcánatara hit three-run blasts (Alcánatara also hit the other solo homer); and Aviators catcher Carlos Pérez hammered a grand slam off the left-field foul pole in the first inning.

• There were four lead changes in the first 3½ innings.

• Twelve players (seven River Cats and five Aviators) had multiple hits, and seven scored multiple runs. Of the 18 starters, only one (Peña) failed to record a hit.

• Six Aviators hitters walked multiple times, with Wilson and Pérez each receiving three free passes.

• Of the 12 pitchers who took the mound, only three — Las Vegas right-handers Zach Jackson and Domingo Acevedo, who combined to pitch the final 3½ innings, and Sacramento lefty Caleb Baragar — didn’t allow a run. Those 12 pitchers combined to throw 450 pitches.

ON DECK: The Aviators conclude their six-game series against the River Cats at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday when they take the field as Reyes de Plata (“Silver Kings”) as part of Minor League Baseball’s Copa de la Diversión initiative that celebrates local Hispanic/Latino culture.

Las Vegas right-hander Paul Blackburn (2-3, 4.64 ERA), who started Thursday’s series opener, returns to the mound and is scheduled to oppose veteran southpaw Scott Kazmir (2-0, 2.66).

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